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CC BY 4.0 DEED
Attribution 4.0 International
Canonical URL
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
See the legal code

You are free to:

1.Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even

commercially.

2.Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.

3.The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.

Under the following terms:

1.Attribution — You must give appropriate credit , provide a link to the license, and indicate if

changes were made . You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that

suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.

2.No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that

legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.

 Notices:
You do not have to comply with the license for elements of the material in the public domain

or where your use is permitted by an applicable exception or limitation .

No warranties are given. The license may not give you all of the permissions necessary for your

intended use. For example, other rights such as publicity, privacy, or moral rights may limit

how you use the material.

Notice
This deed highlights only some of the key features and terms of the actual license. It is not a

license and has no legal value. You should carefully review all of the terms and conditions of the

actual license before using the licensed material.

Creative Commons is not a law firm and does not provide legal services. Distributing, displaying,

or linking to this deed or the license that it summarizes does not create a lawyer-client or any

other relationship.

Creative Commons is the nonprofit behind the open licenses and other legal tools that allow

creators to share their work. Our legal tools are free to use.

• Learn more about our work

• Learn more about CC Licensing

• Support our work

• Use the license for your own material.

• Licenses List

• Public Domain List

Footnotes
•

return to reference appropriate credit — If supplied, you must provide the name of the creator
and attribution parties, a copyright notice, a license notice, a disclaimer notice, and a link to the
 material. CC licenses prior to Version 4.0 also require you to provide the title of the material if
supplied, and may have other slight differences.
• More info
•

return to reference indicate if changes were made — In 4.0, you must indicate if you modified
the material and retain an indication of previous modifications. In 3.0 and earlier license
versions, the indication of changes is only required if you create a derivative.
• Marking guide
• More info
•

return to reference technological measures — The license prohibits application of effective

technological measures, defined with reference to Article 11 of the WIPO Copyright Treaty.
• More info
•

return to reference exception or limitation — The rights of users under exceptions and
limitations, such as fair use and fair dealing, are not affected by the CC licenses.
• More info
•

return to reference publicity, privacy, or moral rights — You may need to get additional
permissions before using the material as you intend.
• More info

• Contact
• Newsletter
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CONTACT US
Creative Commons PO Box 1866, Mountain View, CA 94042

info@creativecommons.org

+1-415-429-6753

• Twitter
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• Facebook
• LinkedIn

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER

subscribe

SUPPORT OUR WORK

Our work relies on you! Help us keep the Internet free and open.

DONATE NOW
Except where otherwise noted , content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution 4.0 International license . Icons by Font Awesome .

License Versions

This page identifies the principal improvements to the Creative Commons license suite since the
publication of the first licenses (version 1.0) in December 2002, through the current version 4.0,
published November 2013. It also highlights important similarities and differences among the major
license versions. For more information on using CC tools or works offered under Creative
Commons licenses, consult the Frequently Asked Questions page. For a further historical
perspective, you are invited to review deprecated CC legal tools identified on the retired legal tools
page.

Please note that the summaries below may not reflect all changes between license

versions or fully or accurately describe the differences between them. CC cannot provide

legal advice, and what follows is not legal advice. What follows below is a general
 description of differences and similarities between the license versions, for general

informational purposes only. Consult your own attorney if you are in need of legal advice.

Contents

[hide]

• 1 License Versioning History

• 2 International License Development Process

• 3 License Suite Versions

• 3.1 General license features

• 3.2 Attribution-specific elements

• 3.2.1 Detailed attribution comparison chart

• 3.3 Features remaining unchanged

• 4 License Features

• 4.1 Nomenclature (for international licenses)

• 4.2 License scope (beyond copyright)

• 4.2.1 Sui generis database rights

• 4.2.2 Treatment of moral rights

• 4.2.3 Trademark and patent explicitly not licensed

• 4.3 Attribution and marking

• 4.3.1 Attribution reasonable to means, medium, and context

• 4.3.2 Reasonableness applies to all attribution requirements

• 4.3.3 Credit to others explicit

• 4.3.4 Licensors may request removal of attribution

• 4.3.5 Title required

• 4.3.6 URI required

• 4.3.7 "No endorsement" clause included

• 4.3.8 Modifications and adaptations must be indicated

• 4.4 Other license features

• 4.4.1 Representations and warranties from licensor included

• 4.4.2 Licensor expressly waives rights to enforce, and grants permission to circumvent, technological

protection measures

• 4.4.3 Automatic restoration of rights after termination if license violations corrected

• 4.4.4 Collecting societies regimes addressed

• 4.5 License-specific features

• 4.5.1 Compatibility mechanism in BY-SA licenses

• 4.5.2 Compatibility mechanism in BY-NC-SA licenses

• 4.5.3 Adapted material usable under conditions of adapter's license

• 4.5.4 Adaptations of NoDerivatives material permitted when not shared

• 4.6 Features remaining unchanged across license versions

• 4.6.1 Attribution required

• 4.6.2 Definition of "NonCommercial"

