CCBY

CC BY, short for Creative Commons Attribution, is one of the Creative Commons licenses that allows broad reuse of a work while preserving attribution to the creator. Under CC BY, others may copy, redistribute, remix, transform, and build upon the material in any medium or format, including for commercial purposes, as long as they give appropriate credit. The key condition is attribution: users must credit the original author, provide a link to the CC license, and indicate if changes were made, in a manner the licensor reasonably requires. They should not imply that the licensor endorses the user or the user’s use of the work.

CC BY is versioned; the most widely used version is CC BY 4.0, designed to be internationally applicable. It clarifies attribution requirements and includes provisions on adaptation, distribution, and how to handle moral rights, while prohibiting the addition of restrictions that would block others from using the licensed material. The license does not require derivatives to be distributed under the same terms, meaning the new material can be licensed under different terms, so long as attribution to the original CC BY work is preserved.

Usage and compatibility: Works released under CC BY can be combined with other content, including works under different licenses. Any third-party material included in the work may have its own separate license terms, which must be respected.

Limitations: The license does not grant rights to use the licensor’s trademarks or to imply endorsement beyond attribution. It also does not affect rights outside copyright, such as privacy or publicity rights, where applicable.