CC0 vs CC BY vs royalty-free samples: what's the difference?
Updated · 3 min read
Short answer
All three let you use a sample in music you sell. CC0 has no conditions at all. CC BY requires you to credit the author. Royalty-free is not a single licence but a family of store and site licences that let you use sounds in your own music without per-use fees, while forbidding you to redistribute the samples themselves; some also ask for credit.
The short comparison
| CC0 | CC BY | Royalty-free (site or store licence) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Use in a commercial track | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Credit required | No | Yes | Sometimes |
| Redistribute the raw sample | Yes | Yes, with credit | No |
| Who grants it | The creator, through Creative Commons | The creator, through Creative Commons | The site or store, under its own terms |
| Same terms everywhere | Yes | Yes | No: read each site’s licence |
| Sound Server verdict | yes |
yes-with-credit |
yes or yes-with-credit |
CC0: no strings
CC0 is a public-domain dedication. The creator waives copyright and related rights, so you can use, edit and release the sound without asking or crediting anyone. Kenney’s game audio, many orchestral sample projects (such as VCSL) and a large share of Freesound are CC0. It is the simplest licence for a producer: there is nothing to track except, ideally, where the file came from.
CC BY: credit, then do anything
CC BY (Attribution) allows any use, commercial included, as long as you credit the creator, name the work, link to the licence and indicate if you changed it. In music, “changed” is nearly always true, because you chop, pitch and process samples, so a credit that says “sampled” or “modified” is good practice. Version 4.0 lets you give credit “in any reasonable manner based on the medium”, which for a song means the release notes, video description or credits page. See how to credit CC BY samples.
Watch for the add-ons. BY-SA (ShareAlike) would require your track to be released under the same licence, BY-NC forbids commercial use and BY-ND forbids changes. Those are not “CC BY” for release purposes.
Royalty-free: use it, don’t share it
Sample packs and sound effect sites usually write their own licences, and most follow the same pattern: you may use the sounds in your own productions, including commercial releases, without paying again; you may not resell, share or repackage the samples themselves, even for free. Some sites ask for credit (Zapsplat’s free tier, for example), and many list uses they exclude, so the details differ from site to site.
Because each site’s licence is different, Sound Server records the licence per source and shows its verdict on every result. Read the licence once for each site you rely on.
Which to choose
For a release, any of the three works. CC0 is the least paperwork, CC BY needs a credit line kept with the project, and royalty-free sounds need nothing on the release but must never be shared raw. Avoid mixing in NC, SA or ND sounds unless the project will never be sold.
Questions
- Is royalty-free the same as free?
- No. Royalty-free means you don't pay a royalty each time the music is used or sold. Many royalty-free packs cost money up front; some are given away. The licence, not the price, is what the term describes.
- Is CC0 the same as public domain?
- In effect, yes. Public domain means nobody owns the copyright, usually because it expired. CC0 is a tool a creator uses to give up their rights as far as the law allows, with a fallback licence where waiving isn't possible. For a producer both mean: use it freely.
- Can I put CC BY samples in a pack I sell?
- The licence allows redistribution with credit, but it also lets everyone else share those same sounds for free, so packs built on CC BY material are a poor product and many stores reject them. Use CC BY samples inside your music instead.
- Which is safest for a label release?
- CC0 and established royalty-free libraries, followed by CC BY with a proper credit. Labels and distributors care most that you can show where each sample came from, so keep the licence and source URL for every sound.
Try it
Live searches across every source, with a licence verdict on each result.
Sources
Practical information, not legal advice. AI agent? This guide is also available as Markdown.