LEARNING OUTCOMES
- Name the most important considerations before applying a CC license or CC0
- Apply a license using CC’s License Chooser and a CC0 using CC’s Public Domain Dedication
- Evaluate which license to apply based on the relevant factors
THE BIG QUESTION: WHY IT MATTERS
What should creators consider before applying a CC license or CC0 to their work? There are several options for creators who choose to share their work by using CC. There are also many things to think about before applying any CC license or CC0, including whether you have all the rights you need and if not, how you must indicate that to the public.
PERSONAL REFLECTION: WHY IT MATTERS TO YOU
How would you go about choosing a particular CC license for your work? Do you know how to go about actually attaching a license to your work once you have chosen one? What if you change your mind about the license?
Acquiring Essential Knowledge
Before you decide that you want to apply a CC license or CC0 to your creative work, there are some important things to consider:
- The licenses and CC0 are irrevocable. The word irrevocable means that a legal agreement cannot be canceled. This means that once you apply a CC license to a work, that license applies to the work until the copyright on the work expires. This aspect of CC licensing is highly desirable from the perspective of reusers because they can be confident that the creator cannot arbitrarily pull back the rights granted them under the CC license.
- Because the licenses are irrevocable, it is very important to carefully consider your options before deciding to apply a CC license to a work.
- You must own or control copyright in the work. You should control copyright in the work to which you apply the CC license. For example, you don’t own or control any copyright in a work that is in the public domain, and you don’t own or control the copyright to an Enrique Iglesias song. Fur-