• 4.6.3 Application of effective technological measures by users of CC-licensed works prohibited

• 4.6.4 Exceptions and limitations unaffected

• 4.6.5 Effective for all copyrightable material

• 4.6.6 Notices must be retained

• 4.6.7 Synching creates adaptations

• 4.6.8 No sublicensing

• 4.6.9 Licensing of collections

• 4.6.10 Licensing of contributions to BY and BY-NC adaptations

• 5 Licenses

• 5.1 4.0

• 5.2 3.0

• 5.3 2.5

• 5.4 2.0

• 5.5 1.0

License Versioning History

The chart below presents the major license versions, launch dates, and blog posts

announcing major public comment periods, the launch of each license suite, and

improvements. It does not reference the unfinished version 3.x (3.01 or 3.5) licenses,

which did not include active public consultation and were never published. Version 4.0 is

the premier, recommended Creative Commons license suite.

Explanation of
License Release Launch
Calls for public comment changes from
version [1] date announcement
prior version
1.0 2002 Creative Commons
Dec 16 Unveils Machine-
 Readable Copyright
Licenses
Announcing (and Announcing (and
2004 Versioning -- Public Review
2.0 explaining) our new 2.0 explaining) our
May 25 Begins
licenses new 2.0 licenses
Comments Period
Tweaking CC's Standard
2005 Drawing to a close
2.5 Attribution Language -- An
June for Draft License
Invitation to Comment
Version 2.5
Creative
2007 Version 3.0 -- Public Discussion Commons Version
3.0 Version 3.0 Launched
Feb 23 Launched 3.0 Licenses -- A
Brief Explanation
 Initial
announcement: Copyright
Experts Discuss CC License
Version 4.0 at the Global
Summit
 Beginning of public
 What's New in
discussion: Version 4.0 –
4.0: Summary
Public Discussion Launches
 Policy decisions
 Draft 1: Version 4.0 – License
CC’s Next Generation and versioning
2013 Draft Ready for Public
4.0 Licenses — Welcome notes
Nov 25 Comment!
Version 4.0!  Creative
 Draft 2: Draft 2 of 4.0 Ready
Commons
for Public Comment
Version 4.0
 Draft 3: 4.0 draft 3 published
wiki pages
– final comment period
underway
 Draft 4: 4.0 draft 4 ready for
comment — final
consultation before
publication
1. Jump up↑ Note that CC released a version 2.1 suite for jurisdictions like Spain, Australia,

and Japan, whose localized ports of the 2.0 suite contained errors.

International License Development Process

Creative Commons develops, releases, and updates its public copyright licenses (and

other legal tools) via an open and inclusive process of engagement with Creative

Commons’ global network of attorneys and affiliates, as well as varied communities and

constituents. The process culminates in the publication of the preferred, most up-to-date

set of CC licenses for use around the world. Creative Commons released its latest version

of the licenses in November 2013, the 4.0 international licenses.

The public license development process includes the publication of drafts, formal comment

periods, and transparent decision-making. In recognition of its stewardship role, CC has

also made public commitments about the development of its ShareAlike licenses:

the Statement of Intent for Attribution-ShareAlike licenses following the publication of 3.0.

After publication of 4.0, Creative Commons posted for public comment a continuation of

that statement, but that has not been finalized for lack of demonstrated need or interest of

the community.

While each version of licenses is drafted to conform with copyright law, the version 4.0

license suite includes significant improvements to ensure the licenses operate well

internationally. Through extensive consultation with our global network of legal affiliates,

the 4.0 international license suite is designed for use in jurisdictions around the world,

without the need for localization beyond translation. CC has an established a policy

for official translations of the 4.0 licenses as well as other legal tools.

Prior to version 4.0, Creative Commons granted permission to legal experts around the

world to adapt (or “port”) the licenses where necessary to more fully align the text with the

laws of different legal jurisdictions, and to translate the licenses to the local language(s).

For the 4.0 suite, every effort has been made to avoid the need to port (though we will

support official language translations). CC may consider requests to port the 4.0 suite in

2014, but only where a compelling need is demonstrated. If CC decides to consider

requests, in no case will CC grant permission if the basis for doing so is to include a choice

of law or if the change presented would otherwise alter the basic operation of the licenses.

CC will post more information on the topic of porting in Q2 of 2014.

License Suite Versions

The chart below and linked explanations that follow detail some of the improvements and

important similarities among Creative Commons license versions. Some of the

explanations contain links to further information on the topic.

General license features

License Suite Version 1.0 2.0 2.5 3.0 4.0

All international
(unported/generic)
and ported licenses
Nomenclature (for Generic Generic Generic International International
unported licenses) license license license (unported) license license
License scope (beyond
copyright)
Express permission
granted under sui No No No EU ports only Yes
generis database rights
License conditions
Few ports Few ports
apply to sui generis No No Yes
only only
database rights
Treatment of moral Not Not Not Waived/not
Varied
rights addressed addressed addressed asserted
Trademark and patent
No No No No Yes
explicitly reserved
Other license features
Representations and
warranties from Yes No No No No
licensor included
Licensor expressly
waives rights to
enforce, and grants
permission to No No No No Yes
circumvent,
technological
protection measures
Automatic
reinstatement after Yes, if corrected
No No No No
termination if within 30 days
violations corrected
Express reservation of Expressly Expressly
right by collecting Not waived waived Expressly waived Expressly waived
society to collect addressed where where where possible where possible
royalty possible possible
Element-specific
features
same license,
same same same license, later later versions,
Compatibility license, license, versions, ports, or CC-designated
same license
mechanism in BY-SA later later CC-designated compatible
only
licenses versions, or versions, or compatible licenses
ports ports licenses (including
designated ports)
Compatibility
mechanism in BY-NC- No No No No Yes
SA licenses
Yes
Adaptations of SA (because
material usable under adapter's
No No No Yes
conditions of adapter's license had
license to be same
license)
Adaptations of
NoDerivatives material
No No No No Yes
permitted when not
shared
Attribution-specific elements

License Suite
1.0 2.0 2.5 3.0 4.0
Version
Attribution
Medium and Medium and Medium and Medium and
reasonable to means,
means, with means, with means, with means, with Explicit
medium, and
exceptions exceptions exceptions exceptions
context
Reasonableness
All but license
applies to all All but license All but license All but license
and copyright All
attribution notices notices notices
notices
requirements
Licensors may name
other attribution Implied Implied Implied Explicit Explicit
parties
Licensors may Adaptations
Adaptations and Adaptations and Adaptations and
request removal of and collections Always
collections only collections only collections only
attribution only
Title of work
Yes Yes Yes Yes No
required
If contains If contains If contains
copyright notice copyright notice copyright notice
URI required No Yes
or licensing or licensing or licensing
information information information
"No endorsement"
No No No Yes Yes
clause included
Modifications must Yes, but only
No No No Yes
be indicated adaptations
Detailed attribution comparison chart
1.0
Author if supplied
Copyright notices if
supplied
Title if supplied
Notices that refer to Public
License and the disclaimer
of warranties if supplied
N/A
If adaptation, credit
indicating Work has been
used
Text/URI for Public
License
If collection or adaptation,
remove reference to author
and licensor upon request
to the extent practicable
Copyright notice, author,
title, credit noting use of
original in adaptation – all
may be implemented in any
reasonable manner, so long
as at least as prominent as
2.0 3.0 4.0
Author if supplied
Creator if supplied
and attribution
and attribution
parties if designated
Author if supplied parties if designated
in copyright notice,
in reasonable
TOS, or other
manner
reasonable means
Copyright notices if Copyright notices if Copyright notice if
supplied supplied supplied
Title if supplied Title if supplied N/A
Notice that refers to
Notices that refer to
Public License and
Notices that refer to Public Public License and
notice that refers to
License and the disclaimer the disclaimer of
the disclaimer of
of warranties if supplied warranties if
warranties if
supplied
supplied
To the extent
To the extent practicable, practicable, URI
URI licensor specifies to be licensor specifies to To the extent
associated with the work be associated with practicable, URI or
(but only if references the work (but only if link to the material
copyright notice or references copyright if supplied
licensing info) notice or licensing
info)
If adaptation, credit
Indicate if you
indicating Work has
modified the
If adaptation, credit been used and
material; retain an
indicating Work has been reasonable steps
indication of
used taken to identify that
previous
changes were made
modifications
to the original
Indicate the material
is available under
Text/URI for Public Text/URI for Public
Public License and
License License
include
text/URI/link
If collection or
Remove attribution
If collection or adaptation, adaptation, remove
information upon
remove reference to author reference to author
request to the extent
and licensor upon request to and licensor upon
reasonably
the extent practicable request to the extent
practicable
practicable
Copyright notice, author, Author, title, URI, All reasonable to
title, URI, credit noting use credit noting use of medium, means, and
of original in adaptation – original in context
all may be implemented in adaptation -- all
any reasonable manner, so reasonable to
long as at least as medium and means
 prominent as other
other authorship credit if an
authorship credit if an
adaptation or collection
adaptation or collection

Features remaining unchanged

 Definition of "NonCommercial"

 Attribution required (but anonymity permitted)

 Prohibition on effective technological measures by users of CC-licensed works

 Exceptions and limitations unaffected

 License effective for all copyrightable material

 Notices must be retained

 No sublicensing

 Synching creates adaptations

 Licensing of collections

 Licensing of BY and BY-NC adaptations

License Features

Nomenclature (for international licenses)

The 4.0 licenses are referred to as "international."

