copyright creative-commons
Do you need to get copyright separately from a creative commons license?
<p>I understand the types of creative commons licensing, but does a creative commons license replace copyright altogether?  If I file for a creative commons license for something that I want to make distributable but not alterable, do I need to copyright it in addition to the creative commons license, or does the license take care of all IP needs?</p>

<h2>No, CC does not replace copyright.</h2>

<p>A creative commons license is one way to <strong>use</strong> the copyright that you already have the moment you make an original creative work. Without a copyright, a creative commons license does nothing. You don't need to do anything to get a copyright.</p>

<p>However if you plan to exploit a work commercially, or want to be sure that it is well protected, you can gain additional protection in the US and some other countries by <strong>registering</strong> the copyright. US registration can be done online at <a href="https://www.copyright.gov/registration/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this page</a>. The benefits of US registration are described on <a href="https://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-general.html#automatic" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this page</a>.</p>

<p>Nor do you need to "file for" a Creative Commons license. by publishing or distributing a work with an indication that it is subject to a creative commons license, you have released it under that license and anyone may thereafter use it subject to the terms of that license. This is done with a statement such as  "Released under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA 4.0 license." Such a statement is often placed near the (optional but strongly recommended) copyright notice, but that is not required. if you wish to specify the form of attribution (for example to a specified pseudonym) or a URL to use in providing attribution, that should ideally be placed near the license statement. If the work carries a list of credits, those may be placed nearby as well, but need not be.</p>
