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Creative Commons: Home

Learn more about Creative Commons, and how to use it to borrow or license content.

Welcome

Creative Commons iconCreative Commons works are creative works that the content creator is allowing others to freely use under certain conditions.

This guide will help you:

  • Become familiar with Creative Commons (CC).
  • Interpret each type of Creative Commons licenses and its terms of use.
  • Find Creative Commons-licensed content such as: photos, graphics, and icons; audio and video; publications and other textual materials.
  • Apply a Creative Commons license to your own content.
  • Find other types of content to reuse without violating copyright.

What is Creative Commons?

Creative Commons logo

Creative Commons a nonprofit organization that enables the sharing and use of creativity and knowledge through free legal tools. It does not replace copyright; instead it works alongside copyright.

Content creators may choose from one of six free, easy-to-use copyright licenses that provide a simple, standardized way to give the public permission to share and use your creative work — on conditions of your choice. Creative Commons licenses let you easily change your copyright terms from the default of “all rights reserved” to “some rights reserved.” Conversely, the application of a Creative Commons license to a piece of intellectual property tells content consumers that they may use, share, and sometimes modify your content for free. Creative Commons licenses are frequently applied to photographs and artwork, videos, music and audio files, presentations, coursework, ebooks, blog posts, and wiki pages.

Description of Above Video: "When you take a photo, make music or shoot a video it’s yours, you own it. You also own the copyright. Which means you decide how it is used and who can use it and if it can be copied and shared (or remixed). Creative Commons is a set of licenses that enable lawful collaboration to do things like copy, share and remix. Creative Commons is a way to give permission to everyone to freely reuse your creative works. Hundreds of sites use these licenses: Wikipedia, YouTube, Archive.org, Vimeo, Soundcloud, Flickr, Bandcamp, Boundless, Jamendo, TED, Musopen, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Free Music Archive, Freesound." (taken from the video description page on YouTube)

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