"The work they're doing is vital to the future of culture, copyright, and the commons" - Person Nameguy
Creative Commons safeguards and strengthens the global commons, which is made up of all shared knowledge and culture, so that it can power human creativity, equity, and innovation.
We are a global nonprofit protecting your right to access and share information and participate in knowledge.
Our six licenses and public domain dedication tool give everyone from individual creators to large institutions a standardized way to grant the public permission to use their creative work under copyright law.
Used by Wikipedia, Flickr, The Met, Khan Academy, Godot, and millions more globally!
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This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work even for commercial purposes, as long as credit you and license their new creations under the identical terms. This license is often compared to "copyleft" free and open source software licenses. All new works based on yours will carry the same license, so any derivatives will also allow commercial use. This is the license used by Wikipedia, and is recommended for materials that would benefit from incorporating content form Wikipedia and similarly licensed projects.
We steward the open infrastructure of sharing and contribute to a thriving creative commons with, and for, community.
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Whether through our CC Certificate courses, tailored facilitation, or legal office hours, we support organizations working to expand the global commons. Learn, collaborate, and lead with openness at the center.
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If we want ethical and equitable AI, we must protect and nourish the commons it relies on. Learn about how we’re adapting to address sharing in the age of AI, from developing new tools like CC signals, strengthening licensing guidance, and advocating for policies that keep access to knowledge open and equitable.
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If you are a researcher, scientist, or knowledge producer, you are a creator. The knowledge you record as a research output is the scaffolding for collaboration.
Our latest video that explains open licenses for research outputs and encourages researchers to use CC licenses for data, preprints, manuscripts, and journal articles.
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The Towards a Recommendation on Open Cultural Heritage (TAROCH) Coalition unites over 60 institutions and organizations from 25 countries that share a belief in the transformative potential of open solutions.
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There are many ways to give. You can make a one time donation or become a recurring donor by joining our Open Infrastructure Circle.
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