The concept of Creative Commons was introduced to help enhance creative and free exchange of scholarship and knowledge. This is all done while standing on the shoulders of giants.
Instead of restricting their work with a rigid copyright license, producers use Creative Commons licences to allow others to re-use and share their work under a variety of conditions determined by the type of CC license chosen.
In this post, I share with you this handy poster featuring the major types of Creative Commons licences that you can use with your students in class. The visual is entirely based on guidelines and insights from Creativecommons.org
I also put it under Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs CC VY-NC-ND, meaning you can download, print or share it provided you credit Educational Technology and Mobile Learning as the source and that you keep it free of charge.
Check the FAQ section under this visual to learn more about Creative Commons.
Creative Commons FAQ
Here is a FAQ section I generated based on insights from the CC FAQ page:
Q: What is Creative Commons and what do they do?
A: Creative Commons is a nonprofit organization that provides free legal tools to encourage the sharing and reuse of creative works and knowledge. Their tools include copyright licenses and other offerings that facilitate the discovery and sharing of creative works on the internet. They have affiliates worldwide who help ensure their licenses work internationally and raise awareness of their work.
Q: Is Creative Commons against copyright?
A: No, Creative Commons is not against copyright. In fact, their licenses depend on the existence of copyright to work. They provide legal tools for creators and rights holders to offer certain usage rights to the public while reserving others. However, they recognize the need for copyright reform and many members of the Creative Commons community are active participants in the copyright reform movement.
Q: What does “Some Rights Reserved” mean?
A: “Some Rights Reserved” refers to the spectrum of choices that Creative Commons licenses offer creators between retaining all rights (as under traditional copyright law) and relinquishing all rights (as when a work enters the public domain). This approach allows creators to specify the rights they want to reserve and the rights they want to release for public use.
Q: Can Creative Commons give legal advice about its licenses or other tools, or help with CC license enforcement?
A: No, Creative Commons is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice or services. It is more akin to a self-help service that provides free, form-based legal documents for others to use. For further information and answers to common questions, visit the FAQ section or specialized information pages on the Creative Commons website.
