Copyright: Creative Commons

Creative Commons began in America as a non-profit organisation. It now operates globally. 

The organisation aims to make it easier for people to reuse creative works such as photographs, writing, music and video, while not infringing copyright law. 

To achieve this, Creative Commons has created a number of  standardised licences, each with slightly different terms and conditions. For example, CC BY is a relaxed licence. It permits people to take a work and adapt it, or use it for commercial purposes, as long as attribution (i.e. the name of the creator) is provided. 

It is up to the author/original creator of a work to decide on which licence to publish their work under.

How can I use a work that has been licensed under Creative Commons?

• Check the licence terms: does it expect attribution? Can you alter the work to suit your needs? Are you allowed to use the work commercially? 
• Remember that all but one of the Creative Commons licences requires you to credit the creator of the original work 
• If you fail to acknowledge the creator, you will be breaking the terms of the licence
• Exactly how you display the Creative Commons licence and follow its terms will depend on the medium. 
• Always name the Creative Commons licence, and link to it where possible. 

Example of good practice attribution 

"Library Enquiry Desk" by Powys Librarian CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

This attribution contains three elements:

1. The image title with a link to the webpage from which the image was taken

2. The name/pseudonym of the author with a link to their homepage 

3. The title of the licence with a link to the Creative Commons licence page