Quick question:
Assume that you have just created something. It could be anything. It could be a painting, a blueprint, a chair, an action figure, a brochure, a scale-model, a presentation, a blog post or even a short story.
What is the first thing you should do after you have made this?
A. Show friends and family that you meet because you’re personal like that.
B. Share it online because you’re social like that.
C. Keep it hidden because you’re secretive like that.
D. Find a way to sell it because you’re commercial like that.
E. Choose how it’s going to be used because you’re future-oriented like that.
We think what’s most important is the final option E. Choose how it’s going to be used because you’re future-oriented like that. If you’re an option C. person, we’re not quite sure why you’re here. We are a portfolio site for creative professionals and design enthusiasts. So secretive person, if you’re reading this, whenever you’re ready to show the world, we’re here for you. In the meantime, we’re here for all the other creative professionals.
Let’s just get right out and say it, we have enabled and integrated Creative Commons, the licensing organisation for protecting what you create on IndieFolio. The things you upload to your profile can now come with one of six different licenses that decide how your content is used.
Maybe you’re the generous kind, maybe you’re not. We felt like the choice had to be yours so here we break down the Creative Commons licenses for you. These are the licenses you can apply to your work ranked from the freest to the most restrictive (we tried to make it simple for you).
CC BY – This license states that people can use your work in any way but you must be credited.
CC BY SA – This states that credit must be given to you and that anybody can make changes. However, they will need to apply the same license to their work too so that others can use and modify it as well. The next person who uses and/or modifies their work will also have to use the same license.
CC BY ND – Applying this license on your work says that your work is free to be used with credit given to the original creator but it must be used in its original form and cannot be modified.
CC BY NC – This license says that you can make modifications to the work while crediting the original but you can’t make money off it.
CC BY NC SA – Putting this on your work allows other people to modify it while crediting you, the original creator, but does not allow the person modifying it to make any money out of it. And once the person modifying has made their new work, they have to put the same BY NC SA license so that nobody else can make money off them as well.
CC BY NC ND – This is the no-no license. It states that nobody can make any money or change your work in any way. And just like the others, anybody that uses your work needs to credit you as the original creator.
Ok, maybe that still sounds complex so let’s try again. We’re going to show you the same licenses but now this is what you’re telling the public when you apply one of the six licenses to your work. This is also how your licenses look when attached to your work on IndieFolio
CC BY – “Use my work wherever you want. It’s ok if you want to put it on a t-shirt and sell it. Or modify it to suit your style and then sell it. Basically, do what you want with my work but give me credit so that people know I am the original creator.”
CC BY SA – “Use my work wherever you want. It’s ok if you want to put it on a t-shirt and sell it. Or modify it to suit your style and then sell it but give me credit so that people know I am the original creator. Also, you have to let other people modify and sell your work too. In turn, they will have to credit you and allow their work to be used as well.”
CC BY ND – “Use my work wherever you want. It’s ok if you want to put it on a t-shirt and sell it. But don’t modify it and make sure you credit me.”
CC BY NC – “Use and modify my work but it has to be used and modified for your personal purposes. You can’t use it to make money either in its original form or after being modified. My work is not meant for any sort of profit and you have to mention that I’m the original creator.”
CC BY NC SA – “Use and modify my work but it has to be used and modified for your personal purposes. You can’t use it to make money either in its original form or after being modified. My work is not meant for any sort of profit and you have to mention that I’m the original creator. Also, you have to let other people use and modify your work too but when they do, even they can’t make any money out it (with modifications or without) and they have to credit you.”
CC BY NC ND – “Don’t change or modify my work in any way. Don’t make money out of it in any way. And if you’re going to use it somewhere, make sure you mention that I’m the original creator.”
Perhaps you need an example. The image found below was found at commons.wikimedia.org but the image was originally from the Foter blog in a post explaining how to attribute photos. Though the image isn’t available on the blog anymore, the image still exists and credit can still be given. We took the image and removed a portion of it that isn’t relevant to IndieFolio.
It was initially uploaded with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 Canada. You can find the terms of its use here. Ideally, you should mention the license the original work was published under, a link to the original site where the work was first published and the new license you are applying to your work. Following the same terms, here’s our image and how it should be attributed:
The usage terms of this image come under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) and original image made by Foter under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 Canada.
Even the first image you saw at the top of this article was made with our own resources plus the resources from Creative Commons.
For more information about Creative Commons and their licenses, visit their FAQ section. If there are any questions you have, you’re sure to find an answer there.
This blog can be addictive. We understand. We know you must be craving more so here’s more:
