Copyright

Building on open education, open access, and other sharing countercultures, attorney Lawrence Lessig and like-minded folks started Creative Commons (CC). A nonprofit organization and global network of movers and shakers making it easier to share knowledge with their legal tools, like the Creative Commons (CC) licenses and public domain tools. CC licenses allows creators to retain copyright and give permissions for others to freely share, reuse, and remix and more via the internet and other formats.

How does CC relate to copyright? 

CC licenses are designed to co-exist with copyright and its sister laws like fair use. Only works that are copyrightable are eligible for a CC licenses. CC licenses do not cover trademarked or patented works and are not recommended for use with software.

A creator may only apply a CC license to work for which they own the copyright, such as a civilian employee at USAFA. If you do not own the copyright to a work, then you cannot apply a license to it. For example, if you are active duty military or a Cadet at USAFA, then your work is automatically placed in the Public Domain as government information, and you cannot apply a CC license.

A creator does not give up their copyrights when applying a CC license to their work, unless they place it in the public domain. Rather than retain all their rights under copyright or give up all their rights to the public domain, CC licensing allows creators to retain some rights and clearly communicate those rights to users. 

Once you apply a CC license, the license is irrevocable, though. So be highly reflective of what license you apply and what types of licensed work you use. 

Big takeaway: Think of CC licenses as a communication tool between creators and users. Applying a CC license to your copyrighted work signals what users can and cannot do with the work, such as adapting or sharing or profiting from derivatives (modifications of the original work). Read more below to discover these permissions and more about how CC licenses work.

CC licenses work well because they are designed to be understood by lawyers and non-lawyers as well as computers. Let's break down what this means exactly. 

Layer 1: The legal code is the foundational layer of CC licenses because attorneys use this "fine print" to legally uphold the terms of CC licenses in a court of law. The legal terms are available in multiple languages for international use. The legal terms lay out proper attribution form, terms of the irrevocable license, and procedures for violations. To read an example of the legal code, see the CC BY license.

Layer 2: The common deeds spells out the legal code in simple language for (non-lawyer) humans. For instance, the CC BY-NC-ND terms clearly state that a user is free to share (CC) and must attribute the original creator (BY), must not use a work for commercial purposes (NC), and may not "remix, transform, or build upon the material" to create any derivatives (ND). 

Layer 3: the machine readable and final layer is a standardized way for software to read CC Rights Expression Language or metadata for the CC licenses. The machine readable layer makes it possible to search for something in the Creative Commons library or by usage rights in Google or 

Creative Commons combines the four different elements of licenses to create six license types. The license types are how you can clearly communicate your copyrights. That is, how you can tell people how they may use your work. Read through each of the below. If you need additional help applying a license, reach out to the scholarly communications librarian or use the Creative Commons tool for choosing a license.

Six Creative Commons license types.

	CC-BY: The attribution license type allows others to share, remix, reuse, and profit commercially from your work as long as they credit you.
	CC-BY-SA: This attribution license type allows others to use your work much as they could with a basic CC-BY license. It stipulates, however, that any derivatives, that is remixes or modifications, be shared under the same license, CC-BY-SA.
	CC-BY-ND: The addition of the No Derivatives element restricts people from sharing any derivatives they make of your work. The BY still mandates that they must attribute your work if remixing it for private use or including it unaltered in another work.
	CC-BY-NC: This license allows others to share, remix, and reuse your work but prevents them from profiting financially from your work. Note, the NC does not prevent you from profiting from your work, and is a tool to retain your sole commercial rights.
	CC-BY-NC-SA: The ShareAlike aspect of this license mandates that others can reuse, remix, and modify your work. But they cannot do so for commercial purposes and any derivatives they create must be licensed as CC-BY-NC-SA.
	CC-BY-NC-ND: This license type places the greatest amount of restrictions on users. Essentially, users can access, use, and share unaltered copies of your work without financial profit. They cannot share any derivatives they make.

Remember: even with the most restrictive CC license, CC-BY-NC-ND, fair use and other laws of copyright still stand. Think of CC-BY-NC-ND of being the closest CC license to a standard copyright. So you can still read, quote and cite, and use the source for educational purposes.

Creative Commons also has symbols for items in the Public Domain. Unlike the above six licenses, the Public Domain licenses do not allow you to communicate your copyrights, but allows you to release your copyrights or acknowledges when an item is no longer copyrighted. 

• If you own the copyright to an item, use the CC0 license to place it in the Public Domain and waive your copyrights.
• If you do not own a work's copyright and have verified that it is out of copyright or was never in copyright, then you might consider marking this with a Public Domain Mark.
• Only mark works for the Public Domain after consulting with the scholarly communications librarian or USAFA's legal office, especially when considering USAFA materials.
• Finally, you cannot remove items from the Public Domain by adding a CC license or place another copyrighted work that you do not own in the Public Domain.

In other words, use CC licenses to communicate copyright but do not attempt to rewrite copyright with a CC license.

"Creative Commons licenses" by Karna Younger is licensed under a CC-BY-NC 4.0.

Sources

"About the Licenses" by Creative Commons. CC BY 4.0.

"Unit 3: Anatomy of a CC License" by Creative Commons. CC BY 4.0.

Images by Creative Commons. CC BY 4.0.