Which license permits remixing for noncommercial use?

Which license permits remixing for noncommercial use?

• A. Attribution-NoDerivs (CC BY-ND)
• B. Attribution (CC BY)
• C. Public Domain
• D. Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC)

Answer: (D)

Remixing—creating a new work by transforming or combining existing material—depends on the license terms that accompany the original work. To remix a creation and keep it noncommercial, the license must permit derivatives and restrict commercial use. Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) does exactly that: you may remix, transform, or build upon the material as long as you credit the creator and do not use the work for commercial purposes. It even allows sharing the remix noncommercially, while requiring giving proper attribution. The other options don’t fit as neatly. A license that forbids derivatives makes remixing impossible. A public domain status allows any use, including commercial, with no noncommercial restriction. A license that allows remixing but does not restrict to noncommercial would permit commercial use as well, which isn’t aligned with the noncommercial requirement.

Remixing—creating a new work by transforming or combining existing material—depends on the license terms that accompany the original work. To remix a creation and keep it noncommercial, the license must permit derivatives and restrict commercial use. Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) does exactly that: you may remix, transform, or build upon the material as long as you credit the creator and do not use the work for commercial purposes. It even allows sharing the remix noncommercially, while requiring giving proper attribution.

The other options don’t fit as neatly. A license that forbids derivatives makes remixing impossible. A public domain status allows any use, including commercial, with no noncommercial restriction. A license that allows remixing but does not restrict to noncommercial would permit commercial use as well, which isn’t aligned with the noncommercial requirement.