In the digital world, content is everywhere. As creators, we often need images, music, or text to supplement our work. Creative Commons (CC) is a system that provides a free, simple, and standardized way to give public permission to share and use creative work—on conditions of your choice. Understanding how to use CC-licensed work correctly is not just good etiquette; it's essential for protecting yourself from copyright infringement.

The Four Main Components of CC Licenses

All Creative Commons licenses are built from four main conditions. Understanding these "building blocks" is key to knowing what you can and can't do.

• Attribution (BY): This is the foundation of all CC licenses. You **must** give appropriate credit to the original creator, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made.
• ShareAlike (SA): If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you **must** distribute your contributions under the **same license** as the original. This is often described as a "copyleft" provision.
• NonCommercial (NC): You **may not** use the work for commercial purposes. A commercial purpose is one primarily intended for commercial advantage or monetary compensation.
• NoDerivatives (ND): If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you **may not** distribute the modified material. You can share the work, but it must be in its original, unchanged form.

The Six Main Creative Commons Licenses

These four components are combined to create the six main CC licenses, ranging from most to least permissive.

• Attribution (CC BY): The most accommodating license. It lets others distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you for the original creation.
• Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA): Lets others remix, adapt, and build upon your work even for commercial purposes, as long as they credit you and license their new creations under the identical terms. Wikipedia is a famous user of this license.
• Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC): Lets others remix, adapt, and build upon your work non-commercially. Their new works must also acknowledge you and be non-commercial, but they don’t have to license their derivative works on the same terms.
• Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA): Lets others remix, adapt, and build upon your work non-commercially, as long as they credit you and license their new creations under the identical terms.
• Attribution-NoDerivs (CC BY-ND): Allows for redistribution, commercial and non-commercial, as long as it is passed along unchanged and in whole, with credit to you.
• Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND): The most restrictive license, allowing others to download your works and share them with others as long as they credit you, but they can’t change them in any way or use them commercially.

How to Properly Attribute a CC-Licensed Work

Proper attribution is the cornerstone of using CC material. A good attribution, often referred to as "TASL," contains four parts:

• Title: The name of the work. If a title is not provided, this is not required.
• Author: The name of the creator. This could be a person, a username, or an organization. Link to their profile page if possible.
• Source: A link to where the original work is hosted (e.g., the Flickr page, the Wikipedia article).
• License: The name of the CC license (e.g., "CC BY 2.0"). Link to the license deed on the Creative Commons website.

Example Attribution:

"Creative Commons 10th Birthday Celebration San Francisco" by tvol is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Where to Find CC-Licensed Work

Many platforms have built-in tools to filter for Creative Commons content:

• Google Images: Use the "Usage rights" filter under the "Tools" menu.
• Flickr: Has a dedicated section for Creative Commons-licensed photos.
• Wikimedia Commons: A massive repository of media files that are free to use.
• ccMixter & Free Music Archive: Great sources for CC-licensed music.

By understanding and respecting Creative Commons licenses, you can ethically and legally enrich your own creative projects while honoring the work of fellow creators around the world.