Creative Commons for Open Projects: Introduction

Digital Scholarship | University of Washington Bothell Library

What is Creative Commons?

Creative Commons (CC) is an international organization that advocates for open practices. Creative Commons has developed a set of open licenses to facilitate sharing and reuse of all kinds of creative and scholarly works. CC licenses reduce barriers to new knowledge production by clarifying copyright expectations of creators.

This guide will introduce you to Creative Commons licenses, help you use CC-licensed materials, and apply CC licenses to your own works.

Why do I need to know about Creative Commons licenses?

Creative Commons licenses will streamline your creation and sharing process as you develop and publish open projects. CC licenses are useful in many areas, including digital scholarship, open publishing, open pedagogy, and open educational resources (OER).

• If you want to use or adapt images, video, audio, or any type of content others have created, you’ll want to know how Creative Commons works so you can find and incorporate Creative Commons-licensed content.

• If you want to share your own content, you’ll want to know how Creative Commons licenses can help you share your work openly and how to choose and apply a CC license to your creations.

What’s in this Guide?

This guide is an introduction to Creative Commons licenses and a guide to help you use CC-licensed materials and apply CC licenses to your own works.

• Creative Commons Overview An overview of Creative Commons and how it works

• Creative Commons Licenses Details of the Creative Commons elements and licenses

• Find Creative Commons Content Find Creative Commons content that you can use in your open projects and scholarly work

• Use Creative Commons Content How to use and credit CC content once you find it

• Adapt/Remix Creative Commons Content

• Give Credit to Creators Why and how to give credit to creators with CC-licensed materials

• Add a Creative Commons License to Your Work How to add a CC license to your creations so you can easily share it with others

• Copyright and Creative Commons Licenses

• More Resources More resources on copyright, Creative Commons, and related topics

• Get Help with Creative Commons We're available to help you sort through Creative Commons questions with your open projects

• Guide Credits

“Creative Commons for Open Projects” by Denise Hattwig is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0