What is a Creative Commons licence and why should I use it?
There are a number of different Creative Commons licenses which enable you as a copyright owner to grant some or all of your rights to the public while retaining others – moving from an all rights reserved to some rights reserved situation. All Creative Commons licenses are based on copyright but they do not give the ability to restrict anything that is otherwise permitted by exceptions or limitations to copyright including fair dealing, nor do they give you the ability to control anything that is not protected by copyright law. The licenses are written in plain English, are easy to understand and they are a simple way to show the public how they may use your work legally. Although Creative Commons originated in the US, the licenses have been ported into various legal jurisdictions, including Scotland, England and Wales.
