Applying a Creative Commons licence
Licence statement | Licence location | Journal articles | Content sharing platforms | Copyright statement | Adaptation statement | Recommended attribution | Disclaimer
Once you have chosen your licence, you need to add the licence text and/or badge to your work. Depending on your requirements and the nature of the work, the licence may simply be indicated with an icon or badge. However, including copyright, adaptation (provenance) and attribution information is recommended for professional and academic work.
Licence statement
Follow best practice by:
- Adding a link to the chosen licence deed whenever possible, e.g. CC BY 4.0.
- Including the full URL of the deed if the work is in hard copy or likely to be printed, e.g. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
- Use the latest version (currently Version 4.0) in the CC licence suite when licensing new works.
- Include the licence version, e.g. CC BY 4.0 rather than just CC BY.
The CC licence chooser tool has an optional attribution details section for generating the licence statement text and/or HTML code to copy and paste. Always check the licence statement is correct, especially if the creators are not the copyright owners.
CC icons and badges
Adding the relevant CC badge or icon is optional, but is recommended as it is easily noticed and recognised. The CC icons and badges are available for download on the CC website. CC icons and badges are trademarks. You can change their colour and size, but no other alterations are permitted.
Licence location
There is no fixed place for displaying a CC licence, but try and keep the user in mind by making the licence easy to find.
Websites – include the licence in the website footer. Use the CC licence chooser tool to generate the HTML code to copy and paste into your webpage. Using the HTML code will make the licence machine readable, improving usage rights recognition by search engines.
Reports and multipage documents – include the copyright and licence in the document with the author and publisher details.
Short documents and single pages – include the copyright and licence in a footer.
Presentations and videos – include the licence on the last slide or end of the film where you would usually find the credits.
Images – include the licence in the margin or below the image with the caption.
Podcasts and sound recordings – add an audio “bumper” at the beginning or end of the recording stating the work is CC licensed. You can also add usage right information into MP3 file metadata.
See the Creative Commons wiki on Marking your work with a CC licence
Licensing journal articles
When publishing with a commercial publisher, you can notify them of your intention to publish open access with a CC licence when you submit your manuscript. Often, you will select your licence when you submit the publishing agreement after the article is accepted. See Choosing a licence for OA journal articles for more information.
The publisher will add the licence to the final paper when they complete the typesetting and layout. It is usually in the footer or in a copyright statement within the article PDF, and it may also be on the article’s webpage. In some cases, you need to check a ‘rights and permissions’ link for the licence details.
Licensing works in content sharing platforms
Many content sharing and online publishing platforms include built in licence selection menus that prompt you to select a licence during the submission process. Your selected licence will then display alongside the work and be included in the metadata for finding the work in the platform database. It is good practice to also include the licence in the document or resource itself, not just on the host platform, so that if the work is downloaded, users will still be able to locate the licence information. Most platforms do not add details to the actual files.
Charles Sturt Research Repository (CRO)
CRO is an example of a platform that includes a menu for selecting a licence when you submit content. The selected licence is displayed on the article overview page under the access to document heading, but not included in the document itself.
YouTube videos
The video below shows how to change the licence of your video in YouTube from the default ‘all rights reserved’ to Creative Commons. By changing the licence, your CC video will be listed in searches that filter by licence type.
YouTube doesn’t give an option to select the type of CC licence. It defaults to CC BY 3.0. It is therefore best practice to also include the latest version (4.0) of your chosen licence in the video itself and in the video description.
Watch Add Creative Commons licence to your YouTube video [YouTube 1:17 mins] CC BY 3.0
Add Creative Commons licence to your YouTube video — text summary
- The video demonstrates how to add a Creative Commons Attribution licence to a YouTube video.
- The creator starts in their YouTube account with an already uploaded video.
- The goal is to let others reuse, remix, and share the video freely with proper attribution.
- They click Edit Video under the video.
- In the editing screen, they open the Advanced tab.
- By default, the video has a Standard YouTube License.
- They open the licence dropdown and choose Creative Commons Attribution.
- They click Save to apply the change.
- Finally, they confirm the licence change under Show more on the video page.
Adding licences to H5P content
Watch H5P copyright and metadata movie by HRDNZ Moodle Partner [YouTube 6:02 mins] CC BY 3.0
H5P copyright and metadata movie — text summary
- The video shows how to add and edit copyright information for images in H5P content types (flashcards and quizzes).
- Example begins with a flashcard that includes an image of a clownfish.
- To edit image copyright in the flashcard, the presenter:
- Clicks Edit copyright.
- Enters the image title, author, year, and source URL (e.g., Flickr).
- Selects the correct licence (e.g., Attribution–NonCommercial–NoDerivatives) and inputs it accurately.
