Remixing and adapting

You may remix and adapt a CC-licensed work only if the source licence does not include NoDerivatives (ND). That is the single gate. If the licence says ND, change the work for private use but do not share the adapted version. If the licence lacks ND, you may adapt and share, but the ShareAlike (SA) condition may then force the license you place on your adaptation. Your first decision is whether what you are making counts as an adaptation or a collection. The difference determines which conditions apply. This hub routes you to the specific guide that matches what you are trying to do, so you do not waste time reading rules that do not affect your project.

Before you test any license term, ask what you are building. Take a song and a video and merge them into one synchronised file. You have created Adapted Material under the 4.0 definition. Arrange ten CC-licensed photographs on a single webpage without cropping, filtering or altering them. You have made a collection. The collection keeps each work's original license intact. Your own license on the collection page covers only the new arrangement and any original commentary you add. The adaptation replaces or modifies the original work's expression, and your license applies to the new elements while the original's notice stays visible.

The decisive difference: a collection never triggers SA on the individual works inside it. An adaptation can trigger SA, which then sets the license terms for the whole adapted version you share.

Once you know you are adapting, run three checks in order.

Step One: Check For ND

If the source carries CC BY-ND, CC BY-NC-ND or any other license with NoDerivatives, you may not share the adaptation. The official license terms permit you to modify the work for your own private use. Distributing the adapted version to anyone else is not allowed. Your project ends here unless you obtain separate permission from the licensor.

Step Two: Check For SA

If the license includes ShareAlike (CC BY-SA or CC BY-NC-SA), and you share the adaptation, then the adaptation must carry the same SA license or one that Creative Commons has formally named as compatible. You cannot pick any license you like. The official compatibility list controls which licenses qualify. One-way compatibility exists from CC BY-SA 4.0 to GPLv3 for adapted material, but that does not turn a CC license into a software license or create compatibility in the reverse direction. Do not assume two SA licenses are automatically compatible.

Step Three: Set The Adapter License

If the source has no SA term, you may choose any license for the new material you contribute, including a different CC license or a closed license. You must still retain the original creator's attribution and license notice. Your own license covers only the original expression you added, not the underlying work.

The ten guides underneath this section each answer one specific question so you can skip the rest. Choose the one that matches what you are trying to do.

• To combine two or more CC-licensed works into a single new work, go to the guide that answers how to handle multiple sources with different licenses.
• To translate a CC-licensed text, go to the guide that answers what rules apply to translations under 4.0.
• To synchronise music with a video, the guide on music and moving images covers the express adaptation rule.
• If you are cropping or editing a photograph and are unsure whether that creates an adaptation, the guide on image modifications explains where the boundary lies under applicable copyright law.
• To create a collection such as an anthology, a compilation or a curated gallery, the guide on collections tells you how to attribute each work and what license the collection as a whole carries.
• To use a CC-licensed work in an educational resource you plan to share, the guide on open educational resources covers the 5R permissions and the effect of ND and NC.
• To adapt a CC-licensed work for commercial use, the guide on commercial adaptation tests the NC term in depth.
• If the source uses a version older than 4.0, the guide on version differences explains what changes and what stays the same.
• To attribute your adaptation, the guide on marking adapted material shows the correct format for the modification notice.
• If you are the original creator and want to allow or restrict adaptation of your own work, the guide on choosing a license walks through the effect of each term on downstream reuse.

NoDerivatives is the only term that completely blocks sharing an adaptation. If you encounter a work under CC BY-ND, CC BY-NC-ND or any older port that carries ND, the official license terms forbid you from distributing any version that modifies the work. You may still reproduce the work in a different format. You may still share it unchanged. You cannot edit, crop, translate, synchronise or combine it and then give that result to anyone else.

What ND Actually Stops

The ND term does not turn every act of editing into a prohibited adaptation. Cropping, excerpting, editing and combining may or may not create Adapted Material depending on the applicable copyright law. The 4.0 legal code gives two categorical examples: translation is normally an adaptation, and synchronising music with a moving image is expressly Adapted Material. Format-shifting alone, such as converting a PDF to plain text, does not create an adaptation. For anything else, the boundary is set by copyright law, not by the CC license.

This page and the guides it routes to are built on the Creative Commons 4.0 legal code and the official FAQ. They do not replace legal advice. Whether a particular crop, edit or combination creates an adaptation is decided by applicable copyright law, not by the CC license text. If the planned use has material commercial risk, or if the work involves privacy, trademark or moral rights, obtain separate permission or local legal advice. The CC license grants only the permissions it names; it does not license patent rights, trademark rights, or any right not expressly covered by the legal code.