A Creative Commons (CC) license is one of several public copyright licenses that enable the free distribution of an otherwise copyrighted work. A CC license is used when an author wants to give people the right to share, use, and build upon a work that they have created. CC provides an author flexibility (for example, they might choose to allow only non-commercial uses of his/her own work) and protects the people who use or redistribute an author's work from concerns of copyright infringement as long as they abide by the conditions that are specified in the license by which the author distributes the work. 

There are several types of CC licenses. The licenses differ by several combinations that condition the terms of distribution. They were initially released on December 16, 2002 by Creative Commons, a U.S. non-profit corporation founded in 2001. There have also been five versions of the suite of licenses, numbered 1.0 through 4.0. , the 4.0 license suite is the most current. 

In October 2014 the Open Knowledge Foundation approved the Creative Commons CC BY, CC BY-SA and CC0 licenses as conformant with the "Open Definition" for content and data. 

Work licensed under a Creative Commons license is governed by applicable copyright law. This allows Creative Commons licenses to be applied to all work falling under copyright, including: books, plays, movies, music, articles, photographs, blogs, and websites. Creative Commons does not recommend the use of Creative Commons licenses for software.
when were Creative Commons licenses first released?
who released them?
is that a for profit foundation?
when was it founded?
what is a Creative Commons license?
is it recommended for software?
what types of work can it be applied to?
what version is the most current suite?
how many versions have there been?
which licenses were approved as conforming to the "Open Definition" for content and data?
who approved them?
when did it give approval?
when should an author use a CC license?
who does the license protect?
from what?
December 16, 2002
They were initially released on December 16, 2002 by Creative Commons
Creative Commons
 December 16, 2002 by Creative Commons
no
Creative Commons, a U.S. non-profit corporation
2001
a U.S. non-profit corporation founded in 2001
enables the free distribution of an otherwise copyrighted work
A Creative Commons (CC) license is one of several public copyright licenses that enable the free distribution of an otherwise copyrighted work
no
Creative Commons does not recommend the use of Creative Commons licenses for software
books, plays, movies, music, articles, photographs, blogs, and websites
books, plays, movies, music, articles, photographs, blogs, and websites
the 4.0
the 4.0 license suite is the most current
Five
There have also been five versions of the suite
CC BY, CC BY-SA and CC0 licenses
Creative Commons CC BY, CC BY-SA and CC0 licenses as conformant with the "Open Definition
the Open Knowledge Foundation
the Open Knowledge Foundation approved the Creative Commons CC BY, CC BY-SA and CC0 licenses as conformant with the "Open Definition" for content and data. 
In October 2014
In October 2014 the Open Knowledge Foundation approved
when they want to give people the right to share, use, and build upon a work that they have created
A CC license is used when an author wants to give people the right to share, use, and build upon a work that they have created
the people who use or redistribute an author's work
protects the people who use or redistribute an author's work
concerns of copyright infringement
from concerns of copyright infringement