Creative Commons represents a revolutionary framework enabling creators to share their work while retaining important rights and controlling how their work is used. Rather than the binary choice between “all rights reserved” copyright and unrestricted public domain status, Creative Commons licenses enable creators to specify precisely which permissions they wish to grant—allowing sharing and adaptation while requiring attribution, restricting commercial use, or mandating that derivative works use identical licenses. This flexibility has transformed how educational materials, scientific research, cultural heritage, and creative works circulate globally, making CC licensing essential knowledge for educators operating in the open education ecosystem.
A critical foundational point: Creative Commons is not itself a license—it is an organization providing standardized legal tools that creators use to license their work. Similarly, Creative Commons is not a copyright holder or author—it is an organization maintaining infrastructure. A common attribution error mistakenly credits “Creative Commons” rather than the actual work creator, fundamentally misunderstanding both how CC works and who deserves recognition.
The Six CC Licenses: Components and Characteristics
Creative Commons provides six distinct licenses (plus the CC0 public domain dedication), each combining four fundamental elements to create different permission structures:
Attribution (BY): Requires that users credit the creator by including the creator’s name, title of the work, source information, and license details. All six CC licenses require Attribution; therefore, no CC-licensed work can be used without providing proper credit.
Share Alike (SA): Requires that if you adapt, remix, or build upon a licensed work, you must license your derivative work under the same or a compatible license. Share Alike prevents “license laundering” where someone modifies CC-licensed open content and then releases the adaptation under a more restrictive license, effectively closing off content that was meant to remain open.
NonCommercial (NC): Restricts use to non-commercial purposes only. Commercial use is prohibited without explicit permission from the copyright holder, making NC licenses appropriate for educational content that creators wish to prevent from being commercialized but still allow adaptation and sharing among educators.
No Derivatives (ND): Prohibits adaptation, remixing, or modification of the work. Users may only distribute the work unchanged and in its entirety. Critically, ND-licensed works are not considered OER because Open Educational Resources require the ability to adapt and customize materials for local contexts. While ND licenses have legitimate uses—photographers wanting to control their image integrity, for example—they conflict with open education’s fundamental principle of enabling customization.
These four elements combine into six standard licenses:
| License | Permissions | Restrictions | OER Compatible |
|---|---|---|---|
| CC BY | Remix, adapt, commercial use | Attribution required | Yes |
| CC BY-SA | Remix, adapt, commercial use | Attribution required; same license for derivatives | Yes |
| CC BY-NC | Remix, adapt (non-commercial) | Non-commercial only; attribution required | Yes |
| CC BY-NC-SA | Remix, adapt (non-commercial) | Non-commercial only; attribution required; same license for derivatives | Yes |
| CC BY-ND | Distribute unchanged | Attribution required; no modifications permitted | No |
| CC BY-NC-ND | Distribute unchanged (non-commercial) | Non-commercial only; attribution required; no modifications permitted | No |
CC BY as the Open Education Recommendation
Within the open education community, CC BY is the most strongly recommended license for educational resources. Several compelling reasons support this consensus:
Maximum reusability and remixability: CC BY allows anyone to use, adapt, remix, and redistribute work for any purpose (including commercial) provided they attribute the original creator. This permissiveness maximizes educational utility—teachers can customize materials for specific learner populations, translate into different languages, integrate with other open resources, and share improved versions back to the community without legal barriers.
Compatibility with other CC licenses: CC BY is the most compatible with other CC licenses. When combining CC BY resources with other CC licenses, the result can be released under the more restrictive license while maintaining openness. However, if you start with CC BY-NC or CC BY-SA resources, you cannot later release the result under CC BY alone—the derivative must maintain at least the same restrictions.
Accessibility advancement: CC BY enables broad accessibility improvements since educators can modify content to add captions, descriptions, alternative text, or translations without permission requests. Teachers working with students who have disabilities can adapt materials to improve accessibility, and these improvements can be shared back to the community.
