- Attribution to the author is mandatory.
- Reference to the publisher is mandatory. This feature makes the license attractive to publishers and, consequently, more fruitful for authors.
- The license is not limited to a specific area of culture.
- It automatically applies to derivatives.
The following are limitations of the license:
- It may be extended in order to be more restrictive. On the other hand, it can be extended by an author through any unique feature that puts no additional restrictions on the work’s use. Thus, the license allows for extra nonrestrictive features and extra restrictions as well, which is a contradiction.
- It is based on copyright law only.
- It is limited to publication activity only.
Creative Commons (CC) Licenses
Location: http://creativecommons.org/license/.
Excerpt
“Until 1976, creative works were not protected by U.S. copyright law unless their authors took the trouble to publish a copyright notice along with them. Works not affixed with a notice passed into the public domain. Following legislative changes in 1976 and 1988, creative works are now automatically copyrighted. We believe that many people would not choose this ‘copyright by default’ if they had an easy mechanism for turning their work over to the public or exercising some but not all of their legal rights. It is Creative Commons’ goal to help create such a mechanism.
An idea is not diminished when more people use it. Creative Commons aspires to cultivate a commons in which people can feel free to reuse not only ideas, but also words, images, and music
