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LEARNING TO
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Understanding Creative Commons

Dr Tama Leaver, Curtin University

Copyright and creative commons is particularly important in the educational context where content is often copied,
shared, reused and remixed by both teachers and students in the learning and teaching process. This case study
explains the basics of Creative Commons copyright management.

Released March 2011

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 CASE STUDY Understanding Creative Commons

Aims and overview

This episode explains the basics of creative commons. We examine some of the different license terms and
combinations, and offer some insights into which might be better suited for educational purposes. We also
discuss how to generate your own creative commons license and what to do when your work is not attributed by
others.

What is Creative Commons?

Creative Commons www.creativecommons.org is an international nonprofit organisation that provides free
licenses and tools that copyright owners can use to allow others to share, re-use and remix their material
legally. It bridges the gap between traditional, full copyright www.copyright.org.au (where all rights are
reserved) and public domain (where no rights are reserved) by allowing ‘some rights reserved.’ In other
words, it allows creators of the material to still maintain copyright but allow more liberal use and sharing of
their work under specific conditions that are nominated by the creator.

Attribution ShareAlike

Original Works

NonCommercial No Derivative Works

Creative commons licenses are made up from four main terms: Attribution, ShareAlike, NonCommercial and No Derivative Works.
These are explained in detail overleaf. These terms can be combined to form six different Creative Commons Licenses, allowing people
to share and reuse material legally.

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 CASE STUDY Understanding Creative Commons

Why contribute to Creative Commons?

Generally creative commons has a philanthropic ethos of sharing. Allowing others to reuse your work under
a creative commons license enables you to contribute to the ‘collective production’ of knowledge where
everything builds on what was there before. This public ownership and public utility of information allows
everyone to contribute towards, and benefit from, the creation of a rich base of resources.

Why is it important to teachers and students?

Copyright and creative commons is particularly important in the educational context where content is often
copied, shared, reused and remixed by both teachers and students in the learning and teaching process.

While rules differ according to country, licenses and context, the educational environment is usually
subject to slightly less stringent rules as regards copyright and creative commons as long as the work is
used for educational purposes only. It is essential to check your institution’s website for further guidance.
For example, special educational privileges may only be applicable when the material is used within the
University’s Learning Management System (LMS) that is password protected and can only be accessed by
enrolled students and staff.

With the increasing use of the internet for researching and sharing material, it is important that both
students and teachers are aware of the conditions of copyright and creative commons that are relevant
within the educational context. In addition, it is also advantageous to understand what the implications
might be for using creative commons material beyond the educational environment where students will
ultimately be working, collaborating and communicating.

Creative Commons Licences

License terms
There are four different terms www.creativecommons.org.au/learn-more/licences to a Creative Commons
license:
- Attribution
- ShareAlike
- NonCommmercial
- No Derivative Works

Below is a brief explanation of each, and some comments on which might be better suited or relevant to the
educational context:

Attribution (BY)
This applies to every Creative Commons work - you must state who the original creator(s) of the work is,
and where the work can be found.
- This is the easiest license for education purposes and is very similar to what educators are accustomed to
doing when citing material in their work.

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 CASE STUDY Understanding Creative Commons

ShareAlike (SA)
This allows others to remix, adapt and build upon your work, but only if they distribute their resultant
work under the same license terms.
- This ensures that the chain of sharing is continued. That is, if someone allows you to use their material
or part of their material in your work, then your must also allow others to use your new work in a similar
manner.

NonCommercial (NC)
This license allows others to copy, distribute, display and perform the work but for non-commercial
purposes only. That is, they cannot make money from it.
- You are permitted to use the material in most educational contexts but explicit commercial use, such as
using an image in a commercial advertising brochure, would not be permitted.

No Derivatives Works (ND)

This allows others to distribute, display and perform only original copies of the work - they may not adapt
or change the work, nor can they take an element of it and use it in their own work.
- For example, this would be used when musicians upload a free version of their song to the internet for the
public to listen to, but they don’t want it remixed or altered in any way.

License terms
When you publish your work, you can select which of the above license terms best suit your needs. These
terms can then be grouped in different ways to form six different Creative Commons License combinations.
They are listed here in order of least to most restrictive:

- Attribution CC BY

- Attribution-ShareAlike CC BY-SA

- Attribution-No Derivative Works CC BY-ND

- Attribution-NonCommercial CC BY-NC

- Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike CC BY-NC-SA

- Attribution-NonComerical-No Derivatives CC BY-NC-ND

Students and teachers would usually use the simpler license combinations such as Attribution, Attribution
NonCommerical, or Attribution ShareAlike if they are willing to share their work. You should however
refer to the Creative Commons website www.creativecommons.org.au/learn-more/licences for more detailed
explanations, including fair trading or fair use.

