Guides: Academic Integrity &amp; Avoiding Plagiarism: Creative Commons

Creative Commons

What is it?

In most of the world, a work is given copyright protection as soon as it is created. This means it cannot be copied, distributed, performed, posted, or altered/used to create derivative works of it without express permission from the creator or rights holder.

However, there are many creators who are happy to have their work shared in such a way or used to create new works...but they have no easy way to indicate that they give their permission to do so.

This is where Creative Commons licensing comes in. The Creative Commons Organization is a nonprofit organization that "enables the sharing and reuse of creativity and knowledge through the provision of legal tools". Creative Commons licenses are legal tools that creators and other rights holders can use to offer certain usage rights to the public, while reserving other rights. It also allows creators to mark their works with the CC0 license or with the Public Domain Mark, which can make a work available for worldwide public use

So that means they're copyright-free, right?

No. It's important to understand that Creative Commons works are NOT without copyright.They are still copyrighted to their creators. However, what Creatives Commons DOES permit is for creators to give permission to use/post/alter their works, without requiring you to ask them specifically for their permission, which saves both you and the creator time and effort. It also outlines how the work may be used and how it may NOT be used without you having to ask.

Do I still have to give credit/cite the image or work if I use it?

Yes. Creative Commons does not equal public domain. It is still a form of copyright license, and you're still expected to give credit to the creator(s), according to whichever of the 6 Creative Commons licenses the creator has licensed their work under. To not do so is theft/copyright infringement.

There is one exception: works licensed under CC0 or the Public Domain Mark are available for worldwide public use.

To learn more about Creative Commons and the different Creative Commons licenses, please visit the official Creative Commons website.

Visual examples of Creative Commons license icons and symbols

Visual examples of Creative Commons symbols and acronyms. CC BY means Attribution. SA means Share Alike. NC means commercial use is not permitted. ND means no alterations or derivative works may be created.

For more information on the acronyms and symbols involved in marking Creative Commons, please visit the official Creative Commons website.

Insert sources here

Creative Commons Image Collections

Creative Commons Image Search
Allows you to search a variety of Creative Commons collections including Flickr, Wikimedia Commons, and Open Clip Art Library.
Flickr - Creative Commons Search
Flickr holds an amazing, constantly growing collection of images from photographers around the world. Rather than "Any license" (which is the default), choose "All creative commons" when you search. Images with a creative commons license have "some rights reserved." These inform you what the creator will allow; be sure to check the terms for the image you want to use.
Free Food Photos
Offers a wide selection of quality food photography, sorted by 'type' (Breakfast, Dessert, etc.) Images on this site are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License, and may be shared or adapted, even commercially.
Image repositories for e-Learning
An annotated list of online repositories containing images which can be used without cost or restriction for educational purposes.
Noun Project
Excellent source of icons and symbols. Most items are Creative Commons, but check individual permissions as some restrictions may exist.
Open Clip Art
A large and growing collection of high-quality vector clipart (SVG format) made available under the CC licence.
Pexels
From the website: Pexels provides high quality and completely free stock photos
Pixabay
All images and videos on Pixabay are released free of copyrights under Creative Commons CC0. You may download, modify, distribute, and use them royalty free for anything you like, even in commercial applications.
Unsplash
From the website: Beautiful, free photos. Gifted by the world’s most generous community of photographers.
Wikimedia Commons
Clicking on an image or media file found on Wikimedia Commons will take you to the copyright & licensing information page for that file.
Science Stock Photos
From the website: A fascinating collection of science stock photos available for education and commercial use, high resolution and simple download. All photos on the website are licensed under CC BY 4.0 and can be shared and adapted.

Sources and image credits:

Bailey, J (Ed.).(2018, July 24). What is Creative Commons anyway? Plagiarism.org. https://www.plagiarism.org/blog/2018/07/24/what-is-creative-

commons-anyway

"CC" by Creative Commons, used under CC BY 4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.

Creative Commons. (n.d.). What we do: About CC licenses. https://creativecommons.org/about/cclicenses/