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Creative Commons Licenses: Types of Creative Commons Licenses

All about CC licenses; what they are, how they work, and how you can use them.

Types of Creative Commons Licenses

 

 

 This symbol means Attribution or “BY.” All of the licenses include this condition.

 

 

This symbol means NonCommercial or “NC,” which means the work is only available to be used for noncommercial purposes. Three of the CC licenses include this restriction.

 

 

This symbol means ShareAlike or “SA,” which means that adaptations based on this work must be licensed under the same license. Two of the CC licenses include this condition.

 

 

This symbol means NoDerivatives or “ND,” which means reusers cannot share adaptations of the work. Two of the CC licenses include this restriction.

 

The 6 licenses

The icon elements can be combined to create 6 license options:

 

CC BY: This license allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, so long as attribution is given to the creator. The license allows for commercial use.

 

 

CC BY-SA: This license allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, so long as attribution is given to the creator. The license allows for commercial use. If you remix, adapt, or build upon the material, you must license the modified material under identical terms.

 

CC BY-ND: This license allows reusers to copy and distribute the material in any medium or format in unadapted form only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator. The license allows for commercial use. 

 

 CC BY-NC: This license allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator. 

 

 

CC BY-NS-SA: This license allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator. If you remix, adapt, or build upon the material, you must license the modified material under identical terms. 

 

CC BY-NC-ND: This license allows reusers to copy and distribute the material in any medium or format in unadapted form only, for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator. 

 

To download CC icons visit the Creative Commons Download page.

License

Creative Commons Licenses Libguide by Nora Hehemann is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

"License Design and Terminology" https://certificates.creativecommons.org/cccertedu/chapter/3-1-license-design-and-terminology/ by Creative Commons. CC BY 4.0.