Introduction
As responsible for the AbbreviationFinder, I, Emerson Rosemary, I answer with some frequency questions such as “can I publish your articles on my site?” and “what business is this of Creative Commons?”. A question has no relation with the other, after all, I apply a Creative Commons license in the texts of the AbbreviationFinder to allow this content to be used in other means.
I have to pay to use? It is a “generally released”? Has more than a type of license? What a story it is some rights reserved (and not all of them)? Questions such as these are quite frequent. A lot of people do not understand exactly what it is Creative Commons. If it is your case, do not worry: I wrote this text precisely to answer the main questions on the subject.
So, here we go.
What is Creative Commons?
Creative Commons (CC) is an entity non-profit created to promote more flexibility in the the use of works protected by rights copyright. The idea is to enable an author or rights holder you could allow wider use of their works by third parties, without these do so in violation of the laws of protection to the intellectual property.
With a Creative Commons license, a composer can allow other artists to use some of your compositions creating a mixture of rhythms, for example; a writer can make a article and allow other authors to use it, either by publishing the material in other means, either by applying part of the content in a new text, either using the original with some changes, anyway.
Thanks to the Internet, this a collaborative spirit has become very widespread. The problem is that the laws of protection of the rights copyrights are often rigid and, by account of it, end up messing up the will of many people not just assign your materials, but also use creations of other people who also want to to share their work.
With Creative Commons, authors and creators can allow the use of their works in a way much more flexible. They are able to decide how and under what conditions of its materials can be used by a third party. For this, it is not necessary to pay any type of rate or sign documents. Everything is done for simplicity and ease.
An example: a writer may allow any person to the use and change a text of his authorship, except in commercial applications. Note that, in this case, the Creative Commons license gives you more freedom to use the work, but does not take away the original author’s rights on it. The author can, with the exception for commercial use, charge by the application of the text in activities con-profit organization.
For ease of understanding, let’s analyze the use of the Creative Commons here in AbbreviationFinder. The site has a page that explains how the articles can be used. In it, I show you how to apply it the Creative Commons license. The same information to appear when the reader clicks on the small image that represents the initiative.
You can copy, distribute, display and perform the work, in addition to creating other derived under the following conditions:
– Assignment: you should give credit to the original author, the way specified by the author or licensor*. This means that you must tell who is the original author of the work;
– Use non-commercial: you may not use this work for purposes trade, for example, to put it in a magazine pays;
– Share the same license: if you alter, transform, or build another work with the basis of this, you may only distribute the resulting material under a license identical to this.
* In the case of the AbbreviationFinder, the the mere mention of the name of the site, the more your address (link) is enough, for example: “Source: AbbreviationFinder – https://www.AbbreviationFinder.com”.
This is, basically, the license to use of the articles of AbbreviationFinder. Note, however, that in the same page of the statement there is two notes similar to these:
– For each new use or distribution, you must make it clear to others the license terms of this work;
– Any of these conditions may be waived, provided that you obtain permission from the author.
When the latter, here is an example that the explains:
Assume that you have an agency publicity and wants to use the music a singer, made available under a license Creative Commons, in a TV advertisement. The problem is that this is a commercial activity, therefore, you can’t use the material referred to the author for this purpose. However, you can get in touch with the artist to to negotiate a permission.
Note that the Creative Commons offers several combinations of licenses. You can have, for example, a work that allows you to use commercial and another that does not allow. Or you can have a job that does not allow the creation of derivative works, for example. All the what you need to do is to make it clear what are the conditions.
On the web, the most practical way to do this is by providing a link or even an imprint of the Creative Commons directs to a page descrevas such conditions. How? I explain in the following topic.
How to offer my work under Creative Commons?
If you have a blog, create articles and publish in the the Internet, working with photos and pictures, is a musician, among other, can make available their works under a license Creative Commons easily. It is not needs to go in the offices of records, pay rates, hire experts in copyright, none of that.
The availability of the materials in Creative Commons is simple. Just visit the official website —creativecommons.org — or its brazilian version, creativecommons.org.org.br — and you browse to a page that is publication (usually, this is as well visible). On the page, you will respond to a brief questionnaire to determine what can and what can’t be done with his work.
You can also include information further, as the format of your creation (audio, video, image, text, etc.), the title of the work, the original link and so on.
Finished? Now just copy the code the license icon and place it on your site. If clicked, the icon (similar to the one shown below) will take you to the page that describes the license (if you prefer, you can simply provide this link instead of using the icon).
