## Sharing altered or mixed works

In copyright law (and therefore Creative Commons) it's important to understand when a work is an adaptation and when it is not. For one this will effect what you are permitted to do with works licensed with NoDerivatives (ND). It also has effect on what license you yourself can apply to a material you've based on other CC works.

Adaptations
When you create an original new work based on another work this is called making an adaptation.
Because the new work is original it will have its own copyright protection.
Examples of works original enough to be deemed adaptations are:

- Translations
- Films based on novels
- A remix. This is a material in which CC works are blended in a way you can’t easily tell them apart anymore. E.g. a collage in which images overlap each other or a reader in which multiple CC works are blended so you can't tell where one ends and the other begins.

Alterations that are not creative enough to be considered adaptations are:

- Spelling corrections
- Digitally enhancing or changing the format (e.g. paper to PDF) or citations
- A collection of unaltered, distinctly separate works (see previous segment on collections)

Take note of the following when adapting or remixing CC works:

1. Attribute
   Provide attribution to all individual parts that went into making your adaptation, including their license. Check section 'How to attribute' for more information.

2. Copyrighted works without a CC license
   If your adaptation contains copyrighted works without a CC license make sure sharing of these works is allowed, e.g. through citation rights. An example of this is a table you use to illustrate a point.
   Make clear these works are ‘all rights reserved’. Also note the presence of these works in your CC license, for instance by stating: "Except where otherwise noted, this work is licensed via CC BY 4.0".

3. NoDerivative (ND) works
   Even though sharing derivatives of works with a ND license is not allowed, they can be incorporated into other works. Just as long as they remain unaltered, e.g. an unaltered image or excerpt.

4. You may CC license your adaptation
   Take note that your license must be compatible with the licenses of the works you have reused.
   The segment 'Licensing your work' addresses compatibility and how to choose a license.

5. Not all CC licenses are compatible for mixing
   Take note that you may not be allowed to mix works with certain licenses together.
   Check the CC license compatibility chart below to see if works are compatible to be mixed together.