Research Guides: Copyright Toolkit: Using CC Licenses & Works

Using CC Licenses & Works

So You Want to Share Your Works

The licenses and CC0 are irrevocable, once you apply a CC license to a work, the CC license applies to the work until the copyright on the work expires. This is beneficial to those who wish to reuse your works, as this provides a sense of stability to CC works, rights cannot be changes at the whims of the original creator. Because the licenses are irrevocable, it is very important to carefully consider the options before deciding to use a CC license on a work.

You must also control copyright for the work which is receiving the license. So you can't copyright anything in the public domain, for example. Additionally, if you created material in the scope of your employment then you may not actually be the rights holder; permission from your employer may be necessary before applying a CC license.

For additional info visit the Creative Commons Wiki

A list of public domain works can be found in the Publishing section of this guide.

Applying the CC License

Applying it is simple, all you have to do is indicate which CC license you are applying to your work. Creative Commons strongly recommends including a link, or writing out the CC license URL if you are working offline, to the relevant CC license deed.

Ready to license, then visit:Choose Your License

For additional info, there way too much to put here, about marking your works visit the Creative Commons Wiki. Their wiki will go provide details about formats such as video and audio.

Use of Your CC Works

Remember that if you are the creator you can always sell your work. If you are charging for someone else's work you have to follow the license of that work. If the CC license includes the NonCommercial restriction then you cannot charge people for that work.

If you change your mind about the CC license you can offer the work under a difference license. This does not revoke the terms of the original license, anyone who finds the work under the original license is legally permitted to use it under those terms until the copyright expires. The creator is also free to remove this copy of the work they placed online.

If someone uses your licensed work there are ways to make sure you are not associated with it:

All CC licenses prohibit using the attribution requirement to suggest that the licensor endorses or supports a particular use.
Licensors may waive the attribution requirement, choosing not to be identified as the licensor.
If the licensor does not like how the material has been modified or used, CC licenses require that the licensee remove the attribution information upon request. (In 3.0 and earlier, this is only a requirement for adaptations and collections; in 4.0, this also applies to the unmodified work.)
Finally, anyone modifying licensed material must indicate that the original has been modified. This ensures that changes made to the original material–whether or not the licensor approves of them–are not attributed back to the licensor.

Bonus Video: Why Open Education Matters

Why Open Education Matters from Blink Tower on Vimeo.

Finding and Reusing CC Works

You can always try and use Google for a search and then narrow down to Creative Commons works or you can go directly to platforms that offer these works:

A list of public domain works can be found in the Publishing section of this guide.

Don't forget to attribute:
When providing attribution, the recommended practice is to mark the work with full TASL information. When you don’t have some of the TASL information about a work, do the best you can and include as much detail as possible in the marking statement.

T = Title
A = Author (tell reusers who to give credit to)
S = Source (give reusers a link to the resource)
L = License (link to the CC licence deed)

Remixing Works

Adaptations and derivative works is a term of art in copyright law. It means "creating something new from a copyrighted work that is sufficiently original to itself be protected by copyright." This can be tricky when trying to determine the CC site provides an explanation on this topic.

Things to consider:

Additional Info:
As of Version 4.0 all CC licenses even the ND one allows for anyone to make an adaptation. There is still a limitation on the NoDerivative license; a user can create an adaptation but cannot share the adaptation with the public.

Adaptation or Remix:
With an adaptation / remix, you often cannot tell where one open work ends and another one begins

Collection
A collection compiles different works together while keeping them organized as distinct separate objects.

Bonus Video: Food Based Solutions (also charts)

Additional info about remixes, compilations and compatibility charts are also available.

Library Works

Graphics were created using images from Pixabay or created for the final image.

"atoz" by Todd Jensen is licensed under CC BY 4.0

"Library Crest 2" by Todd Jensen is licensed under CC BY 4.0

"Kiosk Regular Hours 2" by Todd Jensen is licensed under CC BY 4.0

Library CC Works from Google Search

Here's a couple of library related images I found on Google and how they attributed. These images and their respective CC attributions are in the Gallery View as well.

The first is an old Ask a Librarian Card

The second is a photo in our book collection

sources

Using CC Licenses & Works
Commons, C. (n.d.). 4.1 choosing and applying a CC License. 4.1 Choosing and Applying a CC License | Creative Commons Certificate for Educators, Academic Librarians and GLAM. Retrieved November 10, 2022, from https://certificates.creativecommons.org/cccertedu/chapter/4-1-choosing-and-applying-a-cc-license/

Define & Pronounce
“Irrevocable.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/irrevocable. Accessed 10 Nov. 2022

Applying the CC License
Commons, C. (n.d.). 4.1 choosing and applying a CC License. 4.1 Choosing and Applying a CC License | Creative Commons Certificate for Educators, Academic Librarians and GLAM. Retrieved November 10, 2022, from https://certificates.creativecommons.org/cccertedu/chapter/4-1-choosing-and-applying-a-cc-license/

Use of Your CC Works
Commons, C. (n.d.). 4.2 things to consider after CC licensing. 4.2 Things to Consider after CC Licensing | Creative Commons Certificate for Educators, Academic Librarians and GLAM. Retrieved November 10, 2022, from https://certificates.creativecommons.org/cccertedu/chapter/4-2-things-to-consider-after-cc-licensing/

Finding and Reusing CC Works
Commons, C. (n.d.). 4.3 finding and reusing CC-licensed work. 4.3 Finding and Reusing CC-Licensed Work | Creative Commons Certificate for Educators, Academic Librarians and GLAM. Retrieved November 10, 2022, from https://certificates.creativecommons.org/cccertedu/chapter/4-3-finding-and-reusing-cc-licensed-work/ Commons, C. (n.d.). 4.1 choosing and applying a CC License. 4.1 Choosing and Applying a CC License | Creative Commons Certificate for Educators, Academic Librarians and GLAM. Retrieved November 10, 2022, from https://certificates.creativecommons.org/cccertedu/chapter/4-1-choosing-and-applying-a-cc-license/
Commons, C. (n.d.). 4.4 remixing CC-licensed work. 4.4 Remixing CC-Licensed Work | Creative Commons Certificate for Educators, Academic Librarians and GLAM. Retrieved November 11, 2022, from https://certificates.creativecommons.org/cccertedu/chapter/4-4-remixing-cc-licensed-work/

"Using CC Licenses and Works" by Todd Jensen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.