Copyright and licenses

In relation to Copyright

Creative Commons licenses cannot exist without copyright. Copyright exists in a work from the moment it is created and grants certain rights to its owner, which may or may not be the creator. A CC-license makes it easy for users to understand what the creator allows users to do with the work, without reaching out to the creator. All Creative Commons licenses allow distribution and reuse and the creator of the work retains full copyright.

The six licenses

1. CC BY - This requires attribution only to share, adapt, translate and perform.
2. CC BY-SA - In addition to attribution this license requires an adapted work to be shared with an identical or otherwise compatible license in order to incorporate the licensed work.
3. CC BY-NC - Under this license you may not publicly distribute the licensed work in works for commercial purposes. Such as reusing a text in a book that requires payment, or placing a song in a commercially distributed film. You can print and distribute the document as long as this is not for commercial gain.
4. CC BY-ND -Under this license you may not make derivative works publicly available, but you can still print and distribute the work as is, and include the original work unchanged in a new work. Derivative works include translations and adaptations. (Adaptations do not include corrections, citing, critique and minor edits.) You may still make derivative works for private use.
5. CC BY-NC-SA - This license requires that you do not distribute the licensed work commercially, and you must have an identical or compatible license in any derivative work that reuses the original work.
6. CC BY-NC-ND - This is the strictest license, and you may not adapt, translate or otherwise publicly distribute derivative work, you may also not sell or otherwise reuse the work for commercial gain. You may share, print and distribute the work as is, and create derivative work for private use. You can print and distribute the document as long as this is not for commercial gain.

In addition to these licenses, there is CC0. This is not tecnically a license, because it does not require any form of restriction, not even attribution. The CC0 indicates that the work is public domain and you can use it without restrictions.

Here is a overview of the different abbreviations and their symbols:

"Key to Abbreviation" from https://poritz.net/j/cc/charts/adaptation.html by Jonathan Poritz/ CC BY 4.0.

Adapting Work with a Creative Commons License

If you wish to adapt and make derivatives to work with a Creative Commons license, this is possible with one exception. If the license has a ND (No Derivatives) restriction, any change you make to the work, cannot be published. If the license has a SA (Share Alike) restriction, you must use a the same or a compatible license on the changes you make public.

Here is an overview to know which license you must use when publishing your derivative work:

"Adaptations Status Chart" from https://poritz.net/j/cc/charts/adaptation.html by Jonathan Poritz/ CC BY 4.0.