Acquiring Essential Knowledge
Most people who reuse CC-licensed works try to comply with the license conditions. But whether well-meaning or not, sometimes people get it wrong.
If someone is using a CC-licensed work without giving attribution or otherwise following the license, their right to use the work ends automatically as soon as they violate the license terms. Unless the person using the work received separate permission or is relying upon fair use or some other exception to copyright, they are potentially liable for copyright infringement. To learn what happens when someone does not comply with a CC license, read the FAQ at https://creativecommons.org/faq/#what-happens-if-i-offer-my-material-under-a-creative-commons-license-and-someone-misuses-them. For a look at what happens from the perspective of a reuser, read the FAQ at https://creativecommons.org/faq/#how-can-i-lose-my-rights-under-a-creative-commons-license-if-that-happens-how-do-i-get-them-back.
Note this important difference between the newest version of CC licenses (Version 4.0) and prior versions in the text box below:
violations
All CC licenses terminate when a licensee breaks their terms, but under 4.0, a licensee’s rights are reinstated automatically if she corrects a breach within 30 days of discovering it. The cure period in version 4.0 resembles similar provisions in some other public licenses and better reflects how licensors and licensees resolve compliance issues in practice. It also assures users that provided they act promptly, they can continue using the CC-licensed work without worry that they may have lost their rights permanently.
Under Version 4.0, users of CC-licensed works who come into compliance with license terms within thirty days of discovering they were in violation of the terms have their rights under the license automatically reinstated.
FIGURE 3.6 What’s new in Version 4.0 of the CC licenses?
From the “What’s New in 4.0 Page” on the Creative Commons website:
https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/licensing-considerations/version4/
CC BY 4.0
Sometimes these types of disputes can end up in court. Over the course of Creative Commons’ history, to our knowledge, there have been very few legal disputes and decisions involving CC legal tools. Each court that has rendered a decision has made it without questioning the enforceability of the CC license at issue.
