Creative Commons licenses allows creators to specify more flexible forms of copyright that allows others to copy, distribute, and to use their work. It is important to note, that Creative Common licenses are not a replacement to copyright.
Creative Commons License Options
CC BY: This license allows re-users to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, so long as attribution is given to the creator. The license allows for commercial use.
CC BY includes the following elements:
BY 
- Credit must be given to the creator
CC BY-SA: This license allows re-users to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, so long as attribution is given to the creator. The license allows for commercial use. If you remix, adapt, or build upon the material, you must license the modified material under identical terms.
CC BY-SA includes the following elements:
BY - Credit must be given to the creator
SA 
- Adaptations must be shared under the same terms
CC BY-NC: This license allows re-users to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator.
CC BY-NC includes the following elements:
BY - Credit must be given to the creator
NC 
- Only noncommercial uses of the work are permitted
CC BY-NC-SA: This license allows re-users to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator. If you remix, adapt, or build upon the material, you must license the modified material under identical terms.
CC BY-NC-SA includes the following elements:
BY - Credit must be given to the creator
NC - Only noncommercial uses of the work are permitted
SA - Adaptations must be shared under the same terms
CC BY-ND: The license allows re-users to copy and distribute the material in any medium or format in un-adapted form only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator. The license allows for commercial use.
CC BY-ND includes the following elements:
BY - Credit must be given to the creator
ND 
- No derivatives or adaptations of the work are permitted
CC BY-NC-ND: This license allows re-users to copy and distribute the material in any medium or format in un-adapted form only, for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator.
CC BY-NC-ND includes the following elements:
BY - Credit must be given to the creator
NC - Only noncommercial uses of the work are permitted
ND - No derivatives or adaptations of the work are permitted
Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication
CC0 (CC Zero) is a public dedication tool, which allows creators to give up their copyright and put their works into the worldwide public domain. CC0 allows re-users to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, with no conditions.
What is Copyright?
Copyright is a form of protection grounded in the United States Constitution and granted by law for original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression. Copyright covers both published and unpublished works.
What is Fair Use?
Fair Use is the copying of copyrighted material done for a limited and transformative purpose, such as to critique, comment, or parody, and can be done without the permission of the copyright owner, therefore protecting the Fair Use user from copyright infringement.
What is Public Domain?
Public Domain refers to works that are no longer protected by copyright because the copyright has expired. Public Domain also refers to works that belong to categories of works not protected by copyright law.
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