Version 3.0 licenses were referred to as "unported" licenses until 2010, at which point they

were re-branded as the "international" licenses. At that point, CC added a global flag to the

licenses and deeds and changed the reference in the Chooser (among other things). In the

1.0, 2.0, and 2.5 versions, the international licenses were called the “generic” licenses.

The generic licenses were drafted to conform with U.S. copyright law.

Starting with version 3.0, Creative Commons drafted its core suite of licenses to conform

to relevant international treaties and drafting conventions. In this sense, version 3.0 and

the current 4.0 international license suites are jurisdiction-agnostic: these licenses do not
mention and are not drafted against any particular jurisdiction's laws or statutes. They are

intended to function without adjustment in all jurisdictions around the world.

License scope (beyond copyright)

Sui generis database rights

The 4.0 international suite licenses database rights along with copyright. Where the use of

a database under a CC license implicates sui generis database rights, whether or not

copyright is implicated, that use is subject to the terms and conditions of the license. If sui

generis rights are not implicated—for example, if the use is in a jurisdiction where these

rights do not exist, or if the database is not protected by the laws of a jurisdiction where

such rights exist— such uses are not regulated by the license if copyright or neighboring

rights do not apply. A few early (2.0, 2.5) European jurisdiction license ports also licensed

database rights subject to the terms and conditions of the license.

In 3.0, the international (unported) license suite does not mention sui generis rights.

However, ported 3.0 licenses for jurisdictions where those rights exist address them

according to CC's 3.0 database rights policy. Under this policy, version 3.0 EU jurisdiction

ports must license sui generis rights subject to the terms and conditions of the license just

like copyright and neighboring rights, but also must waive license restrictions and

conditions (attribution, ShareAlike, etc) for uses triggering database rights—so that if the

use of a database published under a CC license implicated only database rights but not

copyright, the CC license requirements and prohibitions would not apply to that use. The

license conditions and restrictions, however, continue to apply to all uses triggering

copyright. Other ports and the 3.0 international license are silent on sui generis database

rights: databases and data are licensed (i.e., subject to restrictions detailed in the license)

to the extent copyrightable, and if data in the database or the database itself are not

copyrightable the license restrictions do not apply to those parts (though they still apply to
the remainder). Thus, regardless of the CC 3.0 license at play (unported, an EU port,

another port), uses that implicate only database rights will not trigger the license

conditions, while uses that implicate copyright will.

Neither the international nor the ported licenses that address database rights export the

sui generis rights to jurisdictions where such rights are not recognized (the ported licenses

accomplish this as well through inclusion of a territoriality limitation). This avoids

the imposition of restrictions based on sui generis rights via contract where those rights

are not enforceable or recognized. You may compare how different jurisdictions

implemented this section of the license.

Treatment of moral rights

In version 4.0, moral rights are waived to the limited extent necessary to exercise the

licensed rights.

While the existence and extent of moral rights differ by jurisdiction, the most consistently

present rights are those of attribution and integrity (the right to prevent or halt the

prejudicial use of one’s work by another). The 1.0, 2.0, and 2.5 licenses were drafted to

conform to U.S. law, and because U.S. law recognizes moral rights in only very limited

circumstances, the generic versions of those licenses suites do not address moral rights of

authors.

The international licenses began to address moral rights in version 3.0. In version

4.0, moral rights are waived or not asserted to the extent possible under local law, to the

limited extent they would otherwise interfere with exercise of the licensed rights. This

avoids establishing moral rights through the license where they would not otherwise exist,

but recognizes that there are jurisdictions where this limited waiver is not possible. The

attribution requirements in Section 3 of the 4.0 licenses may satisfy many jurisdictions'
right of attribution; however, they are a requirement of the license regardless of whether

moral rights apply to a use.

In the 3.0 license suite, CC addressed moral rights in the international (unported) licenses.

CC did not include a waiver of those rights in the international licenses. Instead, the

licenses specifically instruct users that they “must not distort, mutilate, modify or take other

derogatory action in relation to the Work which would be prejudicial to the Original Author's

honor or reputation.” The only exception is where the right to make adaptations would be

considered prejudicial to the author's honor and reputation, in which case the licensor

waives or agrees not to assert their moral right in order to allow adaptations to be made.

The attribution requirement is designed in part to satisfy the right of attribution. In the

porting process, some jurisdictions slightly adjusted this provision, with CC’s permission, to

specify that moral rights are waived to the extent necessary to effect the license to the

degree a waiver is possible under applicable law. You may compare how different

jurisdictions implemented this section of the license.

