Explainer · Plain-language
Creative Commons Licensing: Definition, Meaning & Examples | CASRAI
Creative Commons (CC) licences are a standardised, free set of public copyright licences that let creators grant the public permission to use their work under clear, machine-readable terms. In research they are the default way to license open-access publications and open data so that reuse conditions are unambiguous.
The step most authors miss
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The licence suite and its conditions
Creative Commons offers a suite of licences built from four optional conditions: Attribution (BY) — credit the creator; ShareAlike (SA) — adaptations must carry the same licence; NonCommercial (NC) — no commercial use; and NoDerivatives (ND) — no modified versions may be shared. These combine into the six main licences, from the most permissive CC BY (attribution only) through CC BY-SA, CC BY-NC, CC BY-NC-SA, CC BY-ND, to CC BY-NC-ND. Every licence requires attribution; the others add restrictions on top.
CC0 — the public-domain option
CC0 is not a licence but a public-domain dedication: the rights holder waives copyright and related rights to the fullest extent possible, so the work can be used for any purpose without conditions, including without attribution. CC0 is frequently recommended for research data, because removing attribution and licensing friction makes large-scale aggregation and reuse of datasets far simpler than under attribution-style licences.
How CC licences apply to publications and data
For open-access articles, applying a Creative Commons licence tells readers exactly what they may do — read, redistribute, adapt, text- and data-mine — without seeking further permission. The same applies to datasets, figures, and other outputs deposited in repositories: a clear CC licence (or CC0) removes ambiguity about reuse and supports both human readers and automated tools. Each CC licence has a human-readable summary, a full legal text, and machine-readable metadata.
Plan S and the CC BY requirement
cOAlition S’s Plan S requires that articles arising from funded research be published under an open licence, with CC BY as the default; CC BY-SA and, by exception with funder approval, CC0 are also accepted. More restrictive variants such as NC and ND are generally not Plan S compliant for the version of record, because they limit the reuse that open access is intended to enable. This makes CC BY the de facto standard licence for funder-mandated open access.
Key facts
At a glance
- Steward: Creative Commons (non-profit); free, standardised licences
- Conditions: Attribution (BY), ShareAlike (SA), NonCommercial (NC), NoDerivatives (ND)
- Main suite: CC BY → CC BY-SA → CC BY-NC → … → CC BY-NC-ND
- CC0: A public-domain dedication, not a licence (waives rights)
- Each licence: Human-readable summary + legal text + machine-readable metadata
- Plan S: Requires CC BY (with limited exceptions) for funded OA articles
Common misconceptions
What people often get wrong
Often heard: Applying a CC licence means giving up copyright.
Actually: No — with a CC licence the creator keeps copyright and grants specific permissions. Only CC0 waives rights, and it is a public-domain dedication rather than a licence.
Often heard: All Creative Commons licences are Plan S compliant.
Actually: No — Plan S defaults to CC BY (with CC BY-SA and, by exception, CC0). NonCommercial (NC) and NoDerivatives (ND) variants are generally not compliant for the version of record.
Often heard: NonCommercial (NC) means no money can change hands at all.
Actually: No — NC restricts use primarily intended for commercial advantage; the boundary can be uncertain, which is one reason funders prefer the clearer CC BY.
Going deeper