- Emphasises correct attribution and respecting licence terms.
- The tutorial then switches to an H5P quiz activity, which uses a Metadata button instead of a copyright button.
- The metadata editor includes fields for: title, author, year, source, licence, licence version, licence extras, a change log (to document edits), and additional notes for personal or instructional use.
- Entering this information ensures copyright data is embedded properly and ethically.
- The video highlights minor differences between H5P content types in how they handle copyright/metadata.
Copyright statement
Add a copyright statement if you are publishing works that include third party material with alternative usage rights. The copyright statement should:
- Clearly define the licenced work, for example: {TITLE} by {AUTHOR} is licensed under {CC licence}.
- Identify the parts of the work where the CC licence does not apply or alternative usage rights apply.
- Optionally include a take-down notification process or contact.
- Optionally grant additional permissions to the licence terms. You cannot add restrictions to the licence.
For example
Short statement in the footnote of a library guide
© Charles Sturt University. Except for trademarks, logos and where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence. Please attribute Charles Sturt University Library.
Longer statement in the metadata of an open textbook
Group work anthology Copyright © 2024 by Charles Sturt University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International Licence, except where otherwise noted.
Copyright in the student contributions remains with the authors. Unless otherwise noted, you are free to use or modify (adapt) any of this material for non-commercial purposes provided you adhere to the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial International 4.0 licence. Please attribute the authors.
Photographs of participants may only be copied and shared without modification under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivative 4.0 International licence.
Trademarks, corporate logos and branding are specifically excluded from the Creative Commons Licence, and may not be reproduced without the written permission of the copyright holders.
Cover image generated with Microsoft Copilot image creator (September 2024)
All icons from The Noun Project (Royalty-Free Licence)
When you modify, adapt or remix works under a CC licence, your attribution must indicate that you have made changes (Creative Commons wiki, 2016). Do not write the attribution in a way that suggests or implies the licensor endorses your use.
When making substantial changes in a work such as an Open Education Resources (OER), include a detailed adaptation statement in the front matter. Also indicate that the work is an adaptation in the copyright statement.
For example
Detailed statement in open textbook front matter
See The secret lives of cells: foundations of veterinary cell biology and microbiology for a detailed adaptation statement describing how multiple sources were adapted and remixed.
Recommended attribution
Including a recommended attribution or request makes it easy for users to attribute you and source material correctly. Clearly indicate who owns the copyright and how you would prefer to be attributed. For OER, it is helpful to offer a recommended attribution and citation, especially if there are multiple copyright owners.
You can add specific requests to your attribution recommendation; however, users are only legally obliged to meet the licence terms and do not have to follow your preferences. CC licences are intended to allow for flexible attribution practices.
Attribution requests are often combined with the copyright statement, but if there are multiple contributors, a dedicated page may be easier for users to follow.
The CC licence chooser tool includes an optional attribution details section that will generate an attribution statement with the HTML code to cut and paste into your work.
For example: Suggested copyright and attribution statements to include on work created at Charles Sturt University
Copyright owned by the university (most teaching materials)
© YYYY Charles Sturt University. Except for trademarks, logos and where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under a {INSERT CC Licence full name and hyperlink to CC deed}. Please attribute {INSERT author name}, Charles Sturt University.
Copyright owned by the author/s
© YYYY {INSERT author names/s}. Except for trademarks, logos and where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under a {INSERT CC Licence full name and hyperlink to CC deed}. Please attribute {INSERT author name/s} Charles Sturt University.
Work with multiple contributors
For an OER with multiple authors see Group Work Anthology recommended attribution and reference style.
Disclaimers
Including a disclaimer is not a required part of CC licencing, however they are often included near the copyright statement in commercial or government works where users may rely on advice. You may want to consider adding a disclaimer in university publications if there is potential for misinterpretation of advice or guidelines.
Consult with the university’s legal advisors before publishing a disclaimer.
For example
- Using AI tools at university – Disclaimer
- CCWiki – Terms of Use
- Australian Competition and Consumer Commission – Disclaimer and Copyright
- Australian Commission on safety and quality in health care – Disclaimer and copyright
Template example
The {INSERT Author or Organisation Name} has exercised due care and skill in preparing and compiling the information and data in this publication. While all care has been taken to ensure that the information contained in this publication is true and correct at the time of publication, it is not intended to be relied on as a comprehensive representation of technical or scientific advice or used for commercial purposes. The {INSERT Author or Organisation Name} gives no warranty or assurances as to the accuracy of the information contained in the publication and accepts no direct or indirect liability for reliance on its content, including liability for negligence and for any loss, damage, injury, expense or cost incurred by any person directly or indirectly as a result of accessing, using or relying on any of the content of this publication to the maximum extent permitted by law.
