Creative Commons

CC names Ryan Merkley as CEO

"A public commons, enabled by the open web, is the most powerful force to foster creativity, inspire innovation, and enhance human knowledge around the world. Those who believe in its potential need to join together in a global movement to ensure its success."

Creative Commons names Ryan Merkley chief executive officer

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Please join us in welcoming Ryan to Creative Commons.

Introducing the Open Policy Network

The Open Policy Network, or OPN for short, is a coalition of organizations and individuals working to support the creation, adoption, and implementation of policies that require that open licenses for publicly funded materials.

Photo: The Massachusetts State House / Tony Fisher / CC BY (cropped, color adjusted, OPN logo added)

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Join the Open Policy Network if you’re passionate about open policies in your community.

Invest in open

CC is more than a license to share; it is a license for all of us to create a better world. Invest in a more open future by supporting Creative Commons.

Image: Creative Commons / Karin Dalziel / CC BY (cropped)

Donate now

If Creative Commons is important to you, please consider making a gift to strengthen CC.

Mission

What is Creative Commons?

Creative Commons helps you share your knowledge and creativity with the world.

Creative Commons develops, supports, and stewards legal and technical
infrastructure that maximizes digital creativity, sharing, and
innovation.

Learn about CC

License

How can I license my work?

There is no registration to use the Creative Commons licenses. Licensing a work is as simple as selecting which of the six licenses best meets your goals, and then marking your work in some way so that others know that you have chosen to release the work under the terms of that license.

Our license-choosing tool can help you select the right license.

Choose a License

Explore

Looking for Creative Works?

Looking for music, video, writing, code, or other creative works?

Creative Commons has got you covered. Search for creative work through sources like Google and Flickr right here.

Find CC-licensed works

Global Network

CC Affiliate Network

Promoting CC Around the World

The CC Affiliate Network consists of 100+ affiliates working in over 70 jurisdictions to support and promote CC activities around the world.

The teams engage in public outreach, community building, translation, research, publicity, and in general, promoting and sharing our mission.

Explore the Affiliate Network...

Case Studies

Whitehouse.gov

The official website of the President of the United States

The official website of the Obama-Biden Administration incorporates a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Licence. Read our case study for Whitehouse.gov

Flickr

Photo-sharing platform

Flickr was one of the first major online communities to incorporate Creative Commons licensing options into its user interface, giving photographers around the world the easy ability to share photos on terms of their choosing. As the Flickr community grew, so did the number of CC-licensed images — currently there are well over 200 million on the site — establishing Flickr as the Web’s single largest source of CC-licensed content. Read our Case Study for Flickr

GlaxoSmithKline

Leading pharmaceutical company

One of the leading pharmaceutical companies in the world, GlaxoSmithKline has surrendered all copyrights in its malarial data set, which includes more than 13,500 compounds known to be active against malaria. GlaxoSmithKline has surrendered all copyright in its malaria data set under the CC0 public domain dedication. Read our Case Study for GlaxoSmithKline

Support CC

Donate $75 and receive a free CC t-shirt!

Shop for CC t-shirts, vinyl stickers, and buttons at the CC store.

Ways to support CC...