Creative Commons, commonly shortened to CC, is a licensing type that promote freedom to use, remix, share, and even monetize works to a users liking. It comes as a set of "rights" that are attachable to the license. For example, BY means attributing the content and tells the author to cite the author. NC means that the works cannot be used for any commercial purpose, ND means only quotes and direct citing, no remixing allowed, and SA is akin to the GPL's viral spread due to requiring the remixer to adopt the same license for works. This allows for those making works to release their works in such a way that anyone can use, remix, or even profit off their own. In essence, this is the intellectual form of Open Source and allows for some control of what happens to a work after releasing, while still making sure that its open as possible to benefit free culture. Most people should license everything under a CC or equivalent of some sort to make sharing of their work as easy as possible, maybe with SA, NC, or BY attachment to make sure people credit you, play fair, or to keep filthy