The symbols of the Creative Commons: CC, BY, ND, NC, and SA
Ok, you already understood that, instead of determining a set unique and hard rules, the Creative Commons allows you select what conditions apply to your work.
This means that we can find various types of Creative Commons licenses out there. But how to identify or tell what the conditions existing in each of them? Easy: by the combination of symbols.
We have, essentially, five symbols, each with meaning different, of course. Note also that these symbols are associated with the pairs of letters. So, if you prefer, you can use these letters instead of the symbols.
- CC (Creativecommons.org): it is the most obvious, as it indicates that the license used is the Creative Commons;
- BY (Attribution): if this symbol is this means that you must give the proper credits the author or responsible for the work, and should even provide a link to the license and indicate if held changes in the material;
- ND (SemDerivações): you can even create derivative works from the original material, but not distribute them as such;
- NC (Noncommercial): you can use the material, but for non-commercial purposes (you will need to negotiate the author to this);
- SA (Sharealike): if you create derivative works from, will have to distribute them under the same license used in the original.
This is the grace of the Commons: each symbol represents a condition, and you choose which apply. It is obvious that there are more details in the official documentation of the license, but the basics are represented here, only with the symbols.
So, if I use a license as CC-BY, for example, means I allow the use, distribution and derivation of my work, including for the purpose commercial purposes, provided that the credits are properly data.
If I use a license as CC-BY-SA, I’m saying the same thing, only that I require that the derivative work is shared with a license equal, that is, to have the same conditions that I’ve used.
Another example: the license CC BY-NC-ND allows for the use of the work and the share upon assignment of the credits, but does not allow the creation of derivative works and commercial use. This is the form of licensing-the most restrictive of the Creative Commons.
The license that I apply to the content of the AbbreviationFinder it is, as you have already seen, the CC BY-NC-SA. With her, I I allow the use and creation of derivative works of the material, as long as there are credits (BY), licensing of creations under conditions identical (SA) and application non-commercial (NC).
Creative Commons 4.0 — versions
A detail that sometimes goes unnoticed is the version of Creative Commons. From time to time, adjustments are applied to the terms of any licence to meet the specific needs, correct possible errors and make the initiative more comprehensive.
The Creative Commons was at the version 4.0 when this text was updated for the last time. This version was announced officially in November of 2013 and brought changes important, as expected.
One of them is the effort to make the terms easier of being understood in the world. Another is the work to make the Creative Commons 4.0 overall — their terms are compatible with the legislation of virtually all of the countries.
In addition, version 4.0 enables unintentional violations of licenses be corrected: before, the breach led to the loss the right to use the protected material; now, the right is automatically reestablished if the error is corrected in up to 30 days after their discovery.
Among the novelties brought by version 4.0 is still the support the rights sui generis on the basis of data. Essentially, these databases have terms which go beyond the it is established by copyright. Rights sui generisabout databases are not practiced in Brazil.
Note that, when a new version appears, the works based in the previous versions are not automatically updated. You need to specify which version if it applies to your work. Here in AbbreviationFinder, for example, I tell at the end of the pages that the license used here is
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
The emergence of the Creative Commons licenses
When a person creates a work, she will have rights on this creation. For this, there are laws protection of intellectual property. The the problem is that, with the emergence of the Internet, the illegal use of protected materials — piracy — has grown considerably, the reason why many countries began the practice each time more restrictions to protect the the rights of creators.
However, time revealed that these rules have benefited the most companies — record labels and book publishers, for example — than the authors. In anticipation of the flexibility in the use, execution, and the distribution of works is that emerged Creative Commons, an initiative of Lawrence Lessig, professor of law at Harvard University.
The first formalization of licenses Creative Commons was made in 2001, in the United States. The concern of Lawrence began in this country, because the issue of copyright came the one extreme is considered unbearable there. Such limitation has been generated that, according to Lessig, even children can be considered offenders if use material of others in their research school. Certainly, the a large majority of authors disagree with this.
In Brazil, the project Creative Commons is very well supported. The Center for Technology and Society of the Getulio Vargas Foundation is the the entity responsible for adapting the Creative Commons to the reality of the the country and encourage its adoption.
Ending
Intellectual generosity. The fruits of sharing ideas and creations are the most beneficial. The Internet has left evident the spirit collaborative between the people. In addition, the web shows that creativity and the jurisdiction is not limited to large corporations and that there are many people of talent around the world.
The initiative Creative Commons fits all of these contexts, so that people can enjoy the works without afraid to break rules and feel free to distribute what you have created or found. That is why it is worth to support this project.
