Creative Commons Licences

Trocaire College Libraries

What are CC Licences?

What are CC Licences?

Have you ever visited a website and seen symbols inside circles that you didn't understand or perhaps statements like:


Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)


These are Creative Commons Licence.

What are CC Licences?

Creative Commons

Creative Commons is a:

  • "nonprofit organization dedicated to building a globally-accessible public commons of knowledge and culture. We make it easier for people to share their creative and academic work, as well as to access and build upon the work of others. By helping people and organizations share knowledge and creativity, we aim to build a more equitable, accessible, and innovative world". (statement from https://creativecommons.org/about/)


They do many things, one of them is providing Creative Common Licences to creators of content:

  • "give every person and organization in the world a free, simple, and standardized way to grant copyright permissions for creative and academic works; ensure proper attribution; and allow others to copy, distribute, and make use of those works". (statement from https://creativecommons.org/about/)
  • Basically, it allows sharing of the creator's materials for free while the creator maintains control over how the materials are shared.


When you see the symbols and statements it lets you know how you can use the information that is protected by the license.

Attribution

Attribution

This symbols allows reusers to distribute, remix and adapt the material in any medium or format, but must give proper credit to the creator. Also, it means that you may use the information for commercial use.


This licence uses "BY" in the CC licence statement.

Attribution
Same Terms

Same Terms

This symbols allows reusers to distribute, remix and adapt the material in any medium or format, but must license the modified material under the identical terms of the creator.


This licence uses "SA" in the CC licence statement.

Same Terms
Non Commercial

Non Commercial

This symbols allows reusers to distribute, remix and adapt the material in any medium or format, but may not to be used for commercial purposes.


This licence uses "NC" in the CC licence statement.

Non Commercial
Non-Derivatives

Non-Derivatives

This symbols allows reusers to copy and distribute the material as is. No remixing or adaptation of the materials is allowed.


This licence uses "ND" in the CC licence statement.

Non-Derivatives
Public Domain

Public Domain

This symbols allows reusers distribute, remix, adapt and adapt the material in any medium or format, with no restrictions or conditions. This is a public dedication tool, which allows a creator to give up their copyright and put their work into public domain.


This licence uses "CCO" in the CC licence statement.

Public Domain

Learn More

These licences can be combined to create different types of licences. So the next time you see a string of these symbols or statements while looking at materials, you will know how you can use the information.


For more information check out: https://creativecommons.org/about/

Any questions, ask a librarian!
Cindy Seitz, MLS

Cindy Seitz, MLS

Cindy Seitz, MLS
Librarian
seitzc@trocaire.edu 716-827-2434 library.trocaire.edu

Revised & Updated June 2020