Trademark and patent explicitly not licensed

In the 4.0 licenses, trademark and patent rights are expressly mentioned as not among the

rights licensed.

No CC license version licenses patent and trademark rights along with copyright. These

rights are treated separately and are not covered by the license. In 4.0, this was made

explicit to avoid confusion. However, in all license versions, implied licenses may come

into play where these rights would interfere with exercise of the rights granted by the CC

license.
Attribution and marking

Attribution reasonable to means, medium, and context

In 4.0, the manner of attribution is explicitly allowed to be reasonable to the means,

medium, and context of how one shares a work.

In the 1.0, 2.0, 2.5, and 3.0 licenses, attribution may be reasonable to the medium or

means, and applied to all elements other than certain notices where the requirement is

firm. In 4.0, this explicit permission applies to the medium, means, and context of use. We

believe this to be a clarification rather than a change: attribution reasonable to the means,

medium, and context of use should be permissible for works under any CC license.

Additionally, the pre-4.0 licenses specified that credit in adaptations and collections should

be at least as prominent as credits for other authors; 4.0 is not specific in this regard.

Reasonableness applies to all attribution requirements

In 4.0, all attribution requirements may be fulfilled reasonable to the means, medium, and

context of the use.

In earlier license versions, compliance reasonable to means and medium of use was not

expressly permitted for all elements, as certain notices were excluded; however, in 4.0

these are included in the elements that may be fulfilled in a reasonable manner.

Credit to others explicit

In 4.0, proper attribution requires credit to designated others where supplied by the

licensor.

In the 1.0 and 2.0 licenses, CC licenses contemplated crediting the author only. Versions

2.5 and 3.0 allow licensors to identify another party or organization for attribution (called an

“Attribution Party” in these licenses). This feature was introduced in part to alleviate

burdensome or difficult attribution situations, such as when many people contribute to a

collaborative effort and agree to be credited as a collective body. In licenses with this

feature, licensors may designate another party for attribution purposes—such as a

sponsor institute, publishing entity or journal—in addition to or instead of the author. You

may review some of the concerns raised when CC proposed this change.

Licensors may request removal of attribution

In the 4.0 licenses, a user must remove attribution from a work at the creator's request to

the extent it is reasonably practicable to do so. This is true whether the work is modified or

unmodified.

All license versions after version 1.0 require attribution. However, legislation in many

countries gives authors the right to control the use of their name in association with their

works. Therefore, CC licenses require licensees to remove attribution to the creator at his

or her request, where it would otherwise be required to include it. In 2.0, 2.5, and 3.0,

credit must be removed from adaptations and collections, to the extent practicable, at the

creator’s request. In 4.0, the creator may also request removal of credit from the

unmodified work.

Title required

The title is not required for proper attribution in the 4.0 licenses. It is required in all earlier

versions.

Beginning in version 1.0, one of the requirements for proper attribution was to include the

title of the licensed work; this requirement was kept in versions 2.0, 2.5, and 3.0. In

Version 4.0, this requirement was eliminated to increase flexibility and ease of compliance,

particularly as many works do not have titles. Users are still encouraged to include titles

where supplied.
URI required

For 4.0 licensed materials, a URI is required for proper attribution, if it is reasonably

practicable to include.

The version 1.0 licenses contained no URI requirement. In version 2.0, CC introduced the

requirement to retain a URI associated with a licensed work for proper attribution if it

contains copyright notices or licensing information; this was kept through 2.5 and 3.0. In

version 4.0, CC reconsidered this requirement. However, it was retained based on

feedback from current and potential adopters that it is important for provenance, branding,

and other reasons; a URI associated with the work is required as part of attribution if

reasonably practicable to retain, regardless of whether it contains copyright notices or

licensing information.

"No endorsement" clause included

In version 4.0, the license is clear that it should not be construed as giving permission to

suggest the licensor endorses their use and similar.

In some jurisdictions, wrongfully implying that an author, publisher, or anyone else

endorses a particular use of a work may be unlawful. Though not explicitly mentioned in

the 1.0, 2.0, or 2.5 licenses, this has always been the case. The version 3.0

licenses contain an express no endorsement clause. In version 4.0, this clause is

expressed as a limitation on the rights granted by the licensor.

Modifications and adaptations must be indicated

In the 4.0 license suite, licensees are required to indicate if they made modifications to the

licensed material. This obligation applies whether or not the modifications produced

adapted material. As with all other attribution and marking requirements, this may be done

in a manner reasonable to the means, medium, and context. For example, "This section is
an excerpt of the original." For trivial modifications, such as correcting spelling errors, it

may be reasonable to omit the notice.

