Creative Commons & Citations
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Learning Objectives
- 1Recognize the six common Creative Commons licenses and what each allows
- 2Decide when work is free to reuse and when permission is needed
- 3Give proper attribution to authors, artists, and sites you use
- 4Build a basic citation with author, title, year, source, and URL
Mini Lesson
When you write a report, build a slide deck, or make a video, you often want to use someone else’s photo, song, or words. The rule is simple: if you did not make it, you need permission to reuse it — and you almost always need to credit the person who did make it. Copyright and Creative Commons explain who owns what, and citations are how you give credit honestly.
Copyright in One Sentence
The moment a person creates something original — a drawing, a story, a song, a photo — copyright protects it automatically. Other people cannot reuse it without the maker’s permission, unless the maker has shared it under a license that says otherwise.
The Six Common CC Licenses
- CC0 — public domain. Use freely, no credit required (but it is still kind to give credit).
- CC BY — use freely, but you must credit the author by name.
- CC BY-SA — credit the author, and share your remix under the same license.
- CC BY-NC — credit the author and use it only for non-commercial projects.
- CC BY-ND — credit the author and do not change the work.
- All Rights Reserved (ARR) — no CC license. Ask the author for permission first.
When Do You Need Permission?
- A photo from a random website with no license listed — assume ARR, ask first.
- Song clips, movie scenes, or copyrighted music — usually ARR.
- Cartoon characters and brand logos — protected, ask first.
- A friend’s artwork — even kids own copyright in their own work.
When Is It Free to Use?
- Anything marked CC0 or in the public domain.
- Photos on sites like Unsplash, Pixabay, or Wikimedia Commons (check the license on each).
- Your own original drawings, photos, and writing.
- Government documents and old works whose copyright has expired.
Tip: when in doubt, write down where you got every image and quote as you go. It is much harder to remember sources after your project is finished.
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