The Creative Commons were developed to give authors and creators a way to deliberately permit certain uses of their works within copyright law. Watch this video to better understand what the Creative Commons licenses do and why they exist:
Creative Commons licenses are identified by four terms that can be used in combination to indicate how others can use your work:
Attribution (BY)
All CC licenses require that others who use your work in any way must give you credit the way you request, but not in a way that suggests you endorse them or their use. If they want to use your work without giving you credit or for endorsement purposes, they must get your permission first.
Noncommercial (NC)
You let others copy, distribute, display, perform, and (unless you have chosen No Derivatives) modify and use your work for any purpose other than commercially unless they get your permission first.
No Derivatives (ND)
You let others copy, distribute, display and perform only original copies of your work. If they want to modify your work, they must get your permission first.
Share Alike (SA)
You let others copy, distribute, display, perform, and modify your work, as long as they distribute any modified work on the same terms. If they want to distribute modified works under other terms, they must get your permission first.