ScholarWorks@UMass Boston

Creative Commons (CC) Licenses are made up of three components:

• Machine-Readable (programming language that computers can digest and understand)
• Human-Readable (Web pages, icons, licenses and descriptions in plain speak for humans to understand)
• Legal Code (Conditions enforceable in court, and the foundational layer for the licenses)

About CC Licenses

• CC licenses work with, not instead of, copyright law.
• CC licenses do not apply in cases where copyright does not apply (for example, something in the public domain cannot be stamped with a CC license)
• You can't attach a CC license to a work unless you own its copyright.
• CC licenses are non-revocable (once you stamp a CC license on a work, you cannot take it back. You can change the license at any time, but doing this cannot retroactively remove your content if it has already been shared, remixed, adapted, etc.).

Every single one of these components can be combined depending on the author's preferences for how they want their work to be shared. The only component that exists no matter what is the CC-BY or "Attribution" requirement. All creators must be credited every single time.

License Icon	License Description
	CC-BY ("Attribution") indicates attribution requirement. Users can use, modify, adapt, remix and re-share content as long as proper attribution is given to the original creator.
	CC-BY-SA ("Attribution" + "ShareAlike") indicates that users can use, modify, adapt, remix and re-share content as long as proper attribution is given to the original creator, and content is re-shared under the same or a compatible CC license moving forward.
	CC-BY-NC ("Attribution" + "NonCommercial") indicates that users can use, modify, adapt, remix, and re-share content non-commercially, and with proper attribution given to the original content creator.
	CC-BY-ND ("Attribution" + "NoDerivatives") indicates that users can re-share content without alterations or modifications. Content must be shared exactly as it was originally created, and proper attribution needs to be given to the creator.

 These licenses might seem confusing to look at. Really, all you need to understand are the four components of a CC license (as written above): 

• Attribution
• ShareAlike
• NonCommercial
• NoDerivatives

These four components can be combined in various ways to reflect the preferences of the author or original content creator. A reminder that the Attribution component applies to all CC licenses, whether you elect for this or not. This ensures proper credit is always given to the original creator, while allowing other scholars, artist, creators, users, consumers, etc. to interact with their work.

Level of Openness	Icon	Text	Explanation
Most Open		CC-BY (Attribution)	Use the work for any purpose (share, remix, commercialize) as long as proper attribution is given to the creator.
		CC-BY-SA (Attribution + ShareAlike)	Use the work for any purpose (share, remix, commercialize) with proper attribution and as long as adaptations/remixed works are re-shared under the same license as the original work.
		CC-BY-NC (Attribution + NonCommercial)	Use, remix, adapt, re-share the work for non-commercial purposes only, and with proper attribution to the original creator.
		CC-BY-NC-SA (Attribution + NonCommercial and ShareAlike)	Use the work non-commercially, with attribution to the creator, and any adaptations
		CC-BY-ND (Attribution + NoDerivatives)	Use the work un-adapted, or unaltered, with proper attribution given to the original creator.
Most Restrictive		CC-BY-NC-ND (Attribution + NonCommercial + NoDerivatives)	Use the work unaltered and non-commercially, with proper attribution to the creator.

For a visual explanation of Creative Commons Licenses, view the infographic below: