Creative Commons, the use of content on the internet

When we post an image on a social media or a blog, or when we use music as a soundtrack for our YouTube video, we are usually using content produced by other people.

But how can we decide to use the material available on the internet, accessible to everyone? Contrary to what many think, images that appear on websites (or on Google) cannot be freely used for one’s own content, at least not always.

To do so correctly, one must follow the principles of Creative Commons licenses.

What are the Creative Commons licenses?

Creative Commons (CC) is a non-profit organization based in the USA that has developed and made available various types of licenses for the use and distribution of material on the Internet. Through these licenses, the author can determine the use that other users can make of their material, with different limitations depending on their preferences. CC licenses are applicable to many types of media files, such as texts, images, music, and videos.

But how do they work specifically and how do they protect our work?

How do you use Creative Commons?

Actually, using Creative Commons is quite simple. Through a series of symbols, these licenses specify the types of actions a user can perform with the works.

A typical Creative Commons license is this: CC BY NC.

In this case, the first symbol (CC) indicates the Creative Commons acronym, which is the nominal license of the non-profit organization. The second symbol (BY) allows others to distribute, display, and perform copies of the work and derivative works, provided that the author of the work is attributed as specified. These are indicated by the third symbol, in this case, NC (Non-Commercial). This type indicates that the aforementioned actions are possible only if the user makes non-commercial use of them.

Obviously, there are other types. Instead of the NC symbol, one could find ND (No Derivative Works), which specifies the possibility of copying, distributing, or displaying only “identical copies” of the original work, without modification. In essence, an image with this license can only be used with the same characteristics (such as size or color) as the original.

Another symbol that can be found is SA (Share-Alike), which allows the use of the work only if the derived work is released under the same type of license or with a compatible one (in the sense of not being more restrictive).

Of course, some symbols can be combined with each other to give rise to more complex specifications. An example could be a symbol like CC BY-NC-ND. This indicates a work in Creative Commons that can only be reproduced as an identical copy and for non-commercial use. This type of license has been adopted for all the covers produced by La Novella Orchidea.

An exception to this small galaxy of symbols is the so-called Public Domain, which can also be found in the form of the CC0 license. This simply means that the work is free of any form of copyright and that the user can use it as they wish, without any restrictions.

There would be many other details to mention about Creative Commons licenses, but the important thing remains one. In the digital world, attribution and respect for licenses are fundamental and essential. Anyone who intends to respect the rules of use of the content is required to verify the type of license they have and, in the case of self-produced content, to attribute one to protect their works.

How did we use them?

It often happens that these two steps are sequential. Correct attribution of the work will not be complete without ownership of the work itself. As La Novella Orchidea, for example, we always try to produce material from content released on the web with a CC0 license. However, it is not uncommon for works with licenses that allow for commercial use to be used in some cases. In this case, the origin and link to the original have been correctly indicated. Then a new type of license has been chosen for online distribution. The failure or incomplete indication of the “path” that led to that specific use of the work would indeed make the distribution of the work incorrect.

Licenses vs Copyright

The most important thing to know is that this type of license is not an alternative to copyright law, but runs parallel to it. Through Creative Commons licenses, in fact, moral rights over original content are maintained while allowing sharing with the world. This type of license can therefore serve to protect original rights, but also encourages reuse and sharing of content.

It is important to be aware of the various licenses available and their application: knowing how to choose the right CC type for one’s works will allow the author to be adequately protected and reduce the risk of unpleasant “incidents”.