Differences between Creative Commons License and GPL

Creative Commons license vs. GNU General Public License

The GNU General Public License (GPL) and Creative Commons (CC) licenses are legal frameworks used to grant public permissions to use, modify, and distribute intellectual property. While both systems aim to facilitate the sharing of work, they are designed for different types of content and operate under different legal philosophies. The GPL was developed by Richard Stallman for the Free Software Foundation in 1989, specifically to protect the freedom of computer software. Creative Commons was founded in 2001 by Lawrence Lessig, Hal Abelson, and Eric Eldred to provide a similar mechanism for creative and academic works such as text, images, and music.

Comparison table

Category	Creative Commons (CC)	GNU General Public License (GPL)
Primary Subject	Creative works (images, text, video)	Software and source code
Organization	Creative Commons	Free Software Foundation (FSF)
Modularity	Multiple options (BY, NC, SA, ND)	Single standard (versions 2 or 3)
Copyleft	Optional (via ShareAlike module)	Mandatory (integral to the license)
Source Code	Not applicable to most CC media	Required for distribution
Commercial Use	Can be restricted (NC module)	Cannot be restricted
Derivative Works	Can be prohibited (ND module)	Always permitted
Attribution	Mandatory (since version 2.0)	Mandatory

Venn diagram comparing Differences between Creative Commons License and GPL

Scope and application

The GPL is specifically tailored for software. It includes clauses regarding source code, installation information, and the "linking" of software libraries. Because it addresses the technical nature of programming, it is the standard choice for projects like the Linux kernel and the WordPress content management system.

Creative Commons licenses lack provisions for source code. The Creative Commons organization explicitly recommends that developers do not use their licenses for software, as the legal language does not address patent rights or binary distribution. Instead, CC licenses are used for digital media. For example, Wikipedia uses the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) license for its text content.

Copyleft and modularity

The GPL is a "strong copyleft" license. This requires that any person who distributes a modified version of the software must also provide the source code and license the new version under the GPL. This ensures that the software remains free for all subsequent users.

Creative Commons offers a modular approach. A creator can mix four different components:

• Attribution (BY): Credit must be given to the creator.
• ShareAlike (SA): Derivatives must use the same license.
• Non-Commercial (NC): The work cannot be used for commercial profit.
• No-Derivatives (ND): The work can be shared but not modified.

This allows for "Non-Free" versions of Creative Commons, such as CC BY-NC-ND, which prohibits both modification and commercial sale. The GPL does not allow for such restrictions; any software licensed under the GPL can be sold or modified, provided the source code remains available.

Compatibility

Historically, works under CC licenses and the GPL were legally incompatible. This made it difficult to include CC-licensed text or images within a GPL-licensed software package. In 2015, Creative Commons released version 4.0 of its licenses, which introduced a one-way compatibility between CC BY-SA 4.0 and the GPL version 3. Content from a CC BY-SA 4.0 project may now be incorporated into a GPLv3 project, provided the resulting work is distributed under the GPLv3.