Staff Blog / Recycle, Remix and Re-use with Creative Commons

Sharing videos on Vimeo has always gone beyond passively viewing the clips our fellow Vimeans upload. Many of us have given permission for others to take what we've done and screen it at events or chop it up and make something completely new. For a long time, we have wanted to make these kinds of permissions easier to grant, and we're pleased to announce that after working together with the fine folks over at Creative Commons, we've done just that!

Today we are launching a new Settings option that allows you to add one of several Creative Commons licenses to your videos. What does this mean? It means that while you still retain the copyright for your work, you can allow other people to distribute it, remix it or use it for a new purpose, commercial or noncommercial. All of this while still requiring that they credit you for the original work. You can choose specifically what types of use you're going to allow, just head to the Settings page for one of your videos and you'll see the new options under 'License'.

You can read more about Creative Commons licenses at their website.

We think this is going to be a real step forward for the creative culture here on Vimeo, and we're just as excited to use these new options as we are to see what you guys do with your new SUPERPOWERS.

Note to licensees (those who will be using other's works): Vimeo's golden rule is that you may not upload videos that you did not create yourself, so this isn't a pass to redistribute other users' videos on Vimeo.com. Rather, it's an opportunity to build on a work that someone else has created with your own, unique contributions. Also, please make sure that what you do with another user's video complies with the license that person has granted.

Note to licensors (those who will be granting permission for others to use their works): This may seem obvious, but you can only grant permission for others to use your original works, and not other people's works. So please make sure that all of the elements in the videos you license to others were created by you.

If you have any specific questions, please check the FAQ. Have fun with it!

Love,

Vimeo Dudes and Dudettes