Using Photographs licensed under a Creative Commons license has become very popular as a free source of photographs for publishers and it is a great way for photographers to get their work known while retaining copyright.
There are several classes of Creative Commons license for a photograper to choose from;
Attribution – this allows people to use your work as long as attribution is given in the format you stipulate.
Attribution-ShareAlike – this license allows others to build upon your picture again as long as the required attribution is given to you.
Attribution-NoDerivs – this allows your work to be used subject to attribution but the work cannot be altered in any way
Attribution-NonCommercial – as it says your work can be used as long as attribution is given but it cannot be used for commercial purposes. Whilst popular this license can cause problems when it comes to defing commercial purposes.
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike – this license is the same as the Attribution-ShareAlike work but can only be used for non commercial purposes.
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs – the work can only be used on non commercial sites subject to attribution and cannot be altered.
Any photographer considering using a Creative Commons license should read the actual license terms of the license they intend to use to familiarise themselves with the requirements.
As well as having an attribution link on the above licenses each license also requires that there is a link to the actual license terms so that others considering using the work can read what is required and also give the required attribution.