Creative Commons Licensing

Isn't this photo great?


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic License.
photo by Flickr user chotda

I found this photo on the internet, just as I find many of my favorites online!
What you probably didn't know about many of the pictures you find on the internet is that they are offered under what is called a Creative Commons license, just as this one is - did you notice the information beneath it? That tells us that this photo is licensed, and what type of license it holds.


So what is a Creative Commons license? Creativecommons.org defines it as "a non-profit that offers an alternative to full copyright. [They] provide free licenses and other legal tools to mark creative work with the freedom the creator wants it to carry, so others can share, remix, use commercially, or any combination thereof."

What did I mean when I stated that the information below the photo tells us the type of license it carries? Creative Commons offers different options for creators to choose from on how they would like to license their work.


There are 4 main types of licenses that you might come across:

1. Attribution- This type of license allows a person to copy, distribute, display and/or remix the work, or any works that are based on or inspired by the original, as long as the person copying, distributing and/or displaying gives credit where credit is due - you must attribute the work to the creator/artist! (can be for commercial/non-commercial purposes)


2. Non-commercial- A person can do all of the same things with the original work as in the attribution license (as long as the creator/artist is given credit), but only for non-commercial purposes.


3. No derivative works- A person can copy, distribute, and/or display the original work (as long as the creator/artist is given credit), but they can only be "verbatim" copies. No "derivative works," or works that are based on or inspired by the original, are permitted. (can be for commercial/non-commercial purposes)


4. Share Alike - A person can remix, tweak, edit, change, or build upon the original work, but the new piece must be credited to the original artist/creator, and the new piece must carry the exact same license as the original. (can be for commercial/non-commercial purposes)

A couple other licenses exist and should be mentioned, too:

1. Attribution Non-Commercial Share-Alike - a person may remix, tweak, edit, change, or build upon the original work, but only if the creator/artist is given credit, the piece is used/created for non-commercial purposes only, and the new piece carries the exact same license as the original.


2. Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives - the original piece can be shared in its original form only (no changes whatsoever!), as long as it is used for non-commercial purposes and the creator/artist is given credit!

Here's your test of how well you know your licenses now: what kind of license does the above picture have and what does that mean? Extra credit: Did I adhere to the license?