What type of license allows free use and distribution of a work as long as it is non-commercial and credit is given to the original author?

The Creative Commons License is designed to provide a flexible range of protections and freedoms for authors, artists, and educators. In the context of the question, a specific type of Creative Commons License that allows for free use and distribution as long as it is non-commercial and proper credit is given to the original author is commonly referred to as the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) license.

This type of license enables creators to allow others to use their work in ways that don’t generate revenue, as long as the original creator is acknowledged for their contribution. This framework encourages sharing and collaboration while maintaining recognition of the original author's efforts, which is crucial in academic and creative fields.

Other licensing terms like the GPL (General Public License) focus more on ensuring freedoms related to software, such as the right to modify and redistribute software while keeping the same licensing terms. Shareware Licenses typically allow free trial use of software with the expectation that users will pay for it after a certain period or for additional features. Public Domain refers to works that are free from copyright constraints, allowing anyone to use them without any restrictions, which doesn't require credit to the original author.