Introduction
What should creators consider before applying a CC licence or CC0 to their work? There are several options for creators who choose to share using CC licences. There are also many things to think about before applying any CC licence or CC0, including whether you have all the rights you need and if not, how you must indicate that to the public.
Before you decide that you want to apply a Creative Commons licence or CC0 to your creative work, there are some important things to consider:
The licences and CC0 are irrevocable
‘Irrevocable’ means a legal agreement that cannot be cancelled. That means once you apply a CC licence to a work, the licence applies until the copyright on the work expires. This aspect of CC licensing is highly desirable from the perspective of reusers, because they have confidence knowing that the creator can’t arbitrarily pull back the rights granted them under the CC licence.
Because the licences are irrevocable, it is very important to carefully consider the options before deciding to use a CC licence on a work.
You must own or control copyright in the work
You should control the copyright of any work that you apply a licence to. For example, you don’t own or control any copyright in a work that is in the public domain [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] , and you don’t own or control the copyright to, for example, a May Sweet song.
Further, if you created the material in the scope of your employment, you may not be the holder of the rights and may need to get permission from your employer before applying a CC licence. Before licensing, be mindful about whether you have copyright to the work to which you’re applying a CC licence.
5.1 Choosing and applying a CC licence