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 CASE STUDY Understanding Creative Commons

Generating a license for your work with Creative Commons

You can generate a license for your work on the Creative Commons website http://creativecommons.org/choose.
This takes you through an easy step-by-step process for selecting and creating a license, and highlights some
things you need to think about before making these decisions.
When you have chosen your license, creative commons provides you with a visual representation of that license as
well as a code or HTML that you can cut and paste into your document or website. It is important to note that this
is just a license generator tool, not a registration of your creative commons license.

What if someone doesn’t attribute your work?

While Creative Commons is not permitted to provide legal advice or assist anyone trying to enforce Creative
Commons licenses, they do provide some free form-based legal documents that individuals can use. They also
provide a list of lawyers and organisations that have indicated that they may be willing to advise clients on
creative commons issues. If you believe that your work has been used but not attributed, you should first contact
your local creative commons jurisdiction.

Conclusion
The information provided in this episode serves only as an overview of creative commons licenses and how
they can be used in an educational context. We strongly recommend that you visit the Creative Commons
website of your jurisdiction for more detailed information.

Additional information
Creative Commons website
www.creativecommons.org

Open Educational Resources (OER)

www.creativecommons.org/education

Creative Commons case studies

www.creativecommons.org.au/learn-more/publications/casestudiesvol1

Australian Copyright Council

www.copyright.org.au

Tama Leaver’s sources of reusable media

http://tamaleaver.pbworks.com/w/page/19139799/Sources-of-Legally-Reusable-Media

A repository for public domain pictures

www.publicdomainpictures.net

Copyright and fair use information

http://fairuse.stanford.edu/Copyright_and_Fair_Use_Overview/chapter8

Slideshare, presentations shared by academics from around the world

www.slideshare.net

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 CASE STUDY Understanding Creative Commons

Acknowledgements
Interview and Production: Simon McIntyre and Karin Watson
Camera and Post: Creative Development – L&T@UNSW
Edit: Karin Watson

The Creative Commons http://creativecommons.org.au website and content appears in this case study in a non-
commercial context under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia (CC BY 3.0) http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by/3.0/au/deed.en license.

COFA Online would like to extend a special thank you to the following institution and academic who graciously
donated their time and expertise to this case study.

Dr Tama Leaver
Lecturer, Internet Studies, Faculty of Humanities

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For more Learning to Teach Online, visit the COFA Online Gateway

To find out more about the Learning to Teach Online project, or to view the
video component of this episode and to join the online discussion, please
visit the COFA Online Gateway site.

www.online.cofa.unsw.edu.au

Simon McIntyre Karin Watson

LTTO Project Leader Co-Project Manager
s.mcintyre@unsw.edu.au karin@unsw.edu.au
Phone +61 2 9385 0631 Phone +61 2 9385 0631

Search for COFA Online on:

About the project

The Learning to Teach Online project is a free professional development resource designed to help teachers
from any discipline, whether experienced in online teaching or not, to gain a working understanding of
successful online teaching pedagogies that they can apply in their own unique teaching situations. It hopes
to encourage dialogue, discussion and the sharing of ideas about online learning and teaching across
disciplines and between institutions around the world.

About COFA Online

COFA Online is an academic unit at the College of Fine Arts (COFA), The University of New South Wales
(UNSW), Sydney, Australia. It has been innovating online pedagogy, academic professional development
and effective online learning strategies since 2003.

About The University of New South Wales

UNSW has an enrolment of approximately 40,000 students, and is the leading international university in
Australia with over 10,000 international enrolments from over 130 nations. UNSW was also ranked as the top
university in 2009 in the Australian Government Learning and Teaching Performance Fund for the quality of
its teaching.

Australian Learning and Teaching Council

Support for this activity has been provided by the Australian Learning and
Teaching Council Ltd, an initiative of the Australian Government Department
of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. The views expressed in
this activity do not necessarily reflect the views of the Australian Learning and
Teaching Council.

Content in this publication and on the related website is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-
commercial No Derivatives (by-nc-nd) 2.5 Australia License