In the 3.0 suite, the obligation to indicate if modifications have been made applies if they

result in the creation of an adaptation (when allowed by the license). Versions 1.0, 2.0, and

2.5 do not contain this requirement directly; however, the requirement in those licenses

that the original work be credited if used in an adaptation (e.g., "French translation of the

Work by Original Author") is some indication that the work has been modified. Even when

not required, licensees are encouraged to indicate the material has been modified, and

ideally (when reasonable) to describe or specify the changes made.

Other license features

Representations and warranties from licensor included

In version 4.0, the licensor does not provide representations and warranties regarding the

licensed content.

In the 1.0 license suite, the licensor extends warranties—for instance, that the work does

not infringe the work of another. These warranties were eliminated in all subsequent

license versions. Versions 2.0, 2.5, 3.0 and 4.0 explicitly offer the work “AS IS” and

disclaim all liabilities to the extent allowable by law. In 4.0, an interpretation clause was

added to help ensure that the disclaimer would be interpreted as intended given variations

in local law. Of course, licensors may continue to offer warranties and specialized

disclaimers separately from the license.

Some ports of 3.0 include warranties where they may not be disclaimed under local

law. You may compare how different jurisdictions implemented this section of the license.
Licensor expressly waives rights to enforce, and grants permission to circumvent,

technological protection measures

Version 4.0 includes an explicit waiver of, or agreement not to assert, any right licensor

may otherwise have to enforce anti-circumvention of any effective technological measures

applied to licensed material. CC licensors may apply such measures to their own licensed

material, but the 4.0 licenses ensure that, to the extent possible, users are able to exercise

the licensed rights when applied by or with the permission of the licensor. To reinforce this,

the version 4.0 licenses also expressly grant permission to circumvent those measures.

It is always possible for a licensor to upload his or her own work to a platform that applies

technological protection measures, even though the licensor chooses to use a CC license.

The permission for a third-party platform to apply ETMs is separate from the CC license,

and the CC license cannot restrict that additional permission because CC licenses are

nonexclusive. In many jurisdictions, that third party may be able to enforce ETMs through

civil or criminal anti-circumvention laws even though the licensor has waived or agreed not

to assert any such right under the CC license. Licensees should make themselves aware

of any legal limits on their ability to circumvent ETMs in advance of doing so.

In versions 1.0, 2.0, 2.5, and 3.0, the waiver of any right to enforce and the permission to

circumvent are not express; however, this does not preclude any implied right to do so that

may exist.

Automatic restoration of rights after termination if license violations corrected

In version 4.0, licensees may regain their rights to use licensed material after the license

terminates by correcting a license violation within 30 days of discovering it.

In all license versions, a breach of the license terms results in automatic termination.

Under versions 1.0, 2.0, 2.5, and 3.0, express permission from the licensor is required for
licensees to regain their rights to use the work. In version 4.0, a new provision allows the

rights to be automatically reinstated without express permission from the licensor, provided

that the violation is corrected within 30 days of its discovery. This is similar to provisions in

a handful of other public licenses.

In all versions, a licensor may of course reinstate permissions at any time.

Collecting societies regimes addressed

Under 4.0, licensors waive any right to collect royalties under collecting society schemes if

they have chosen licenses permitting commercial uses. A licensor may collect royalties for

commercial uses for works under the NonCommercial licenses.

Many users of Creative Commons licenses are members of collective rights societies like

ASCAP, BMI, BUMA/STEMRA, and others that manage copyright on behalf of owners.

Every license version from the 2.0 suite onward contains clauses that account for the

existence of those arrangements. They provide, for instance, that for works offered under a

NonCommercial license, the licensor retains the right to collect royalties for commercial

uses of the work. The structure of the provisions in the 2.0 and 2.5 licenses differs from

that in the version 3.0 and 4.0 licenses. The 2.x licenses specifically regulate music, sound

recordings, and webcasting. As those licenses were ported to different jurisdictions, those

provisions were adjusted to conform to the local collecting society situation.

The version 3.0 licenses and later employ a broad, harmonized strategy to collective rights

societies. This strategy still allows jurisdictions to adopt an approach that best aligns with

local law and society structure in the 3.0 licenses, but also ensures that the approach is

implemented consistently across jurisdictions. In the international license, as regards

compulsory royalty collection, the licensor reserves any right they have to collect those

royalties in jurisdictions in which collection cannot be waived. In those jurisdictions in

which compulsory royalty collection can be waived, the right to collect royalties is waived

completely for those licenses that permit commercial use, and is reserved for commercial

uses in those licenses that permit NonCommercial use only. For voluntary royalty schema,

the licensor reserves the right to collect royalties for commercial uses in those licenses

that permit NonCommercial use only, and waives the right to collect such royalties for

licenses permitting commercial use. This clause covers both individual royalty collection

and, in the event that the licensor is a member of a collecting society that collects such

royalties, collection via such societies to the extent permitted by law. Some ports of the

version 3.0 licenses include only those clauses that address the particular situation in the

jurisdiction. Others have adopted all the language from the international license in hopes

of international harmonization, or out of concern that their jurisdiction’s regime may

change. You may compare how different jurisdictions implemented this section of the

license.

