Creative Commons Licenses
Originally posted at Musicinfo.io
Creative Commons is a set of copyright licenses that allow creators to specify the permissions they grant to others regarding their creative works, such as text, images, music, and more. These licenses are based on copyright law but are more flexible than traditional copyright.
Creative Commons licenses make it easier for creators to share their work with the public and specify the conditions under which others can use, remix, and share those works. It’s a tool that strikes a balance between copyright protection and openness, enabling a more open and collaborative culture of sharing creative content. Creators who choose Creative Commons licenses retain their copyright but allow others to reuse their work with standardized terms.
There are several types of Creative Commons licenses, each with its own set of permissions:
Attribution (CC BY): allows others to distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon the work, even for commercial purposes as long as they give appropriate credit to the original creator.
Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA): allows for remixing, tweaking, and building upon the work, even for commercial purposes as long as the new work is released under the same terms and provides the proper attribution.
Attribution-NoDerivs (CC BY-ND): permits redistribution, commercial and non-commercial, as long as the work is passed along in whole and unaltered, with the proper attribution.
Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC): allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work for non-commercial purposes only and requires proper attribution.
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA): allows for remixing, tweaking, and building upon the work for non-commercial purposes as long as the new work is released under the same terms and provides the proper attribution.
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND): is the most restrictive, allowing others to download the works and share them with others as long as they provide proper attribution, but they can’t change it in any way or use it for commercial purposes.
Be sure when downloading content from the internet such as images, text or sound clips, the licenses they are governed with so you are not in a pickle when you decide to take the next step to distribute your music to the pubic for or not for monetization.
