---
title: "Licensing Documentation and Creative Outputs"
source: The Turing Way
source_url: https://github.com/the-turing-way/the-turing-way
licence: CC-BY-4.0
domain: data-and-analysis
subdomain: turing-way
date_added: 2026-04-25
---

(rr-licensing-documentation)=
# Licensing Documentation and Creative Outputs

Licensing documentation and creative outputs with an appropriate license clarify how accompanying materials can be used, copied, or shared.
Licenses can be applied to a standalone resource or in combination with licenses associated with other kinds of artefacts, such as software.

For example, *The Turing Way* uses two licenses, one for documentation (Creative Commons) and another for code (MIT).
You can find details in the [LICENSE.md](https://github.com/the-turing-way/the-turing-way/blob/main/LICENSE.md) located in the main GitHub repository.

## Creative Commons Licenses

Appropriate license for documentation or other creative outputs allows making resources available to users with defined conditions (or limitations) for copying, reuse, redistribution, and modification.
[Creative Commons (CC)](https://creativecommons.org/) is the most widely used license for text, images, audio, and video.

To help determine which Creative Commons License is right for you, the Creative Commons organisation offer a comprehensive [set of documentation](https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/cclicenses/) and a [chooser to get started in a few steps](https://creativecommons.org/choose).

```{note}

CC licenses give everyone from individual creators to large institutions a standardised way to grant the public permission to use their creative work under copyright law. From the reuser’s perspective, the presence of a Creative Commons license on a copyrighted work answers the question, "What can I do with this work?"

CC licenses are legal tools that creators and other rights holders can use to offer certain usage rights to the public while reserving other rights.
Those who want to make their work available to the public for limited kinds of uses while preserving their copyright may want to consider using CC licenses. Others who want to reserve all of their rights under copyright law should not use CC licenses.

*Reference: [Creative Commons (CC)](https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/cclicenses/)*

```

There are six different license types, listed from most to least permissive nature (illustrated in the image below):

1. **CC 0** allows you to copy and publish, does not require attribution, allows commercial use, allows you to modify and adapt, and allows you to change the license.
2. **CC BY** allows you to copy and publish, requires attribution, allows commercial use, allows you to modify and adapt, and allows you to change the license.
3. **CC BY Share-Alike (SA)** allows you to copy and publish, requires attribution, allows commercial use, and allows you to modify and adapt, but does not allow you to change the license.
* **CC BY Non-Disclosure (ND)** allows you to copy and publish, requires attribution, allows commercial use, does not allow you to modify and adapt, and allows you to change the license.
* **CC BY Non-Commercial (NC)** allows you to copy and publish, requires attribution, does not allow commercial use, allows you to modify and adapt, and allows you to change the license.
* **CC BY Non-Commercial Share-Alike (NC-SA)** allows you to copy and publish, requires attribution, does not allow commercial use, allows you to modify and adapt, and does not allow you to change the license.
* **CC BY Non-Commercial Non-Disclosure (NC-ND)** allows you to copy and publish, requires attribution, does not allow commercial use, does not allow you to modify and adapt, and allows you to change the license.

```{figure} ../../../figures/cc-license-chart.* 
---
height: 500px
name: Creative Commons License Types
alt: >
  Down the left-hand side of the image, there is a list of Creative Commons license types and their corresponding symbols, across the top is a list of properties of these licenses.
  This creates a matrix to indicate which licenses have which properties using checkmarks.
  Public Domain is represented by a C in a circle with a line through it.
  Attribution is represented by a person in a circle.
  CC By attribution Share Alike is represented by a person in a circle and a circular arrow in a circle.
  CC By attribution no derivatives is represented by a person in a circle and an equals sign in a circle
  CC By attribution non commercial is represented by a person in a circle and a dollar sign in a circle with a line through it
  CC By attribution non commercial share alike (NC-SA) is represented by a person in a circle, a dollar sign in a circle with a line through it, and a circular arrow in a circle.
  CC By attribution non commercial no derivatives is represented by a person in a circle, a dollar sign in a circle with a line through it, and an equals sign in a circle.
---
Creative Commons License Types. From [George Washington University Libraries Open Textbooks](https://libguides.gwu.edu/opentextbooks/creative_commons). Used under a CC-BY 4.0 licence.
```

The six licenses and the public domain dedication tool give creators a range of options.
The best way to decide which is appropriate for you is to think about why you want to share your work and how you hope others will use that work.

The [Creative Commons License Chooser](https://creativecommons.org/choose/) is a good place to assess which type of license is a good fit for your work.

## Other Licenses for Documentation

- **GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL)**: Often used for documentation alongside GNU software, GFDL requires users to use and distribute modified versions under the GFDL. Wikipedia is a prominent use of this license. Visit [gnu.org for details](https://www.gnu.org/licenses/fdl-1.3.html).
- **Fonts**:  The Open Font License (OFL) attempts to be a compromise between the values of the free software and typeface design communities. It is used for almost all open source font projects, including those by Adobe, Google and Mozilla. Visit [choosealicense.com for details](https://choosealicense.com/licenses/ofl-1.1/).
