0.6 Creative approaches and alternatives  (Page 4/7)

Creative commons licenses formats

Each of the CC licenses is available in three formats suitable for online use:

• A machine-readable version, or digital code, which is embedded in the Creative Commons logo and informs other computers of the license.
• The human readable code, or common deed (a summary explaining the main rights and freedoms, with icons corresponding to the elements which have been selected), available from the link embedded in the logo.
• The legal code (a license of several pages written in legal language, detailing the clauses, which are represented by the icons), available from a link at the end of the human readable code.

Creative Commons licenses can be used for works made and distributed offline as well. For instance, a work created in the physical world might have a physical license attached that reads:  "This work is licensed under the Creative Commons BY-SA License. To view a copy of this license, visit the Creative Commons website."  Unfortunately, offline works cannot be included in the Creative Commons search engine that catalogs freely available works on the website.

There is an extended explanation of how to attach Creative Commons licenses to works on the  Creative Commons website .

The scope of the license

A Creative Commons license only applies to material to which the licensor has rights. It does not apply to material the licensor has acquired from other sources and to which he does not have rights.

Suppose, for example, that a teacher prepares a Powerpoint slide presentation, which he plans to use for classroom teaching. He downloads some photographs illustrating his arguments from the Internet and inserts them into the presentation -- believing, plausibly, that the use of the photos for teaching falls within one of the exceptions and limitations contained in the copyright law of his country. He attaches a simple "Attribution" Creative Commons license to each of his slides. In other words, he grants anyone permission to use the slides for any purpose, provided that they give him credit. One of the students in the class obtains a digital copy of the slide presentation and emails it to a friend working in a for-profit company. The friend finds the slides helpful and distributes copies of them at a commercial sales meeting. Most likely, the friend will have violated the nation's copyright law. Why? Because the Creative Commons license does not apply to the photos, and the reproduction of them for commercial purposes probably does not fall into any of the exceptions and limitations.

This principle is not widely understood, and even the formal version of the Creative Commons license is not crystal clear on this point. To avoid confusion, it is best for licensors using Creative Commons licenses to specify what those licenses do and do not cover.

Other creative commons projects

Creative commons international

The  Creative Commons International  (CCi) team coordinates the process of translating the Creative Commons licenses into other languages and adapting them to other legal systems. This is a complex and challenging process. CCi also provides teams to work with local user communities and governments in order to increase understanding and use of CC licenses. The local teams also work closely with CC staff to improve the license clauses and material.