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Four Conditions
Four Conditions
Creative Commons (CC) licenses are created from the combination of four conditions. Understanding the meaning of each condition is useful for deciding how CC-licensed content can be reused and how to license newly created work. As discussed in Module 5 (Evaluating OER), Understanding the meaning of the conditions can also be useful in evaluating an open resource.
Attribution (BY)
Attribution (BY)
The Attribution (BY) condition is fundamental to all CC licenses. Many creators care about receiving credit for their creative work. When reusing CC-licensed work, proper attribution must be given to the original creator — and to other contributors on the work, if any. The CC BY license is the most open of all the licenses and allows for the most reuse options.
Share-Alike (SA)
Share-Alike (SA)
The Share-Alike condition requires that anyone reusing a resource must also license their own creation under the same license. Both the CC BY-SA and CC BY-NC-SA licenses include this condition. While this condition effectively “locks open” the content, remixing SA content with non-SA or other-SA licensed work may not be straightforward or allowed at all.
Non-Commercial (NC)
Non-Commercial (NC)
The Non-Commercial condition allows for reuse and sharing but reserves commercial rights for the creator. The meaning of the NC material can be tricky, but the license condition clearly indicates that commercial reuse rights are not granted.
No-Derivatives (ND)
No-Derivatives (ND)
The No-Derivatives condition allows sharing and reuse but only if the content is left unchanged. For this reason, ND content is not considered true OER and can only be reused when no adaptations are needed.
Combining the Conditions
Combining the Conditions
Together, the conditions form the six CC licenses:
The BY (attribution) condition is a part of all the licenses, but not all conditions work together. For example, the SA and ND conditions do not appear in the same license because there is no reason to include the share-alike condition when no derivatives are being allowed.
Understanding how the different licenses can or cannot be combined is a critical step in reusing openly licensed material. The license compatibility chart below is a great resource in determining which licenses work together.
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