Creative Commons Licences

Creative Commons (CC) is a set of copyright licences. Each licence gives permission for an asset to be used in particular ways. A CC asset costs nothing to access, but free to download does not mean free to use in any way: the licence still sets rules about what you may do with it.

Every CC licence except CC0 asks you to credit the creator. Depending on the licence, you may be limited in whether you can make money from the asset or change it. The conditions are combined:

Attribution (BY): you must credit the creator.
Non-commercial (NC): the asset cannot be used commercially, for example in something you sell.
Share alike (SA): if you alter the asset, your new version has to use the same licence.
No derivatives (ND): you cannot alter the asset.

You download a free set of brush textures for digital art. The textures are released under CC BY-NC-SA. You may use them in artwork for a free online gallery as long as you credit the creator. If you change the textures, your changed set must also be shared under CC BY-NC-SA. You cannot sell prints made with the textures.

Licence	Credit needed?	Commercial use?	Changes allowed?
CC BY (attribution only)	Yes	Yes	Yes, if the creator is credited
CC BY-NC	Yes	No	Yes
CC BY-NC-ND	Yes	No	No
CC BY-NC-SA	Yes	No	Yes, if the new version uses the same licence
CC0	No	Yes	Yes

CC0 (public domain) is different from the other licences: anyone may use the work for any purpose, including selling it or changing it, and no credit to the creator is needed.

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