The Nuts and Bolts of CC
There are six main Creative Commons licenses, each of which differ in what they permit you to do with the work. If you’re planning to remix or mash-up a CC-licensed work, it’s important to check that the licence in fact allows that use.
Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives (by-nc-nd)
This license is the most restrictive of the six main licenses, allowing redistribution only. This license is often called the “free advertising” license because it allows you to download and distribute the work, but you can’t change it in any way or use it commercially. Works published under this license cannot be remixed or transformed.
Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike (by-nc-sa)
This license lets you remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as you give credit to the original creator and license your new creation under identical terms. You can download and redistribute this work just like the by-nc-nd license, but you can also translate, make remixes, and produce new stories based on it. All new work based on it will carry the same license, so any derivatives will also be non-commercial in nature. This is the license that all Mix&Mash entries will carry.
Attribution Non-commercial (by-nc)
This license lets you remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, and although your new works must also acknowledge the original and be non-commercial, you don’t have to license your derivative works on the same terms.
Attribution No Derivatives (by-nd)
This license allows for redistribution, commercial and non-commercial, as long as it is passed along unchanged and in whole, with credit to the original creator. Works published under this license cannot be remixed or transformed.
Attribution Share Alike (by-sa)
This license lets you remix, tweak, and build upon the work even for commercial reasons, as long as you credit the original creator and license your new creations under identical terms. This license is often compared to open source software licenses. All new works will carry the same license, so any derivatives will also allow commercial use.
Attribution (by)
This license lets you distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon the work, even commercially, as long as you credit the original creator. This is the most accommodating of licenses offered, in terms of what can be done with such works.
In general, you will be safe remixing Creative Commons works provided they do not specify No Derivatives.
One less common type of CC licenses you might come across are the Sampling licences, which are especially designed to enable reuse and mash-ups. You can use works published in this way to mix a clip from a film into your own video creation or to take a piece of music to mix into the soundtrack. There are three flavours of sampling license:
Sampling
People can take and transform pieces of your work for any purpose other than advertising, which is prohibited. Copying and distribution of the entire work is also prohibited.
Sampling Plus
People can take and transform pieces of your work for any purpose other than advertising, which is prohibited. Noncommercial copying and distribution (like file-sharing) of the entire work are also allowed. Hence, “plus”.
Noncommercial Sampling Plus
People can take and transform pieces of your work for non-commercial purposes only. Noncommercial copying and distribution (like file-sharing) of the entire work are also allowed.