Open Access scholarly recommendation: Academic researchers and publishers widely endorse CC BY for peer-reviewed publications and research outputs, following the logic that publicly funded research should be maximally accessible and reusable.
When More Restrictive Licenses Are Appropriate
While CC BY represents the open education ideal, more restrictive licenses serve legitimate purposes:
CC BY-SA (Attribution-Share Alike) provides strong openness while protecting against license laundering—ensuring that derivative works remain open under identical terms. CC BY-SA is the license used by Wikipedia and similar collaborative projects where ensuring ongoing openness is paramount. For educational resources developed collaboratively, where contributors want assurance that improvements remain open, CC BY-SA provides that guarantee.
CC BY-NC and CC BY-NC-SA (NonCommercial variants) serve educators who wish to prevent commercial exploitation of educational materials while remaining open to educational adaptation. These licenses are appropriate when institutions want to prevent commercial textbook publishers from incorporating openly licensed materials without permission or compensation. However, educators should recognize that NC restrictions create incompatibilities—NC-licensed materials cannot be combined with CC BY materials in derivative works.
ND (No Derivatives) licenses are inappropriate for educational resources by definition—they prevent the customization and adaptation that define open education. While ND licenses serve legitimate purposes outside education (photographers protecting image integrity, for instance), they violate the fundamental principle that educators should be able to modify materials for their learners.
The TASL Attribution Framework: Getting Attribution Right
The most widely adopted attribution framework is TASL, an acronym representing the four essential elements every attribution should include:
T = Title: The name of the work being attributed. If the creator provided no title, this may be omitted, though Creative Commons recommends including titles when available. Note that Version 4.0 of the CC licenses (released 2013) technically made title optional, but best practice still recommends including it when available.
A = Author: The name of the creator or copyright holder of the work. This should be the creator’s actual name or username if a real name is unavailable. A critical common mistake: do not attribute CC-licensed work to “Creative Commons”—CC is not the author; it is only the licensing organization. Similarly, do not attribute to the platform where you found the work (Flickr, Wikipedia, etc.) unless the platform itself is the original creator.
S = Source: Where the work can be found, typically a URL linking to the original location where the creator posted the work. The source link should ideally direct users to the authoritative, original version rather than copies hosted elsewhere, enabling future users to find the creator’s original and any subsequent versions.
L = License: The specific CC license and version under which the work is licensed, presented as a hyperlink to the license deed. For example: “CC BY 4.0” linked to https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. This enables future users to quickly understand what they can do with the work and clarifies the specific license terms that apply.
Practical Attribution Examples
Creative Commons provides multiple attribution model examples demonstrating how TASL applies across different media and contexts:
Ideal attribution for an image:
“Creative Commons 10th Birthday Celebration San Francisco” by Timothy Vollmer, used under CC BY 4.0 / https://www.flickr.com/photos/tvol/8432367090 / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
This exemplary attribution includes all TASL elements, links to both the original source and the license deed, and enables future users to find and properly attribute the original work.
Attribution for adapted or modified work:
“Desaturated from ‘Creative Commons 10th Birthday Celebration San Francisco'” by Timothy Vollmer, modified by [Your Name], used under CC BY 4.0
This format clarifies that modification occurred, identifies the modifier, and maintains clear attribution to the original creator.
Attribution for derivative works (substantial new creations):
This work, “90fied,” is a derivative of “Creative Commons 10th Birthday Celebration San Francisco” by Timothy Vollmer, used under CC BY 4.0. “90fied” is licensed under CC BY 4.0 by [Your Name].
This format clarifies both the original work and creator, notes that substantial derivative creation occurred, and indicates the new work’s licensing, enabling downstream users to understand the lineage of the work.
Attribution for works with multiple sources:
When materials incorporate multiple CC-licensed works from different sources and creators, attribution should list each work separately with its respective author, source, and license. For example, a compilation citing “Box-and-Whisker Plots” from Collaborative Statistics (CC BY), Khan Academy video (CC BY-NC-SA), and other sources should list each with distinct attribution information.
