Finding legal photos, videos, music, website articles, blogs, publications, and other materials are getting lot easier because of the of the Creative Commons licenses(CC). Here is the explanation for what is Creative Commons Licenses and how to adopt it.
Creative Commons(CC) is a nonprofit corporation. It provides free licenses and other legal tools to mark creative work with the freedom the creator wants it to carry, so others can share, remix, use commercially, or any combination thereof. Creative Commons licenses only apply to materials that are protected by copyright.
Creators choose a set of conditions(Attribution, Share Alike, Noncommercial , No Derivative Works)they wish to apply to their work.
Here is the list of six main Creative Commons Licenses(CC) offered when you choose to publish your work with a Creative Commons license.
Attribution
You are free to Share (to copy, distribute and transmit the work) and to Remix (to adapt the work) , as long as you credit and link to or reference the original version specified by the author or licensor.
Attribution Share Alike
You are free to Share (to copy, distribute and transmit the work) and to Remix (to adapt the work) , as long as you credit and link to or reference the original version specified by the author or licensor. If you alter, you may distribute the resulting work only under the same, similar or a compatible license.
Attribution No Derivatives
You are free to Share (to copy, distribute and transmit the work), as long as you credit and link to or reference the original version specified by the author or licensor and not alter, transform, or build upon their work.
Attribution Non-Commercial
You are free to Share (to copy, distribute and transmit the work) and to Remix (to adapt the work) , as long as you credit and link to or reference the original version specified by the author or licensor. You may not use work it commercial purposes.
Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike
You are free to Share (to copy, distribute and transmit the work) and to Remix (to adapt the work) , as long as you credit and link to or reference the original version specified by the author or licensor. If you alter, you may distribute the resulting work only under the same, similar or a compatible license and you may not use it for commercial purposes.
Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives
You are free to Share (to copy, distribute and transmit the work), as long as you credit and link to or reference the original version specified by the author or licensor and not alter, transform, or build upon their work. Also, you may not use it for commercial purposes.
Note: If you get permission from the copyright holder, any of the above conditions can be waived.
For more information check out Creative Commons website for License conditions and Licenses explanation.