Can I combine CC BY and CC BY-SA images in one project?

Updated October 21, 2026 · Check Before Publish

Yes, but it depends on how you combine them. Putting works side by side in a collection is allowed under every CC license. If you merge or change them into a new work (a remix), a ShareAlike work requires you to release the remix under BY-SA, and NonCommercial or NoDerivatives works can block it.

The short version

• Creative Commons says the first question is whether the combination “constitutes an adaptation”. If it does not, you may combine any CC-licensed content “so long as you provide attribution and comply with the NonCommercial restriction if it applies”.
• Remix CC BY with CC BY-SA and the remix goes out under BY-SA. CC calls BY “one-way compatible” with BY-SA: you may adapt a BY work and apply BY-SA to your contributions, but you may not adapt a BY-SA work and apply BY.
• BY-SA cannot be remixed with BY-NC-SA: each wants the whole remix released under its own terms, and CC's chart marks the pair as not allowed.
• “if you want to use a remix for commercial purposes, you cannot incorporate material released under one of the NonCommercial licenses.”
• The NoDerivatives licenses do not permit remixing except for private use. Every license requires credit for every work.

Collection or remix?

“All Creative Commons licenses (including the version 4.0 licenses) allow licensed material to be included in collections such as anthologies, encyclopedias, and broadcasts.” The license you choose for the collection “does not change the license applicable to the original material”, and NonCommercial works still cannot be used commercially inside one.

There is no bright line for where a collection ends and an adaptation begins. CC says “What constitutes an adaptation, otherwise known as a derivative work, varies slightly based on the law of the relevant jurisdiction”, and does not give a test for images placed side by side. A collage that merges works into one new image is much closer to a remix than a gallery is.

What you may license your remix as

CC's FAQ has a chart of the “adapter's license” you may use for your own contribution, by the license of the original. Green means allowed, yellow means technically allowed but not recommended, and dark gray means not allowed. In words:

What BY-SA 4.0 requires of a remix

The legal code, section 3(b), says that if you share adapted material:

• “The Adapter's License You apply must be a Creative Commons license with the same License Elements, this version or later, or a BY-SA Compatible License.”
• You must include the text of, or a link to, the license you apply.
• You may not add other terms, or technical measures, that restrict what that license allows.

The trigger is sharing: the conditions apply “if You Share Adapted Material You produce”. The list of BY-SA compatible licenses includes GPLv3, but only one way: you may license your contributions to adaptations of BY-SA 4.0 material under GPLv3, not the reverse. For versions, a BY-SA 3.0 original may be adapted under BY-SA 3.0 or any later version; BY-SA 4.0 material only under 4.0 or later.

Cropping and resizing

Creative Commons' attribution guide says a change that alters the work's meaning in a creative way, “not a purely mechanical change or a simple crop/excerpt that keeps the original message undistorted”, would be considered creating a new adaptation, and that you cannot rely on a no-adaptation license for it. So a creative edit of a BY-ND image is a problem, while the guide treats a simple crop as a different kind of change. Whatever you do, say that you changed the work: its own example reads “Cropped from original”.

Credit every work

“All of our licenses require that users provide attribution (BY) to the creator when the material is used and shared.” CC recommends crediting the title, author, source and license (TASL) for each work; each asset in a combination needs its own credit. See how to credit a Creative Commons image.

Check your combination

The compatibility checker runs in your browser: you enter each work's license, whether you will change it, whether you are making a collection or a remix, whether the project is commercial and what license you plan for the result, and it lists conflicts and what you must do, with the rule behind each.

Open the CC License Compatibility & Remix Checker.

What we tested

On 2026-10-19 we entered ten combinations into the live CC License Compatibility & Remix Checker and shared the result on the web:

Nine of the ten match what Creative Commons' own pages say. The ND crop row is the exception worth knowing about: the checker treats any change you tick (“Yes (crop, edit, translate, remix…)”) as an adaptation, while CC's attribution guide separates a simple crop that keeps the message undistorted from creative changes. The checker is being cautious there. If an ND work is cropped, keep the original unchanged in your project or ask the licensor.

What this can't tell you

The checker takes the licenses as you state them: it does not visit the source page, so check the badge or link where you found each work. It relies on your choice of collection or remix. It is guidance, not legal advice, and Creative Commons itself says what counts as an adaptation depends on the law of the jurisdiction.

Related: How to credit a Creative Commons image and Can I use this font commercially?.

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