Distinguishing “Reasonable Attribution” From Imprecise Attribution
A subtle but important distinction exists between attribution that technically complies with CC licenses and attribution that represents best practice. Creative Commons specifies that attribution must be “reasonable” given the medium and context:
HTML web pages can include rich hyperlinked attribution with all TASL elements clearly linked.
Social media posts with character limitations might include abbreviated attribution (“‘Title’ by Author, CC BY 4.0”) with links to sources in comments or profile descriptions.
Printed materials can include inline text attribution or endnote/bibliography-style citations.
Video and audio can include attribution in end credits, video descriptions, or audio credits at conclusions.
While CC licenses provide flexibility on attribution format based on medium, educators should aim for clarity and completeness rather than minimum compliance. Better attribution practices strengthen academic integrity culture and ensure that future users can properly attribute and find original sources.
Common Attribution Mistakes to Avoid
Creative Commons and attribution researchers identify consistent errors undermining attribution quality:
Attributing to Creative Commons rather than the creator: Among the most frequent errors, this mistake confuses the licensing organization with the work creator. For example, stating “Photo: Creative Commons” rather than crediting the actual photographer.
Crediting the platform rather than the creator: Another common error credits Flickr, Wikipedia, or other platforms as if they created the work. Platforms host works but do not author them.
Omitting the source or license information: Attribution lacking source links or license details fails to enable future users to find original works or understand their legal status.
Providing no author information: Attribution must identify the creator or, if no name exists, the username or other identifying information. Anonymous attribution fails the Author component.
Incorrect license identification: Stating the work is under a “Creative Commons license” without specifying the license type (BY, BY-SA, BY-NC, etc.) fails to communicate the specific permissions granted.
Missing modification notices: When adapting CC-licensed work, failing to indicate that modification occurred misleads downstream users about what the original creator produced.
License Compatibility: Combining CC-Licensed Works
A sophisticated but essential concept involves license compatibility—understanding which licenses can legally be combined when creating derivative works:
CC BY is maximally compatible with all other CC licenses. Materials licensed under CC BY can be combined with any other CC license, though the resulting derivative must be released under the most restrictive license involved.
Share Alike compatibility limitations: CC BY-SA materials can only be combined with CC BY-SA or CC BY materials, and the result must be released under CC BY-SA. You cannot combine CC BY-SA with CC BY-NC-SA because the two Share Alike licenses require different default permissions (one allows commercial use, the other prohibits it).
NonCommercial creates bottlenecks: CC BY-NC materials can only be combined with CC BY-NC or CC BY-NC-SA materials. You cannot mix CC BY-NC (which allows derivative commercial use of adaptations) with CC BY-SA (which requires commercial use to be allowed) because the licensing terms would conflict.
No Derivatives is incompatible with remixing: CC BY-ND and CC BY-NC-ND materials cannot be remixed or combined with other works in derivative creations, as the ND restriction prohibits creating derivative works publicly.
Practical license compatibility example: If you are combining a CC BY-licensed image with a CC BY-SA-licensed video, your derivative work must be released under CC BY-SA (the more restrictive Share Alike requirement). If you attempted to combine CC BY-SA material with CC BY-NC-SA material, you cannot legally create a publicly distributed derivative—the Share Alike provisions are incompatible (one requires commercial use to be allowed; the other prohibits it).
Understanding license compatibility is essential for educators creating curricula combining resources from multiple sources, remixing textbooks, or collaboratively developing materials.
Marking Your Own Work: Declaring a CC License
Creators wishing to license their own work under Creative Commons should follow systematic procedures ensuring proper marking and machine-readability:
Using the Creative Commons License Chooser at https://creativecommons.org/chooser/ provides the simplest method. The tool guides creators through decisions about which license best fits their goals, then generates ready-to-use HTML code incorporating proper machine-readable metadata. Creators specify:
- Which CC license applies (CC BY, CC BY-SA, CC BY-NC, CC BY-NC-SA, CC BY-ND, or CC BY-NC-ND)
- Title of their work
- Creator attribution name
- Source URL where the work is published
- Additional information about modifications, prior versions, or related works
The chooser generates HTML code that creators copy and paste into their website, blog, or content platform.
