Creative Commons (CC) Licenses help with the following:
- They explain the options for licensing a creator's own original OER material.
- They explain how to use existing licensed OER material properly and legally.
- They provide Creative Commons licenses and public domain tools that give every person and organization in the world a free, simple, and standardized way to grant copyright permissions for creative and academic works.
- They ensure proper attribution and allow others to copy, distribute, and make use of those works.
Four Key License Elements
The Creative Commons licenses are made up of four elements that can be used separately or together to show how the copyright holder is willing to share the work.
Attribution (BY): You let others copy, distribute, perform, and remix your work if they credit your name as specified by you.
No Derivatives (ND): You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform only original copies of your work. If they want to modify your work, they must get your permission first.
Share Alike (SA): Let others copy, distribute, display, perform, and modify your work, as long as they distribute any modified work on the same terms. If they want to distribute modified works under other terms, they must get your permission first.
Non-Commercial (NC): You let others copy, distribute, display, perform, and (unless you have chosen NoDerivatives) modify and use your work for any purpose other than commercially unless they get your permission first.
Six Creative Commons Licenses
The four key license elements work together to form six unique Creative Commons licenses.
 | CC BY ("Attribution") allows people to use the work for any purpose (even commercially and even in modified form) as long as they give attribution to the creator. |
 | CC BY-SA ("Attribution-ShareAlike") allows people to use the work for any purpose (Even commercially and even in modified form), as long as they give attribution to the creator and make any adaptations they share with others available under the same or a compatible license. |
 | CC BY-NC ("Attribution-NonCommercial") allows people to use the work for non-commercial purposes only, and only as long as they give attribution to the creator. |
 | CC BY-NC-SA ("Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike") allows people to use the work for non-commercial purposes only, and only as long as they give attribution to the creator and make any adaptations they share with others available under the same or a compatible license. |
 | CC BY-ND ("Attribution-NoDerivative") allows people to use the unadapted work for any purpose (even commercially), as long as they give attribution to the creator. |
 | CC BY-NC-ND ("Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivative") allows people to use the unadapted work for noncommercial purposes only and only as long as they give attribution to the licensor. |