copyright creative-commons
CC-0 derived work can it be locked by copyright?
<p>Let's say someone released something, a detailed scene of a story, as a CC-0 work.</p>

<p>An author took that work, expanded on it (the work became a part of the story), and protected their complete work under copyright.</p>

<p>Then one day, I myself had an idea -- in whole, totally different from the aforementioned author's -- and I use that detailed scene as well in my work.</p>

<p>Can I get into hot water for basing the idea on the same CC-0 work?</p>

<p>And what if the original CC-0 work was actually my idea, and I can prove I'm the first one to release the work, can that protect me?</p>

<p><a href="https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/legalcode" rel="nofollow noreferrer">CC0</a> means "free to use for everyone", not just "free to use for the first one who finds it". </p>

<p>If a work is based solely on the CC-0 source and does not infringe on anything other authors added in addition to the CC-0 source material then those authors have no claim on the new work.</p>

<p>But that does of course not protect you from getting sued in the first place. The other author might claim that they have never heard of the CC-0 source and that you stole the basic idea from them. Now you need to prove that your story is based on the CC-0 material, not on the other authors interpretation. That's a lawsuit you <em>might</em> win in the end, but only if you are willing to invest money into it.</p>