For offline or non-web works, creators can use the text attribution format the chooser provides, including the full license text and link. For example: “This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.”[17]
For hosted platforms like YouTube, Flickr, or Wikipedia, most include built-in CC licensing options. Creators simply select their preferred license when uploading content, and the platform automatically adds proper attribution and machine-readable metadata.
Machine-readable metadata is particularly important for web-based works. The HTML code generated by the CC chooser includes RDF (Resource Description Framework) metadata that search engines can read and understand. This metadata enables search engine filtering by license type—someone searching for “CC BY biology textbook” can find your work if you’ve properly marked it with machine-readable CC licensing.
License Versions: Understanding 4.0 and Porting
Creative Commons has released four major license versions (1.0, 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0), each refining terms and addressing evolving legal landscapes:
Version 4.0 (released November 2013) represents the current, recommended version. Version 4.0 departed from the porting strategy—where licenses were customized for individual countries’ legal systems—by creating a single global license structure functioning effectively in all jurisdictions. This internationalization was motivated by recognition that excessive porting created confusion and incompatibility.
Older ported versions (versions 1.0-3.0 in country-specific formats) remain in use in some jurisdictions, but Creative Commons now discourages new porting and recommends transitioning to version 4.0. While older versions remain legally valid, version 4.0 provides clearer international applicability and superior legal language.
Choosing version 4.0 is recommended for new works, particularly educational resources intended for international use. However, when working with existing CC-licensed materials created under earlier versions, educators should respect and properly attribute the license version applied.
Best Practices for Educators and Institutions
Educational institutions and individual educators implementing CC licensing should adopt several systematic practices:
Choose CC BY for maximum educational benefit: Unless specific constraints require more restriction (commercial protection, attribution requirements beyond standard CC, etc.), CC BY represents the optimal license for educational resources.
Use the TASL attribution framework consistently: Train students and faculty to include Title, Author, Source, and License when citing CC-licensed materials, establishing consistent institutional attribution standards.
Adapt and share back improvements: When educators adapt CC-licensed materials for their learners, consider licensing adaptations under the same CC license and sharing them back to the community through repositories and open education platforms.
Mark adaptations clearly: When modifying CC-licensed works, explicitly indicate what changed and maintain clear attribution to original creators alongside identification of adaptors.
Verify license compatibility: Before combining multiple CC-licensed resources in derivative works, verify that their licenses are compatible, consult compatibility charts if unsure, and release results under appropriately restrictive licenses.
Provide editable formats: When releasing educational OER under CC licenses, provide materials in editable formats (not just PDF) to enable the adaptation that CC licensing permits.
Educate students on proper attribution: Use CC-licensed materials as teaching opportunities, helping students understand how to properly attribute sources and respect creator rights while building open education culture.
Conclusion: Creative Commons as Educational Infrastructure
Creative Commons licensing represents more than legal compliance—it embodies a philosophy of shared knowledge and educational access, enabling creators to grant specific permissions while maintaining attribution and sometimes requiring that improvements remain openly available. For educators and students operating in open education contexts, understanding the six CC licenses, mastering TASL attribution, recognizing license compatibility constraints, and learning to properly mark one’s own work are foundational competencies. When implemented consistently and thoughtfully, CC licensing transforms educational materials from locked-down institutional resources into dynamic, shareable community assets that educators can adapt, improve, and collectively develop toward increasingly effective teaching and learning. The investment in learning CC licensing practices well—getting attribution right, choosing appropriate licenses, and understanding compatibility—pays dividends in supporting open education’s fundamental mission of democratizing access to knowledge.