License-specific features

Compatibility mechanism in BY-SA licenses

Under the 4.0 licenses, licensees may use licenses designated by CC as compatible for

their contributions to adapted material.

The ShareAlike licenses require that licensees make their contributions to adapted

material available under the same terms and conditions, or, where the license allows,

under a license designated by CC as compatible. The version 1.0 ShareAlike licenses

require that adaptations be made under exactly the same license as applied to the original

work. Starting with the release of the 2.x license suites, CC expanded compatibility by

allowing contributions to adapted material to be created under the same or later version of

the original license, including other ported versions of the same or later version of the

license. The 3.0 Attribution-ShareAlike goes one step further, by allowing those
contributions to be licensed under under a “Creative Commons Compatible License,”

defined to mean licenses approved by CC as essentially equivalent to the 3.0 Attribution-

ShareAlike license.

To date, CC has not approved any other licenses as compatible. However, CC will develop

a compatibility process shortly following launch of the 4.0 licenses, and begin evaluating

other licenses. You can view the list of compatible licenses, and a post about the upcoming

compatibility process. You may also want to review CC’s statement of intent for the

Attribution-ShareAlike licenses, and a draft statement that sets out further principles for the

ShareAlike licenses.

Compatibility mechanism in BY-NC-SA licenses

In the 4.0 licenses, the same compatibility mechanism is present in the BY-NC-SA license

as in BY-SA. Adapted material may be licensed under BY-NC-SA, version 4.0 or later, or

any license CC has designated as compatible. To date, CC has not identified any other

licenses as compatible; the process and criteria will be maintained on the compatibility

page. There is no compatibility mechanism in the 1.0, 2.0, 2.5, or 3.0 versions of BY-NC-

SA.

Adapted material usable under conditions of adapter's license

In version 4.0, CC added a provision in the ShareAlike licenses that enables downstream

licensees to refer only to the adapter’s license when using adapted material that contains

the copyrightable contributions of multiple authors. This feature is designed to minimize

complexity for reusers where they are using a later version of the ShareAlike license or a

compatible license as their adapter's license. In 4.0, users need only refer to a single set of

conditions contained in the last license applied to reuse adapted material, rather than

parsing the conditions of the original and other adapter's licenses (to the extent the

licenses differ).
In all cases, the licenses stack (the later license does not supplant all previously-applied

licenses) when adapted material is created. In particular, the license originally applied to

the material being remixed continues to apply once remixed, however permission is given

in 4.0 for licensees to meet the conditions of the 4.0 license with reference to those in the

adapter's license.

Prior to the 4.0 versioning process, CC had not always been clear that the ShareAlike

licenses stacked just as they stack for the BY and BY-NC licenses, and reasonable minds

do differ on this point. CC believes, however, that this is the best reading of its all of its

licenses that permit adaptations prior to 4.0 and, now, has made that explicit in version 4.0.

Adaptations of NoDerivatives material permitted when not shared

In Version 4.0, licensees are granted permission to create adaptations of material licensed

under one of the NoDerivatives licenses, but not permission to share the adaptations

publicly.

In general, private personal use does not require the permission of the licensor and,

therefore, does not require that the conditions of the CC license be followed. In 4.0,

NoDerivatives is a partial rather than an absolute limitation on the rights granted. It does

not restrict the production of adaptations (an exclusive right of creators under copyright),

but it does prohibit the public sharing of those adaptations (also an exclusive right of

creators under copyright). This change enables private activities that may result in the

creation of adaptations whether intentionally or unintentionally, such as adaptations made

in the course or as a result of text and data mining.

The creation of adaptations in connection with those and other activities are not permitted

under the 3.0 and earlier versions absent an applicable exception or limitation.
Features remaining unchanged across license versions

Attribution required

All of the CC licenses require attribution where "BY" is a license element, which is all but

five of the eleven version 1.0 licenses.The required mode of attribution differs slightly

among the versions, and is progressively more flexible with each version. The version 1.0

suite is unique because it contains five CC licenses that do not require attribution. All

subsequent license suites make attribution a standard requirement, though the licensor

may request removal in certain circumstances. It is also possible under all license versions

for a licensor to release works anonymously, and to waive the requirement by not

providing authorship information. Where an element of attribution information is not

provided by the licensor, the licensee is not required to provide it.

Definition of "NonCommercial"

While the Creative Commons licenses have evolved over time, the scope of permitted

uses under the NonCommercial licenses has remained unchanged across all license

suites. (In 4.0, there was a small adjustment to the wording of the definition which was not

intended to change its scope.) The NonCommercial clause prohibits the exercise of rights

granted under the NonCommercial licenses “in any manner that is primarily intended for or

directed toward commercial advantage or monetary compensation.” In 2008, Creative

Commons conducted a study on the meaning of NonCommercial in the online

environment.

