Creative Commons (CC) — international nonprofit founded by Lawrence Lessig in 2001. Provides free, standardized copyright licenses for creative works: writing, photos, music, art.
| Symbol | Code | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| BY | Attribution | Credit must be given to the creator |
| SA | ShareAlike | Derivatives must use the same license |
| NC | NonCommercial | Only non-commercial uses allowed |
| ND | NoDerivatives | No modifications allowed |
| License | Code | Allows |
|---|---|---|
| Attribution | CC BY | Any use, with credit |
| Attribution-ShareAlike | CC BY-SA | Any use with credit; derivatives must use same license |
| Attribution-NonCommercial | CC BY-NC | Non-commercial only, with credit |
| Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike | CC BY-NC-SA | Non-commercial + ShareAlike |
| CC0 | CC0 | Public domain dedication — all rights waived |
The NonCommercial restriction sounds reasonable but is notoriously vague in practice:
The ambiguity creates legal uncertainty for anyone who might legitimately want to use your work.
The copyleft equivalent for creative works. Parallel to AGPL for software:
Wikipedia is built on CC BY-SA. Work published under CC BY-SA can be incorporated into Wikipedia and remain there permanently.
Culture has always been built on remixing: folk tales retold across generations, hip-hop sampling, fan communities creating transformative works. Copyleft licenses make this legally safe and explicit.
Notable CC-licensed communities: