Creative Commons (CC)

Creative Commons licences allow creators to grant permission to share their work in a simple and standardised way.  There are several licence terms that can be added to a work – the following table shows the initials, logos and brief description of each of them:

LogoInitials and Type of LicenceDescription
Creative Commons Licence

CC BY

Attribution

 Can be used, adapted, shared, even commercially – as long as you credit the original creation
Creative Commons Licence

CC BY-SA

Attribution and ShareAlike

 Can be used, adapted, including commercially and shared – as long as you share with the same licence and credit the original creation
Creative Commons Licence

CC BY-ND

Attribution-NonDerivs

(no derivatives)

 Can re-use the work for any purpose, including commercially; however, it cannot be adapted and credit must be provided
Creative Commons Licence

CC BY-NC

Attribution-NonCommercial

 Can be used, adapted and shared – but, not commercially. As always, credit must be given
Creative Commons Licence

CC BY-NC-SA

Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike

 Can be re-used, adapted and shared non-commercially, as long as you credit the creator and license new creations under the identical terms
Creative Commons Licence

CC BY-NC-ND

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs

 The most restrictive of the licences, allowing downloading and sharing with others as long as you credit the creator. No changes can be made and it cannot be used commercially
You may also see the following:
CC0

CC0

No rights reserved

Free to use (including for commercial use)

No attribution required (but considered ‘good form’ if you do)
Copyright symbol  All rights reserved Material cannot be used without permission or under an exception (not a Creative Commons licence)