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Media & Design Center - Labs, Software & Equipment: Creative Commons

Licenses

Creative Commons is a nonprofit organization that helps overcome legal obstacles to the sharing of knowledge and creativity to address the world’s pressing challenges.

The following symbols represent the types of licenses for creative commons

Attribution license symbol of a person in a circleAttribution (BY)

Attribution is giving credit to the person who created the image, file, or program used.

Symbol: By Sting - Reference icons : https://creativecommons.org/about/licenses and https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/fr, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1453299

 

Share alike license symbol of a reverse C with an arrow within a circleShare Alike (SA)

Adaptations must be shared under the same terms

Symbol: By Rafał Pocztarski - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/, Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=726361

 

Noncommercial license symbol of a dollar sign with a circle around it and a line through itNoncommercial (NC)

Only noncommercial uses of the work are permitted

Symbol: By Rei-artur e.a. - The original version of this image was downloaded from the Creative Commons website, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=37442568

 

No derivative license symbol of an equal sign in a circleNo Derivative Works (ND)

No derivatives or adaptations of the work are permitted

Symbol: By Rei-artur, fixed by Rillke - The original version of this image was downloaded from the Creative Commons website, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=726358

 

Public Domain symbol of the letters P and D in a circlePublic Domain (PD)

Allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, with no conditions

Symbol: By Cc-pd.svg: Creative Commonsderivative work: Mdale (talk) - Cc-pd.svg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6229341 

The six (6) defined licenses are:

Attribution license symbol of a person in a circle CC BY = Attribution required

 

Attribution license symbol of a person in a circleShare alike license symbol of a reverse C with an arrow within a circle CC BY-SA = Attribution required, Share alike

 

Noncommercial license symbol of a dollar sign with a circle around it and a line through it CC BY-NC = Attribution required, Noncommercial use only

 

Attribution license symbol of a person in a circleNo derivative license symbol of an equal sign in a circle CC BY-ND = Attribution required, No derivative works

 

Attribution license symbol of a person in a circleNoncommercial license symbol of a dollar sign with a circle around it and a line through itShare alike license symbol of a reverse C with an arrow within a circle CC BY-NC-SA = Attribution required, Noncommercial use, Share alike

 

Attribution license symbol of a person in a circleNoncommercial license symbol of a dollar sign with a circle around it and a line through itNo derivative license symbol of an equal sign in a circle CC BY-NC-ND = Attribution required, Noncommercial use, No derivative works

https://creativecommons.org/about/cclicenses/

The current version for Creative Commons licenses is 4.0.  There are earlier versions that are still in use.  To decide which license you need and the version, you can use the license chooser from the Creative Commons website.

Attribution

Attribution is giving credit to the creator of the work.  A proper attribution has four specific pieces:

  1. Title - The title of the work with a link to the original work
  2. Author - The creator of the work and a link to his/her profile
  3. Source - Link to where the work was obtained
  4. License - Link to the Creative Commons license

Below are examples of attribution from the Creative Commons wiki (https://wiki.creativecommons.org/wiki/best_practices_for_attribution)

This is an ideal attribution

"Creative Commons 10th Birthday Celebration San Francisco" by tvol is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Because:

  1. Title? "Creative Commons 10th Birthday Celebration San Francisco"
  2. Author? "tvol" - linked to his profile page
  3. Source? "Creative Commons 10th Birthday Celebration San Francisco" - linked to original Flickr page
  4. License? "CC BY 2.0" - linked to license deed

This is a pretty good attribution

Photo by tvol / CC BY

Because:

  1. Title? Title is not noted (it should be) but at least the source is linked.
  2. Author? "tvol"
  3. Source? "Photo" - linked to original Flickr page
  4. License? "CC BY" - linked to license deed

Media & Design Center Staff

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Contact:

Media & Design Center
Undergraduate Library
CB# 3942
Chapel Hill, NC 27599
919-962-2559

  • Last Updated: Sep 16, 2024 10:02 AM
  • URL: https://guides.lib.unc.edu/media-design-center