Have you ever wondered how to download and share digital content legally? How do you let people know that you want them to reuse your own work? Creative Commons licences can help you do both. We'll show you how. Our world's exploded with digital opportunities. Now we can communicate, share and work together using the exceptional distribution network that is the Internet. Information and content can fly between us in exciting new ways. But this is important to know when something is created say a photo or document or a music track it is automatically protected by copyright. Copyright enables people to say who can share and re-use their creations. You must always obtain someone's permission before sharing or re-using their work even when it is posted online. But what if a creator wants everyone to use their work without the hassle of granting permission over and over. This is where Creative Commons can help. Creative Commons provides licensing tools that are free to use. You can apply a license to your work which refines your copyright and streamlines how you give permission. Zack downloads photo called CC Kiwi that he wants to use in a science project. He can do that without asking Kiri, the photographer, first, because she has already given permission with the Creative Commons license. Kiri's licence is legally robust but easily for Zack to understand. She has told the world, including Zack, that they can use CC Kiwi as long as they acknowledge her as original photographer. There are more rules Kiri could have included. Creative Commons licences are made up of licence elements. You can think of them as rules. And each have their own special symbol. This is Attribution. It means that Zack must acknowledge Kiri when he publishes his science project containing her photo. This is Non commercial. It means no one else but Kiri is permitted to make money from CC Kiwi. Tim wants to print the photo on T-shirts and distribute them to friends. He can do this but he must not sell them. This is No Derivatives and it means that Kiri hasn't given permission to change her photo. Kate can use CC Kiwi on her design blog, but will need to ask Kiri before retouching or mixing up the image. This is Share alike. It means new creations that use CC Kiwi need to carry the same licence. Jack incorporates his own remix of CC Kiwi in his video installation but he must share the work under the same terms Kiri has. Each Creative Commons licence gives permission to share and includes the attribution rule. So people who find your Creative Commons licensed work are automatically allowed to share it but are required to acknowledge you if they do. The other three licence elements are optional and you can choose which one to add if any. Here are the 6 combinations that make up CC licenses. The difference between them is how many rules apply when someone wishes to use your work. The Attribution licence allows reusers the most freedom and the Attribution - Non commercial - No-derivatives licence allows the least freedom. The Attribution and Attribution - Share alike license are sometimes refer to as Free Cultural Works approved licences. These three licences restrict commercial use of the work. And these two licences do not give permission for adapting or remixing. These two licences require new works to be licenced under the same terms. To choose and apply one of these licences and to view the terms in more details visit us at creativecommons.org.nz or you can answer some questions to help you decide which license best suits your needs at creativecommons.org/choose. There are some good ways to find other people's CC licensed work online. You can use a search filter by going to CC website. Why not try the Jamendo website for music, Flickr for images or Digital NZ for New Zealand content. Using Creative Commons licences could help your creations reach more people. Maybe you want to connect with others across the globe and take turns at improving a report or maybe you just want to have fun remixing someone else's work. Whatever reason you have to share your work you will find there are scientists, educators, companies and public agencies who are using Creative Commons. By opening up permission just imagine how much we can achieve. Collaborating on what we hold in common, being open about big decisions and finding solutions in the spaces between us. Let's work together confidently and legally. It is good to share with Creative Commons.