Sharing your work (permitting royalty-free use)
If you want to use copyright to give permissions to others to re-use or build upon your work without permission and/or financial compensation, consider licensing your work under Creative Commons.
Under Creative Commons creators retain their copyright but give permission to share and use their creative works. Users of your material will still need to comply with whatever terms you have stipulated.
This chart will help you understand what license best suits you.
Adapted from Creative Commons Permissions Infographic by Aaron McCollough (adapted from a table by Anita Walz), licensed under a CC BY 4.0 licence.
Important: Only the copyright owner can assign a Creative Commons licence. Take particular care if you created the material as a paid employee as the employer may own the copyright.
Learn more:
- Creative Commons License Chooser
Follow the steps to select the appropriate license for your work. - Fact sheet: Creative Commons Licenses
This fact sheet outlines the Creative Commons licenses available for sharing work freely