Using Creative Commons works

Finding Creative Commons works

The quantity of openly licensed content has grown tremendously since CC began in 2001, with over 2.5 billion works now available under CC licences. Below are a few examples on where and how to find them.

Look for licences in website footnotes, under ‘terms of use’, ‘usage conditions’ or ‘copyright pages.’

Using Creative Commons works

Works with a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) licence can be downloaded, copied, shared, republished, adapted and revised, including for commercial purposes, on condition that the original creator and source are attributed.  No additional permissions are required.

Some examples of use are:

• Sharing – adding an article or image to your website, including a copy in an LMS subject site.
• Republishing – including a work in your thesis, including a copy in an OER, printing on a flyer or T-shirt.
• Adapting – modifying a work published in Canada with case studies for Australian students, translating into another language.

CC-BY-SA licences allow the same uses as CC-BY licences, but adaptations or revisions must also have a CC-BY-SA or legally compatible licence. Currently the Free Art licence 1.3 and the GNU General Public Licence version 3 are the only compatible alternatives.

CC-BY-NC licenced works can be downloaded, copied, shared, republished, adapted and revised, for non-commercial uses only. CC-BY-NC-SA  licences are the same as CC-BY-NC licences, but adaptations or revisions must also have a CC-BY-NC-SA licence. Currently there are no compatible alternatives.

Works with a CC-BY-ND licence can be downloaded, copied, shared and republished, including for commercial uses, but you must not share or publish adaptations.
CC-BY-NC-ND licences are the same as CC-BY-ND licences, with the added limit to non-commercial uses only.

Attribution is a legal requirement for using works with all CC licences.

How to attribute

The attribution statement must include the relevant CC licence, however style is intentionally flexible and adaptable depending on the medium. As a general guide, Creative Commons recommends following the T.A.S.L. acronym (Title, Author, Source, Licence) as much as is reasonable.

Initial	Field	Description	Requirement
T	Title	Include if known Hyperlink source or include URL if applicable.	Best Practice. Condition of licence prior to CC version 4.
A	Author	The licensor, usually the author or creator. Follow any requests in the attribution statement as much as reasonable. Include a © notice if supplied.	Condition of all CC licences. but exclude if requested to do so by the author.
S	Source	Source of work. If you have found the work through a 3rd party site, try to trace and use the original source.	Condition of licence to extent reasonably practicable. Can be included as a hyperlink from the title.
L	Licence	Licence either in abbreviated form (CC BY 4.0) or long form (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0). Include the licence version number. For offline works and works that will be printed include the full URL of the licence e.g. https://creativecommons.org/Licences/by/4.0/ For online works, hyperlink to either the Creative Commons deed or to the Legal Code	Condition of licence, Must be indicated.

Further recommendations are to:

• retain copyright notices if they are included in the resource.
• credit the licensor in the manner they specify as far as reasonable.
• link to the original source if possible.
• remove the author’s name if requested to do so by the licensor.

APA attribution style

The American Psychological Association publication manual recommends including the following elements in an attribution statement.

• Usage description e.g.  From (if reused without changes); Adapted from (if reused with changes); Used with permission.
• Title,
• by Author,
• Year of publication,
• Source (publisher, webpage, in editor (Ed.), title of book)
• Licence abbreviation e.g CC BY 4.0; CC0

Insert the attribution at the end of a general note after the figure, table or image. For text include the attribution in a footnote. Include the work in the reference list following referencing formatting guidelines. It is not necessary to include an in-text citation if there is an attribution statement (American Psychological Association, 2020, pp. 389-392).

For example

Attribution

---

Reference list entry
Sun, L., An, R., Li, J., Jiang, W., & Zhang, D. (2025). Research on swimming hydrodynamics based on a three-dimensional high-precision fish model. River, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1002/rvr2.70021

CC Attribution versus citation and referencing

Attribution of CC works and referencing or citation serve a similar purpose of indicating a source, but there are important differences.

Adapted from: “Citations V. Attributions” by Quill West, for Pierce College, CC-BY 4.0 and from Self-Publishing Guide by Lauri M. Aesoph,  CC-BY 4.0.

Adaptation statements

If you are adapting a work under a CC licence, you must attribute the original work and indicate that you have made changes.

Indicating your changes creates a clear provenance trail, enabling downstream users to trace the work’s origin and understand where and when modifications were introduced.

Do not use the attribution in a way that suggests or implies the licensor endorses your use.

For example

 

Attributing works in the public domain

Attribution is not legally required when using public domain works, however it is recommended as best practice. Attributing public domain works:

• avoids plagiarism, gives credit if the work is not your own and demonstrates academic integrity.
• encourages fact checking by indicating provenance and making sure the source of information is clear for other users.
• is often appreciated and supports creators.

Consider privacy, cultural heritage and sensitivity before using or sharing works even if they are in the public domain.

For example

The attribution in Figure 4.3 is not legally required, but is recommended best practice. Note the links to the source and the CC0 deed.

Permission statements

Always indicate if you obtained permission to use an ‘all rights reserved’ work or to use a CC licensed work in a way not permitted under the licence e.g. permission to use a CC-BY-NC work for a fundraiser or permission to modify a CC-BY-ND work for use in a translation.

Follow any specific attribution conditions or requirements if they are included with the permission.

For more information about copyright permissions see the Requesting permission to use copyright material library guide.

Using Creative Commons works with AI

The development and widespread adoption of Generative AI (GAI) platforms since 2022 has raised complex questions about how copyright law applies across different jurisdictions. CC licences are permissions that operate within copyright law. If the use of a work is already allowed under copyright exceptions or limitations, then the licence conditions do not apply.

In some jurisdictions, copyright law permits the use of works for training AI tools. However, under current Australian copyright law, using copyright material for training GAI models is not permitted. This means that when using CC works with GAI, we must comply with the licence conditions.

There are two main scenarios where CC works may be used with AI tools:

• Use as data for training GAI models: Creative Commons has published guidance on this use case. Read Understanding CC licences and AI training: a legal primer.
• Use as input into a AI tool: This includes uploading CC works to generate summaries, remixes, derivatives e.g. podcasts, reformatted versions, translations, and similar outputs.

Whether use as input (prompt or upload) into an AI tool is permitted depends on the AI platform’s terms of service. Many platforms require users to grant the developer a licence to use prompts and outputs for purposes such as service provision, model development, or further training. Because CC licences do not allow sublicensing, you cannot grant such rights to the platform if you do not own the copyright. What does this mean in practice? Below are two scenarios to consider: 

• If the AI platform does not use your inputs (uploads) for further training, CC works can be uploaded for personal study and research.
• If you intend to publish or redistribute outputs or derivatives, you must follow the relevant CC licence conditions, including providing proper attribution. Remember, however, that works licensed with NoDerivatives (ND) cannot be modified or used to create derivatives.

Check your understanding

Alternative format: OA licences-UsingCCworks_AttributionCheck (Google docs) ↗