Digital Repository @ WTS
A digital archive of Western Theological Seminary's history.
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Creative Commons Licenses Explained
The Creative Commons organization was founded in 2001 as a means of permitting creators to license their work for public use under conditions they specify. Although not an alternative to copyright and not an indication that a work is part of the public domain (unless the Public Domain Dedication mark is selected), Creative Commons licenses permit the holders of copyright to define how their works may be used and give users of copyrighted works greater creative freedom when they know, without question, how copyrighted works can be incorporated into new creations.
For more on the different types of Creative Commons licenses, see this Atla Newsletter SCOOP post "Not All Rights Are Reserved: Understanding Creative Commons Licensing."
Locating Creative Commons Licensed Content
When searching sites such as Google Images or Flickr, always remember to add the Creative Commons license appropriate to your proposed use to your advanced search.
Below are links to resources where you can locate music, images and other content that have been licensed through Creative Commons.
- Creative Commons SearchNewly revised mega search by Creative Commons
- CC MixterCommunity music remixing site featuring remixes and samples licensed under Creative Commons licenses.
- JamendoA wide catalog of more than 500,000 tracks shared by 40,000 artists from over 150 countries all over the world.
- Photos for ClassThis tool allows users to search through Creative Commons images that are appropriate for the classroom. Citation information is automatically included when the images are downloaded.
- Wikimedia CommonsFully searchable access to media, including images, sounds and videos. Most of the content is available under some sort of Creative Commons license and licensing information is clearly provided at the bottom of each page.
This guide compiled from a Libguide of the same name by Christine Fruin at https://atla.libguides.com/copyright
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.