CC0

Technology & Computing abbreviation · Software

CC0
Stands forCreative Commons Zero
CategoriesTechnology & Computing

CC0 stands for Creative Commons Zero, a software abbreviation also used in law.

Public-domain dedication by which a creator waives all copyright and related rights in a work as far as the law allows. Open datasets, museum images and stock photos are often released this way, free for any use without credit.

Example: All images in the museum's open-access collection are CC0, so no attribution is required.

Usage notes

Released in 2009, CC0 includes a fallback license for countries where authors cannot fully give up copyright. Wikidata publishes its structured data under CC0, as do many government open-data portals. Pronounced "C-C-zero". Crediting the source is still good practice even when not legally required.

More software abbreviations

  • BSD – Berkeley Software Distribution
  • BSL – Business Source License
  • BT – BitTorrent
  • CAL – Client Access License
  • CC – Creative Commons
  • CC BY – Creative Commons Attribution License
  • CE – Community Edition
  • CLA – Contributor license agreement
  • COTS – Commercial off-the-shelf
  • DAW – Digital audio workstation
  • DCO – Developer Certificate of Origin
  • DLL – Dynamic-link library

See all 70 software abbreviations →