What is the difference between Creative Commons 3.0 and 4.0?
If you are licensing a new work, use Creative Commons 4.0. It gives you a single international license that handles sui generis database rights and includes a 30-day cure period for breaches. The 3.0 suite was the last to offer jurisdiction-specific ports, where the legal code was adapted to local copyright law. With 4.0, no porting is needed. One rule you cannot bend: a work already under a 3.0 license cannot be unilaterally upgraded to 4.0 by a reuser. Only the rights holder can do that.
Jurisdiction And Porting: How Each Version Handles Local Law
Creative Commons 3.0 licenses were published as ports. Each port was a separate legal code adapted to a specific jurisdiction. The Australian port referenced Australian fair dealing provisions and local moral rights. The German port referenced German Urheberrecht. About 60 ports existed. A port was legally valid only in its target jurisdiction. A reuser working across borders had to work out which port applied, or rely on the generic unported 3.0.
One International License
Version 4.0 replaces all of that. The legal code operates without modification under the copyright laws of any Berne Convention signatory. It does not reference country-specific exceptions. Sui generis database rights, which exist in the European Union and a few other jurisdictions, are expressly licensed in the 4.0 grant. Under 3.0, database rights were not mentioned. That gap created legal uncertainty for reusers working with data collections from the EU.
Apply a 4.0 license to a work and you can expect the same scope of permissions everywhere. Do not expect that from 3.0. The unported version may not cover jurisdiction-specific rights such as performers' moral rights or database extraction rights.
Key Differences In License Operation
The 30-Day Cure Period
Version 4.0 gives you a safety net. If you breach a license condition, your rights terminate automatically. Cure the violation within 30 days of discovering it and those rights are automatically reinstated from the date of cure. The licensor may also expressly reinstate them. Cure does not erase liability for the period of violation. Version 3.0 has no automatic cure provision. The termination language varies by port. Usually, the licensor had to act to terminate, or the breach remained uncured without negotiation.
Attribution Requirements
Under 3.0, you must retain the work's title when the licensor supplies it. Under 4.0, the title is not separately required. Including it remains good practice. Both versions require you to identify the creator and designated attribution parties, a copyright notice, a notice referring to the license, a warranty disclaimer, and a URI or hyperlink to the material where reasonably practicable. Under 4.0, you must also indicate modifications and retain earlier modification notices.
Synchronisation And Adaptation
The NoDerivatives condition in 4.0 states explicitly that synchronising music with a moving image creates Adapted Material. Under 3.0, synchronisation was not listed in the legal code as creating an adaptation. Translation is normally an adaptation under both versions. Format-shifting alone, converting a JPEG to PNG, is not an adaptation under either version.
| Aspect | Version 3.0 | Version 4.0 |
|---|---|---|
| Jurisdiction handling | Ported for specific countries; unported version available | Single international license; no porting needed |
| Sui generis database rights | Not addressed in license text | Expressly licensed by the license grant |
| Breach and cure | No automatic cure; termination language varies by port | Automatic 30-day cure period upon discovery |
| Attribution: work title | Required when supplied by licensor | Not separately required; inclusion encouraged |
| Adapted Material: synchronisation | Not explicitly listed as adaptation | Expressly defined as Adapted Material |
| Patent and trademark rights | Not licensed (same) | Not licensed (same) |
| Moral, privacy and personality rights | Not licensed; limited handling in legal code | Not licensed; limited handling in legal code |
| License compatibility | Compatibility chart exists; no formal one-way compatibility with GPL | Compatibility chart exists; BY-SA 4.0 is one-way compatible with GPLv3 for adapted material |
How License Conditions Work Differently In Practice
NonCommercial Use
The NonCommercial condition under 4.0 defines the term as not primarily intended for or directed toward commercial advantage or monetary compensation. The identity of the user, a business, a nonprofit, a school or an individual, does not decide the issue by itself. This definition matches 3.0. The 4.0 legal code clarifies that advertising, sponsorship, fundraising, internal business use and mixed purposes require context. Do not invent a bright-line rule. If the planned use carries material commercial risk, get separate permission or local legal advice. The same uncertainty existed under 3.0, but 4.0 provides more textual guidance.
ShareAlike Compatibility
The ShareAlike condition works the same way in both versions. When you share Adapted Material, you apply the license named by the applicable SA clause or an officially designated compatible license. The official compatibility list controls. Under 4.0, Creative Commons has formally named one-way compatibility from BY-SA 4.0 to GPLv3 for adapted material. No such compatibility was declared between 3.0 licenses and any software license. This does not turn a CC license into a software license. It does not create compatibility in the reverse direction.
NoDerivatives Boundaries
The NoDerivatives condition blocks sharing Adapted Material under an ND license. Under 4.0, the license text states that reproduction in a different format alone does not create Adapted Material. Whether cropping, excerpting, editing or combining creates an adaptation depends on applicable copyright law. That is true under both versions. Do not declare a universal boundary.
Common Questions
Can I upgrade a Creative Commons 3.0 licensed work to 4.0 if I am not the copyright holder?
No. A license already attached to someone else's work cannot be unilaterally upgraded by a reuser. Only the copyright holder, or someone with express authority, may apply a new license version.
Does version 4.0 cover patent or trademark rights?
No. Creative Commons 4.0 does not license patent or trademark rights. The license applies only to copyright and similar rights. Moral, privacy and personality rights are handled only to the limited extent stated in the legal code.
What happens if I breach a Creative Commons 4.0 license?
Rights under a 4.0 license terminate automatically on breach. They are automatically reinstated from the date the violation is cured if it is cured within 30 days after the violator discovers it. Cure does not erase possible liability for the period of violation.
Does version 3.0 have the same cure provision as version 4.0?
No. Version 3.0 licenses contain different termination language and do not contain the same automatic 30-day mechanism. In 3.0, termination generally required the licensor to take action or the breach remained uncured without negotiation.
Which version should I use for a new Creative Commons license?
Use version 4.0 for a new license unless a specific, informed reason requires an older version or port. The 4.0 international license is designed to work across jurisdictions without porting and addresses gaps such as sui generis database rights.