Creative Commons is a non-profit that offers an alternative to copyright licenses. It provides licenses that allow you to make and use created works with varying degrees of openness. There are a variety of different creative commons licenses, and not all of the licenses allow for commercial use of the work. It’s important to verify the details of the license and make sure you follow all listed stipulations before using the material.
This video explains Creative Commons in more detail.
There are six Creative Commons licenses, ranging from open and permissive to those that are more restrictive. All CC licenses will permit typical teaching uses such as displaying in the classroom, distributing to students or posting in Moodle. These licenses are described as follws:
CC BY (Attribution)
The most open of Creative Commons licenses, this option permits others to copy, distribute, adapt and otherwise use your work in any way without contacting your for permission. However, they are required to credit you in any use they make of your work.
CC BY-SA (Attribution-ShareAlike)
This license permits others to copy, distribute, adapt and otherwise use your work in any way without contacting you for permission. However, they are required to credit you in any use they make of your work, and also to license any derivative work (e.g. an adapted version) under the same license.
CC BY-ND (Attribution-NoDerivs [No Derivatives])
This license permits others to copy and distribute your work without contacting you for permission. However, they are required to credit you on the copies they make and they are not permitted to change your work in any way.
CC BY-NC (Attribution-NonCommercial)
This license permits others to copy, distribute, adapt and otherwise use your work without contacting you for permission. However, they are required to credit you in any use they make of your work and they are not permitted to use the work for commercial purposes. Non-commercial purposes are defined by Creative Commons as those “not primarily intended or directed towards commercial advantage or monetary compensation.”
CC BY-NC-SA (Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike)
This license permits others to copy, distribute, adapt and otherwise use your work without contacting you for permission. However, they must credit you in any use they make of the work; they are not permitted to use the work for commercial purposes; and they must license any derivative work (e.g. an adapted version) under the same license. Non-commercial purposes are defined by Creative Commons as those “not primarily intended or directed towards commercial advantage or monetary compensation.”
CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs [No Derivatives])
This license permits others to copy and distribute your work without contacting you for permission. However, they must credit you on any copies they make; they are not permitted to use the work for commercial purposes; and they are not permitted to change your work in any way. Non-commercial purposes are defined by Creative Commons as those “not primarily intended or directed towards commercial advantage or monetary compensation.”