Marking

Best Practices for Marking Content with CC Licensing

A CC license is only effective if others have a way of knowing about it. It is important to clearly mark your content so that others are aware of what permissions they have. One way to do this is to copy the code snippet from the license chooser and paste it into the HTML of your website. It is also recommended you display the license within the work itself, especially if your content will be shared online or displayed in a physical medium. Different types of content will have different limitations, but your mark should contain:

1. The full URI (link) to the license. Example: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/.
2. Optionally, the Creative Commons license icons, including the CC logo.

CC icons may be downloaded from the Press Kit. Markers and video bumpers are available and you can also make your own. You may also want to include a copyright notice stating the author(s) and date of creation. The phrase “Some Rights Reserved” may be used to differentiate from the default “All Rights Reserved” copyright notice. You may also choose to use the background color of the license for your mark.

In order for others to credit you for your work, it is preferable to provide an attribution name and URL. If your work is a derivative or remix, you must also properly attribute the original creator(s). Unless the creator(s) have specified otherwise, displaying their name(s) and a URL (if applicable) is adequate attribution.

See Also: Tagging

Marking Specific Media

Due to the constraints of various media, it is not always possible for your mark to include all of the above. For details on how to mark specific media, please select your medium:

• Text
• Image
• Audio
• Video

Marking Specific Formats

To mark a PDF or other XMP-supported file, save this template following these instructions.

To mark a Microsoft Office word document, you can use the Microsoft Office add-ins for Office 2003/XP or Office 2007

To add a Creative Commons license to your Blogger, Movable Type, and Typepad blog, see this guide.

Marking on Specific Sites

Guides to help you CC license your material on specific sites are listed below:

Publishing your licensed music to the Internet Archive

Publishing your licensed music to Soundclick

Posting your licensed images at Flickr

Posting your licensed images at Buzznet

Publishing your licensed video at the Internet Archive

Publishing your licensed music to the Morpheus P2P network

Adding a Creative Commons license to your blog (Blogger, Movable Type, and Typepad)

Crediting Material in Your Work

It is also important to credit the Creative Commons licensed material in your work appropriately. In general it is best to have a list of what material you used with the material's title, author name, and license information with appropriate links from each piece of information. This can be done in many ways for each media type.

Crediting in Video

Adding the appropriate credit information to you videos could be as simple as a list of the works used at the end with their associated license. Eg:

If possible it is desirable to make the title, author, and license a link the viewer can follow.

Crediting in Text

A similar format to the Video example above would be sufficient with the added ability to create links for text available online.

Crediting in Audio

If available online provide a "credit list" of material used and follow the above Text guidelines.

Crediting in Images

If available online provide a "credit list" of material used and follow the above Text guidelines.

Download Markers

• For images & documents:
  • Official CC Markers
  • User Submitted Markers
• For audio:
  • CC Podcast Plugs
• For video:
  • Official CC Bumpers
  • User Submitted Bumpers

More Technical

We also have a document about marking works that is more technical.

External Guides and Fact Sheets

• Molly Kleinman's excellent, easy to read article CC HowTo #1: How to Attribute a Creative Commons licensed work - includes illustrative examples.