Authors Government of Western Australia
License CC-BY-SA-4.0
Copyright
Creative Commons
IP management practice
A guide for WA State Training Providers
Copyright
Creative Commons
What is Creative Commons? owner. It is worth noting that CC materials are not free of
copyright and if the CC licence is breached by using the
Creative Commons (CC) is an international, non-profit
material in a way not permitted, copyright law still applies.
organisation that allows creators to share their creative
work with the public through a system of licences. These Every CC licence allows State Training Providers (STPs) to:
licences help creators give permission for others to use the • copy the work (eg download, upload, photocopy or
work under certain conditions as specified in each licence scan the work);
and without payment.
• distribute the work (eg provide copies of the work to
However, it is important to note that all CC licences have teachers, students, parents or the community);
one requirement in common. Without exception, all users • display or perform the work (eg play a sound recording
must attribute the work to its creator. or film in class);
All CC licences allow works to be used for educational • communicate the work (eg make the work available
purposes; as a result, teachers and students can freely online on the institute’s intranet, learning management
copy, share and sometimes even modify or remix (if the system or on a class blog); and
licence permits) a CC work without having to seek the • format shift verbatim copies of the work (eg copy an
permission of the creator. MP3 version of music onto a CD, or an MP4 version of
a film onto a DVD to play in class).
CC resources include a range of products such as music,
Source: Adapted from the information sheet ‘Baseline Rights’,
film clips, text, clip art and pictures. A number of Australian wiki.creativecommons.org/Baseline_Rights
government websites, eg abs.gov.au, now offer their
information for free through a CC licence.
Some CC licences also allow other uses; however, the
Why use Creative Commons material? above are the base user rights provided for all CC material.
Every time a work is created, it is automatically protected
by copyright. Copyright protection prevents others from
What are the six standard Creative
using the work in certain ways, such as copying the
Commons licences?
work or putting the work online. The statutory licences in
the Copyright Act 1968 allow educational institutions to Different elements are mixed and matched to create the six
standard CC licences. The table on the following page lists
reproduce and communicate (put on a secure intranet
these licences and the different conditions attached to each.
site or content management system) copyright material,
in return for fees paid to copyright collecting societies.
The downside of this is that the fees are expensive; often What must I do when using Creative
teachers cannot copy a whole or large portion of a work, Commons material?
nor modify or remix the work. CC resources should be All Creative Commons licences require that users attribute
used as third-party content whenever possible, because the work to its creator. This is a requirement under
the copying of CC works is not subject to remuneration Australian copyright law.
and whole works can be copied, modified or remixed,
When attributing a work under a CC licence it is necessary to:
depending on the licence used.
• credit the creator;
How does Creative Commons work? • provide the title of the work;
• provide the URL where the work is hosted;
CC licences allow creators of works to establish how they
want others to use their creative works. These licences • indicate the type of licence it is available under and
communicate, by means of standardised symbols, the terms provide a link to the licence (so others can find out the
of use for each licence; for example, some licences allow licence terms); and
users to adapt or modify material, while others do not. If a • keep intact any copyright notice associated with the work.
user wants to use the work in a way not permitted by the
CC licence, permission must be sought from the copyright
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Licence Button/symbols Terms of use* Users can
Attribution only (BY) commercial and • copy;
non-commercial • adapt or modify;
• distribute (publish, display,
publicly perform or communicate
the work); and
• license to others.
Attribution– non-commercial only • copy;
Non-commercial • adapt or modify;
(BY–NC)
• distribute (publish, display,
publicly perform, communicate
the work or format shift verbatim
copies of the work); and
• license to others.
Attribution–ShareAlike commercial and • copy;
(BY–SA) non-commercial • adapt or modify;
• distribute (publish, display,
publicly perform or communicate
the work); and
• license to others on the same
terms as the original work.
Attribution–NoDerivatives commercial and • copy;
(BY–ND) non-commercial
• distribute (publish, display,
publicly perform or
communicate the work or
format shift verbatim copies
of the work); and
• license to others.
Attribution–Non- non-commercial only • copy;
commercial– • adapt or modify;
ShareAlike (BY–NC–SA)
• distribute (publish, display,
publicly perform or communicate
the work); and
• license to others on the same
terms as the original work.
Attribution–Non- non-commercial only • copy;
commercial–NoDerivatives • distribute (publish, display,
(BY–NC–ND) publicly perform or communicate
the work or format shift verbatim
copies of the work); and
• license to others.
*Non-commercial use applies to educating students at an educational institution. The use of material for profit would be considered commercial use.
Changing Creative Commons work Examples of attribution
CC works licensed under a non-derivative (ND) licence There is flexibility in the way CC attributions are made.
cannot be changed or used to build upon. Permission Information regarding the specific CC licence may be
must always be obtained from the creator to do anything provided as a link.
that goes beyond the terms of the licence (eg making a
commercial use of the work or creating a derivative work ‘Eid Mubarak’ by Hamed Saber, available at
where the licence does not permit this). flickr.com/photos/hamed/1552383685/ under a
Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic licence
Derivative works are created if the original work is changed creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
in any way; through such means as cropping, changing the or
colours or replacing words. Derivative works should always
© 2009 Education.au.limited
attribute the original work and identify the changes that
978-0-9758070-5-7 (electronic copy)
have been made to it, for example, by including ‘This is a This work is published under the terms of the Creative
French translation of the original text, XYZ.’ Commons Attribution Non-commercial 2.5 Australia licence.
To view a copy of the licence visit:
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.5/au/
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Information regarding the CC licence may also be provided by Slide shows
inserting a hyperlink within the CC logo image to the licence Include the relevant attribution information next to the
itself. This style of attribution is for digital resources only. CC work or as a footer along the bottom of the work
on each slide on which the work appears. Alternatively,
‘Eid Mubarak’ by Hamed Saber include a ‘credits’ slide at the end of the show, listing all
flickr.com/photos/hamed/1552383685/ the materials used and their attribution details. Indicate
the slide or order so people can find the attribution for a
Detailed information regarding the CC licence may also be specific work.
included within the attribution.
Films
Include the relevant attribution information with the work
This information pack is licensed under a Creative Commons when it appears on screen during the film. If this is not
Attribution 4.0 International licence. You are free to copy, possible, attribute the work in the credits, as would be seen
communicate and adapt the work, so long as you attribute the ARC
in a normal film.
Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation, the
National Copyright Unit and Creative Commons Australia.
Podcasts
A copy of this licence is available at creativecommons.org/licenses/
by/4.0/ or write to info@creativecommons.org.au. Mention the name of the artist and that their work is
under a CC licence during the podcast (like a radio
Information regarding the CC licence may be embedded announcement) and provide full attribution on the website,
within the content. Sometimes the website itself embeds next to the podcast link.
the information into the picture, eg sprixi.com/.
Finding Creative Commons material
Google™, Yahoo!® and Mozilla® Firefox® can be used to
seek CC materials. These search engines offer advanced
options to customise a search for CC material based on a
term and the type of CC licence under which the material
is available.
Search for the topic as normal, but add ‘creative commons’
to the field, eg cloud formation creative commons.
The main CC search engine is
search.creativecommons.org/
(Google™ is a trademark of Google Inc. Yahoo® is a
trademark of Yahoo Inc. Mozilla® Firefox® is a registered
Another example is FlickrStorm, which provides access to trademark of the Mozilla Foundation.)
all the information required by the CC licence (and more)
by using clever linking.
Can Creative Commons materials infringe
• When a mouse is rolled over the symbol, a pop-up copyright?
box gives the name of, and link to, the CC licence,
Since users do not have to register in order to use a CC
eg creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/.
licence, CC has no way to determine what has and hasn’t
• The author’s name links to the author’s photostream been placed under the terms of a CC licence. If you are in
on Flickr, flickr.com/photos/hamed. doubt, or if the work contains commercial music, television
From there, the author’s profile may be accessed or films, you should contact the copyright holder directly or
(flickr.com/people/hamed). try to contact the site containing the content.
• The photo itself links to the photo’s Flickr entry, Information in this guide has been taken from information guides found
flickr.com/photos/hamed/1552383685, which on the Smartcopying website smartcopying.edu.au which include the
includes the full title (‘Eid Mubarak’) and other details. following acknowledgement:
• The contact link gives direct access to Flickr’s internal
messaging system.
This information pack is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attributing non-text material, photos Attribution 4.0 International licence. You are free to copy,
communicate and adapt the work, so long as you attribute the ARC
and images Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation, the
Provide the relevant attribution next to the photograph, or, National Copyright Unit and Creative Commons Australia.
if that is too obtrusive, close by; for example, on the edge or A copy of this licence is available at creativecommons.org/licenses/
bottom of the page. by/4.0/ or write to info@creativecommons.org.au.
For more information, see the National Copyright Guidelines, which are available at
smartcopying.edu.au or contact sectorcapability.ip@dtwd.wa.gov.au | dtwd.wa.gov.au
Unless otherwise indicated the text in this resource is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Licence.
Revised September 2015 4