Page:Creative Commons for Educators and Librarians.pdf/93

- 80 - CHAPTER 4 An “adaptation” (or a “derivative work,” as it is called in some parts of the world) is a special term in copyright law. It means a “modified” or “transformed” work that has been created from a copyrighted work and that is sufficiently original to itself to be protected by copyright. (It can thus be regarded as a “new” work.) Whether a transformed work differs sufficiently from the original work to be called an “adaptation” is not always easy to determine, though some bright lines do exist. Read the explanation on the Creative Commons site at https://creativecommons.org/faq/#what-is-an-adaptation about what constitutes an adaptation. Some examples of adaptations include a film based on a novel and a translation of a book from one language into another.

Keep in mind that not all changes to a work result in the creation of an adaptation—such as spelling corrections. Also remember that to constitute an adaptation, the resulting work must be considered based on or derived from the original. This means that if you use a few lines from a poem to illustrate a poetry technique in an article you’re writing, your article is not an adaptation because your article is not derived from or based on the poem from which you took a few lines. However, if you rearranged the stanzas in the poem and added new lines, then almost certainly the resulting work would be considered an adaptation.

Here are some particular types of adaptations to consider (some of them should be familiar from earlier sections of this book):
 * Taking excerpts of a larger work. Read the relevant FAQ at https://creativecommons.org/faq/#can-i-reuse-an-excerpt-of-a-larger-work-that-is-licensed-with-the-noderivs-restriction.
 * Using a work in a different format. Read the relevant FAQ at https://creativecommons.org/faq/#can-i-take-a-cc-licensed-work-and-use-it-in-a-different-format.
 * Modifying a work. Read the relevant FAQ at https://creativecommons.org/faq/#when-is-my-use-considered-an-adaptation.