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Postgraduates & Researchers: Copyright - Creative Commons

Guidance and Materials for Postgraduate Taught and students part of the Graduate School

Creative Commons Explained

Creative Commons CC icon

Creative Commons licenses give content creators the option to license their works for others to use for free. This means you can use the content, provided you abide by the license agreement.

 

The six CC license types

  • CC BY:  Reuse as you wish (you can distribute, remix, adapt and build upon the medium in any format). You must give credit to the creator.
  • CC BY-SA: Reuse as you wish and you must give credit to the creator. If you make any modifications, you must also license this with CC BY-SA
  • CC BY-NC:  You can reuse as you wish, but only for noncommercial purposes.You must give credit to the creator. 
  • CC BY-NC-SA: You can reuse as you wish, but only for noncommercial purposes. You must give credit to the creator. If you make any modifications, you must also license this with CC BY-NC-SA
  • CC BY-ND: You can copy and distribute, but you cannot adapt the material. You must give credit to the creator.
  • CC BY-NC-ND: You can copy and distribute, but you cannot adapt the material or use it for commercial purposes. You must give credit to the creator.

Aside from these six licenses, content creators can also designate their content with a CC0 - this is when they have given up the copyright to the content, allowing it to be reused with no conditions attached.

Creative Commons: Giving Credit to the Creator/Owner

The four things to include when attributing or giving credit to a creator, are:

  • Title  - If there is a name provided, include it. In cases where there is no name, do not worry about it.
  • Creator - Give the name as provided.
  • Source - Include a link to where you found the material
  • Licence - Include which licence is in use.

Example of attribution

Actors in scenes from the play 'A treasury of loyal retainers' by Chushingura. Colour woodcut by Kunisada II, 1856.

'Actors in scenes from the play 'A treasury of loyal retainers' by Chushingura. Colour woodcut by Kunisada II, 1856.' by Kunisada. Credit: Wellcome Collection. CC BY

Note: Wellcome Collection provides examples of how to credit images from their collections.

The Creative Commons webpage on best practice for attribution provides further examples.