Visual resources course materials

6. Creative Commons licenses

Copright law automatically protects all creative works (70 years after the death of the creator, or 50 years from the production of an ordinary photograph). A copyright holder may waive some or all rights with a Creative Commons license to promote the use and impact of their work. 

Creative Commons (CC) licenses enable a copyright holder to express the conditions upon which others may use the work. CC 4.0 licensing system is internationally applicable. It consists of four criteria that can be combined to define the use of the work:

Licensing your own work

You may also share an image you have taken or a work you have made with a CC license. License picker helps choosing a license type and automatically creates a license that can be copied easily.

Image: License selection by Tarmo Toikkanen. Learning Centre, Visual Resources Centre (CC0)