Graphic Design

Whether you’re creating a zine, podcast, or collage, it’s more than likely you’ll build off of an already existing idea or creation. Maybe you need a photo of someone or you need to use a particular song–whatever it is, it’s important to give credit where credit is due. In other words, it’s not super cool to steal others’ work. Ethics are important.

Thankfully, there are guidelines in place to make sure work is properly attributed while still allowing creators to create. These guidelines are widely known as Creative Commons licenses, and each one has a different meaning. Check out the info below to see what license you need to best attribute borrowed work the next time you start creating.

Types of Licenses:

• CC BY
  • You can distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon others’ work, including commercially, as long as credit is given.

• CC BY-SA
  • All permissions of a CC BY but you must also license your new creations under the identical terms as the original creator. 

• CC BY-ND
  • You may reuse others’ work for any purpose, including commercially but it cannot be shared with others in adapted form, and credit must be provided to the original creator.

• CC BY-NC
  • You may remix, adapt, and build upon others’ work non-commercially and must also acknowledge the original creator but you don’t have to license your derivative works on the same terms.

• CC BY-NC-SA
  • You may remix, adapt, and build upon others’ work non-commercially, as long as you credit the creator and license their new creations under identical terms.

• BY CC-NC-ND
  • You can only download others’ work and share it if you credit them. You may not change the work in any way or use it commercially.

Check out the Creative Commons website for more information on licenses and attributions for creative work!