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WCC OER Boot Camp: Creative Commons

CC Terms of Licenses

CC Permissions

In cases where it is necessary to obtain permission to use copyrighted works, it's important to identify the copyright holder(s), ask if they still own copyright (that it wasn't a work for hire), or if they have given their copyright to another entity (like the author of an article that signs over copyright to a journal publisher).  

Copyright Clearance Center:

The Copyright Clearance Center provides information for those seeking permission to use/ reproduce copyrighted works.

Public Performance Rights:

"Performing" works publicly outside of the classroom requires Public Performance Rights or PPR.  This is most common for events like public film screenings.  *Even if the film is being screened on campus and is free of charge, PPR is still required.  It is not required if an instructor is showing the film to officially registered students in a classroom, where content of film directly relates to course. If you do need PPR, there are companies that manage PPR rights such as Swank or Criterion but these rights are often expensive.

Orphan Works:

Orphan works are materials that are likely protected by copyright but whose owners are unknown or unidentifiable.  Since there is no entity to contact for permissions, reusing orphan works comes with risk since there is no legal solution that makes certain uses permissible.  Libraries often come up against this challenge when providing access to and digitizing cultural heritage or archival collections that qualify as orphan works.  Learn more about current approaches to this challenges from the U.S. Copyright Office.  

Creative Commons licenses give everyone, from individual creators to large institutions, a standardized way to grant the public permission to use their creative work under copyright law. From the reuser’s perspective, the presence of a Creative Commons license on a copyrighted work answers the question, “What can I do with this work?” 

The Creative Commons License Options

There are six different license types, listed from most to least permissive here:

  • 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 includes the following elements:
BY  – Credit must be given to the creator

  • 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-SA includes the following elements:
BY  – Credit must be given to the creator
SA  – Adaptations must be shared under the same terms

  • 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. 

It includes the following elements:
BY  – Credit must be given to the creator
NC  – Only noncommercial uses of the work are permitted

  • CC BY-NC-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-SA includes the following elements:
BY  – Credit must be given to the creator
NC  – Only noncommercial uses of the work are permitted
SA  – Adaptations must be shared under the same 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-ND includes the following elements:
BY  – Credit must be given to the creator
ND  – No derivatives or adaptations of the work are permitted

  • 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. 

CC BY-NC-ND includes the following elements:
BY  – Credit must be given to the creator
NC  – Only noncommercial uses of the work are permitted
ND  – No derivatives or adaptations of the work are permitted