During the 4.0 process, CC took another look at the role of these licenses in general as

well as the NonCommercial definition, and considered a name change to "Commercial

Rights Reserved". The ultimate decision was to leave unchanged the license name and

definition.
Application of effective technological measures by users of CC-licensed works prohibited

All CC license versions prohibit licensees (as opposed to licensors) from using effective

technological measures such as “digital rights management” software to restrict the ability

of those who receive a CC-licensed work to exercise rights granted under the license. To

be clear, encryption or an access limitation is not necessarily a technical protection

measure prohibited by the licenses. For example, content sent via email and encrypted

with the recipient's public key does not restrict use of the work by the recipient. Likewise,

limiting recipients to a set of users (e.g., with a username and password) does not restrict

use of the work by the recipients. In the cases above, encryption or an access limitation

does not violate the prohibition on technological measures because the recipient is not

prevented from exercising all rights granted by the license (including rights of further

redistribution).

This treatment was re-evaluated during the public process leading to release of the version

3.0 license suite. CC considered arguments in favor of such measures, coupled with an

obligation of parallel distribution; these arguments were also reconsidered during the 4.0

process. However, in both versioning processes, those arguments were ultimately

rejected.

Note that in 4.0, CC introduced a definition of Effective Technological Measures. This

definition is not intended to change the scope of what is and is not allowed, but instead

provide long-needed clarification over the scope of the prohibition.

Exceptions and limitations unaffected

All CC licenses only govern uses that would otherwise be restricted by copyright and other

closely related rights as provided in the licenses. If a use is not regulated by virtue of an

applicable exception or limitation, the license does not apply and there is no need to follow
the license conditions. The licenses do not create obligations where they would not

otherwise exist.

Effective for all copyrightable material

All Creative Commons license versions may be used with all copyrightable

works (though CC recommends against using its licenses for computer software). Such

works include compilations of data that exhibit the requisite level of creativity for copyright

protection under applicable law. Thus, to the extent compilations of data are protected by

copyright, Creative Commons licenses are suitable licenses for granting permission to

exercise that right. For the avoidance of doubt, version 3.0 and 4.0 licenses explicitly

identify compilations as material that may be licensed.

Note that sui generis database rights (existing separately from any copyright) are not

explicitly licensed in the international suite until version 4.0.

Notices must be retained

The CC licenses all require users to retain a copyright notice, a notice of the disclaimers of

warranties, and a license notice if supplied with the licensed material.

Synching creates adaptations

In all license versions, synching CC-licensed audio in timed relation with a video to create

an audiovisual work creates an adaptation of that audio work for purposes of the license,

regardless of whether the new work would be considered an adaptation under the relevant

copyright law. This means, for example, that the requirements of ShareAlike are triggered

if the audio work is licensed under a ShareAlike license, and that such works may be

made but not shared if licensed under a NoDerivatives license as of version 4.0.
 No sublicensing

None of the Creative Commons licenses grant permission to sublicense the licensed

material. All of the licenses are direct licenses from the original licensor to all recipients. All

permissions granted come directly from the original licensor, creating a direct relationship

for enforcement and other purposes between the original licensor and all recipients.

Licensing of collections

Including a CC-licensed work in a collection (a work comprised of separate and

independent works) is permitted by all CC licenses. However the collective work as a

whole is licensed, the license on the collection does not affect the CC license applied to

the work.

In 4.0, reference to distribution in a collection was removed from the license as

unnecessary. There is no change from previous versions, however.

Licensing of contributions to BY and BY-NC adaptations

The 4.0 licenses make clear for the first time how contributions to adaptations of BY and

BY-NC works may be licensed. Specifically, an adapting licensee may apply any license to

her contributions provided that license does not prevent users of the adaption from

complying with the original license. While new in 4.0, the introduction of this provision is

intended as a clarifier only and is not a change from how earlier versions operate.

Licenses

Links to the International (unported) legal code for the six licenses making up the current

suite, for each version:

4.0

 BY
 BY-SA
 BY-NC
 BY-NC-SA
 BY-ND
 BY-NC-ND

3.0

 BY
 BY-SA
 BY-NC
 BY-NC-SA
 BY-ND
 BY-NC-ND

2.5

 BY
 BY-SA
 BY-NC
 BY-NC-SA
 BY-ND
 BY-NC-ND

2.0

 BY
 BY-SA
 BY-NC
 BY-NC-SA
 BY-ND
 BY-NC-ND

1.0

 BY
 BY-SA
 BY-NC
 BY-NC-SA
 BY-ND
 BY-ND-NC (Note that in the 1.0 license suite, the name of this license is different than

later versions)

Category:

• Legal

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