--- title: "Blankie - Common Sound Licenses, Explained" description: "What CC0, CC BY, BY-NC and other licenses mean and how to track attribution with Blankie's Credits fields." canonical: "https://blankie.rest/guides/sound-licenses-explained/" --- > For an index of every page on this site, see [llms.txt](https://blankie.rest/llms.txt). Every page also has a Markdown version like this one. [Find New Sounds](https://blankie.rest/guides/) # Common Sound Licenses, Explained What CC0, CC BY, BY-NC and other licenses mean and how to track attribution with Blankie's Credits fields. 5 min read Updated October 2026 All Platforms Building your perfect soundscape sometimes requires adding sounds you found online. Next to the download button, most free sound sites will either display or link the "license" associated with using it. A license is the creator's terms for how their work can be used, copied and shared. Many free sounds are covered by some form of a Creative Commons license, but some sites and libraries have their own royalty-free terms. Read on to learn what the most common licenses actually mean for your Blankie library. NOTE This guide covers common sound licenses in plain language, but licenses are legal agreements that can have consequences if violated. This guide is _**not**_ legal advice. ## Licenses you're most likely to find For the most part, Creative Commons licenses can be described using modular groups of letters. The more letters a license has, the more restrictions it carries. Here are some of the most common ones used by free sound creators online: * **[CC0 (public domain)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)**: no strings whatsoever. A CC0 or public domain license means you can use it, remix it or share it with no credit needed (but often still appreciated). * **[CC BY (attribution)](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)**: free to use, but credit the creator whenever you share or publish work that includes the sound, even if what you would use it for earns money. * **[CC BY-NC (attribution, noncommercial)](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)**: like CC BY, it's totally fine for personal use, and if you'd re-share it you need to credit the creator, but no matter what you do with it the sound can't be used in a project you'd charge for without the creator's permission. Those three cover almost every sound on a library like Freesound. Two more letters turn up now and then elsewhere: **SA (sharealike)** means any remix you share has to carry the same license, and **ND (no derivatives)** means you can only share the sound exactly as the creator published it. Here's the whole family at a glance: | License | Must credit creator? | Use commercially? | Edits and remixes? | | ----------------------- | -------------------- | ----------------- | ------------------ | | **CC0 / public domain** | Not required | Yes | Any license | | **CC BY** | Yes | Yes | Any license | | **CC BY-SA** | Yes | Yes | ShareAlike license | | **CC BY-NC** | Yes | No | Any license | | **CC BY-ND** | Yes | Yes | No edits/remixes | | **CC BY-NC-SA** | Yes | No | ShareAlike license | | **CC BY-NC-ND** | Yes | No | No edits/remixes | You might also run into version numbers like CC BY 2.0 or CC BY-NC 3.0, especially on older Freesound uploads. The number is just the edition of the legal text, and 4.0 is the current one. The letters generally mean the same thing across versions, just with different versions of their underlying legal text, so for picking a sound you can read a 2.0 or 3.0 license the same way as a 4.0\. If you plan to use sounds commercially, it's always a good idea to go read the fine print of any sounds you're using. ### Non-Creative Commons licenses Some archives write their own terms. The BBC Sound Effects library's [RemArc license](https://sound-effects.bbcrewind.co.uk/licensing), for instance, covers personal and educational use but not commercial use. ## What different licenses mean for listening If you're importing a sound to play privately on your own devices, any of these licenses are fine. Listening at home isn't republishing. Grab whatever sounds best to you. People sometimes reach for "fair use" here, but private listening doesn't even need it. Fair use is about reusing someone's work inside something new, like a film clip in a review. License terms govern copying and distribution, and pressing play in your own headphones is neither. ## What different licenses mean for sharing The license matters more once a sound leaves your device. [Share a preset](https://blankie.rest/guides/share-presets/) that includes custom sounds and the audio files travel along with it. For CC BY sounds, keeping the author and source attached is exactly how the credit travels too. **Appropriate credit usually means more than a name.** For CC BY and the other attribution licenses, pass along whatever the creator supplied: their name (plus any other parties they ask you to credit), a link to the sound, the license it's under (a link to the license text is best) and any copyright or disclaimer notice that came with it. Licenses older than version 4.0 also ask for the title of the work, when it has one. ### Keep track with Blankie's Credits fields Every sound you add to Blankie has optional **Credits** fields for the original work's name, author, URL to where you got it and what license it uses. Fill them in right after you import a sound (choose **Add Credits** in its settings) and you'll always know where it came from, and so will anyone you share a preset with. [![The Edit Sound sheet on Mac for Rain (Freesound), with its credits filled in: Original Work Rain, Author klankbeeld and License CC BY 4.0.](https://blankie.rest/_astro/mac-sound-credits.BcMSEjzk_2aeUcQ.webp)](https://blankie.rest/%5Fastro/mac-sound-credits.BcMSEjzk%5F2aeUcQ.webp) This is the same standard Blankie holds itself to. Every built-in sound is openly licensed, with full attribution in the app and on the [credits page](https://blankie.rest/credits/). Licenses can look intimidating, but it really comes down to two habits: read the terms before you use a sound, and keep the credit attached to it. ## What different licenses mean for selling Selling changes the math, since now there's money involved and every sound's license actually has to allow it. That's enough of its own topic that it gets a dedicated guide: [Can you sell Blankie sound packs?](https://blankie.rest/guides/sell-sound-packs/) ## Keep reading [Find New SoundsWhere to Find Free Ambient SoundsWhere to download free ambient sounds, white noise and field recordings without breaking copyright: Freesound, Pixabay, BBC Sound Effects, NASA and more.Read the guide ](https://blankie.rest/guides/find-free-ambient-sounds/)[Find New SoundsDownload Sounds from FreesoundFind, download and import Creative Commons sounds from Freesound.org into Blankie, with search tips, license filters and crediting advice.Read the guide ](https://blankie.rest/guides/download-sounds-from-freesound/)[Presets & ThemingCan you sell Blankie sound packs?Which sound licenses let you sell a Blankie sound pack, what's safe to charge for, what isn't and why royalty-free and stock-site sounds usually can't be resold.Read the guide ](https://blankie.rest/guides/sell-sound-packs/)[Presets & ThemingShare Presets with Friends (.blankie Files)Export any Blankie preset as a .blankie file and share it. Sounds, volumes, artwork and even your imported custom sounds all travel along with it.Read the guide ](https://blankie.rest/guides/share-presets/)[Find New SoundsRecord Your Own Ambient SoundsField recording basics for anyone who loves ambient sound. Capture your own rain, fireplace or café sounds on your iPhone and loop them in Blankie.Read the guide ](https://blankie.rest/guides/record-your-own-ambient-sounds/) ## Blankie is free, forever. No ads, no paywalls and no privacy tradeoffs. Mix adjustable ambient sounds into your own soundscapes for sleep, rest and focus on iPhone, iPad, CarPlay and Mac. [![Download on the App Store](https://blankie.rest/_astro/app-store-badge.f_0GEMIJ_1y0B2z.svg)](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/blankie/id6740096581?itscg=30200&itsct=apps%5Fbox%5Fbadge&mttnsubad=6740096581) Download Source: https://blankie.rest/guides/sound-licenses-explained/