Adaptations and collections
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About adaptations and collections
How to licence adaptations and collections
See also:
When licensing adaptations and collections the aim is to make it easy for people to see who created what parts of the work and to see the licence terms for each element.
About adaptations
In copyright and licensing terms, an adaptation takes material from one or more works to create an entirely new work. Making a translation of a work, or creating a film from a novel are examples of adaptations. Making a copy to correct spelling errors, or making print copies of digital material are examples which do not constitute an adaptation. We use the terms adaptation, modification, remix and derivative interchangeably.
If you are combining more than one work you cannot always distinguish between the constituent elements. Regardless, it is important to clearly indicate where you have modified or adapted another person's work and to provide attribution to the original author(s) or creator(s). Creative Commons provides additional guidance.
About collections
In copyright and licensing terms, a collection is a group of creative works which have been combined to create a new work. An example is a poetry anthology. The constituent elements each retain their separate identity, and their licences and attributions should be clearly visible.
How to licence adaptations
Creative Commons offers guidance and a list of licence options available to you as an adapter. Any licence you choose only applies to your contributions. If you modify someone else's work, indicate this and include a link to the original work and its licence:
Original photo
Adapted photo
Attribution:
"Letter L" by emmacraig1 is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Attribution:
This work, "Candy striped", is a derivative of "Letter L" by emmacraig1, used under CC BY 2.0. "Candy striped" by Shuttleworth is licensed under CC BY 4.0
Where you are combining more than one work, Creative Commons provides a helpful matrix which allows you to see at a glance which licenced works are compatible and can be remixed.
How to licence collections
It must be very clear to the user of the collection who the creator of each element is and what the terms of the licence are
As a creator of a collection you retain copyright in your contributions to the collection. These might include, for example:
the selection and arrangement of the work
any new content such as text and images
artistic designs, such as a cover design
As a creator of a collection you do not own the copyright in the works you did not create, and copyright remains with the creators of the separate entities
When licensing a collection it is important to comply with the terms of the original works held in the collection, particularly in relation to commercial and non-commercial use. Creative Commons provides guidance on which licences are appropriate in these instances. If you are including works that are licensed BY-NC, BY-NC-ND, or BY-NC-SA, then they can only be included in a collection that has an NC licence too, in order to comply with the original terms of the non-commercial licence element.