About this
Open Work
"Kaleidoscope 2" by
docoverachiever is
licensed under CC
BY 2.0.
2025-2028 Strategy
2025-2028 Strategy
Introduction
The world has changed a lot since our founding in 2001. At the time, the internet was a radical new
technology that made it easier to share information despite the limitations of restrictive copyright
designed for an analog world. The release of the Creative Commons (CC) licenses ensured that, as
the internet continued to evolve, individuals and institutions could freely share in ways that were
simple, standardized, and allowed for legal reuse. CC wasn’t just about licensing that addressed the
limitations of copyright in a digital world, it was a symbol of sharing and freedom that resisted
against a restrictive environment and brought people together.
The CC licenses gave creators choice over how their works could be reused, and in the same
breath enabled a flourishing commons. This was the promise of the early internet.
Fast forward to today! Information is more accessible than it ever has been, but now we face a new
challenge—centralized control of the flow of information. At a time when there are increasing
concentrations of power online, and when the monopolization of knowledge is amplified
exponentially through technological breakthroughs, we need to intervene with the same creativity
and collective action as we did with the CC licenses 20 years ago. If we continue down this path
without intervention, the internet and our ways of connecting online will be controlled by the few
who disproportionately benefit from the many in ways that deepen existing inequities.
The antidote here is simple, and obvious:
We need a strong and resilient open infrastructure of sharing, enabling a healthy and thriving
creative commons powered by reciprocity and community in the public interest.
Our plan: further develop the open infrastructure of sharing, embody and encourage reciprocity, and
work collectively as part of a global community. Our ask: the creativity and innovation that is
enabled by reliable and sustainable funding to do this work.
We look ahead to the next few years with energy, optimism, and a sense of urgency. If we don’t act
now, a positive future for the commons may be out of reach. With our history to guide us, paired with
the knowledge that we have gained since, we embark with a plan to go over, or around, or through
broken systems, to ensure we can all continue to share knowledge, encourage creativity, and benefit
from the commons for decades to come.
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Vision
A world where education, culture, and science are equitably shared as a means to benefit humanity.
Mission
CC empowers individuals and communities around the world through technical, legal, and policy
solutions that enable the sharing of education, culture, and science in the public interest.
"Genetics Exhibit, San Jose Tech" by Thomas Hawk is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.
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“The Pillars of Creation” by James Webb Space Telescope is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Strategic Goals: At-A-Glance
Goal 1: Strengthen the open
infrastructure of sharing
Goal 2: Defend and advocate for
a thriving creative commons
Goal 3: Center community
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"taking a leaf from the Fibonacci tree" by theilr is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
"taking a leaf from the Fibonacci tree" by theilr is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
Goal 1: Strengthen the open
infrastructure of sharing
CC serves as the legal layer of the open infrastructure of sharing. Our tools remove friction and
barriers to sharing and accessing knowledge. Infrastructure is often taken for granted or assumed to
be neutral and enduring. For many users of the internet today, it is as if the CC infrastructure has
always been here and will always be here, as a way for individuals to express values and increase
connection and collaboration. However, in today’s legislative, political, and socio-economic context,
there is nothing neutral about sharing knowledge, and there are no guarantees that the
infrastructure of sharing online will be preserved and protected.
We imagine a world where CC’s foundational open infrastructure is funded by default, and where
individual creators and rightsholders reclaim agency in contributing to and benefiting from the
commons. If we can ensure a strong and resilient open infrastructure of sharing that enables access
to educational resources, cultural heritage, and scientific research in the public interest, we’ll have a
viable alternative to the concentrations of power that currently exist and aim to restrict sharing and
access. Because the commons must continue to exist for everyone, we cannot allow an undesirable
future to emerge unchallenged.
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Goal 1: Strengthen the open
infrastructure of sharing
Our Plan
In the long-term future, we will know we’ve been successful when a strong and resilient open
infrastructure empowers sharing and access in the public interest.
Along the way, we will work towards ensuring that:
CC infrastructure interventions are a counterbalance to technologies that further entrench
unequal distribution of education, science, and culture
Reciprocity to support open infrastructure is increased
There is a legal environment where open sharing is protected
CC provides modernized or alternative tools that foster agency and sharing
Within this strategic period (2025 to 2028), we will focus our efforts on:
Being a clear and concise public interest voice in policy discussions
Ensuring the wide use and integration of CC legal tools to enable humans and machines to
benefit from the commons in ways that serve the public good
Developing tools that encourage sharing in the age of AI
Encouraging those who disproportionately benefit from the commons to commit to reciprocity
Protecting CC’s open infrastructure of sharing for the future through sustainable funding
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"taking a leaf from the Fibonacci tree" by theilr is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
"Art Alley, Rapid City SD - Jul 2015, 12" by Ed Yourdon is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
Goal 2: Defend and advocate for
a thriving creative commons
Stronger open infrastructure enables the thriving creative commons that is required to solve the
world’s greatest problems. Knowledge must be accessible, discoverable, and reusable. In tandem
with a strong and supported open infrastructure of sharing, a thriving creative commons
redistributes power from the hands of the few to the minds of the many, and cements a worldview of
knowledge as a public good and a human right. We cannot and must not take the commons for
granted.
The richness that is shared within the commons is interwoven into our lives through art, cultural
heritage, science, medicine, education, and so much more. Sharing in service of the public interest
should be the norm, not the exception. A thriving commons can only exist with reciprocity, because
without reciprocity, the commons will stagnate. It’s time for new approaches that tell the stories of
how we can all benefit from the commons, and for an increase in reciprocal sharing of the
knowledge that will advance solutions to the greatest problems of our time.
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Goal 2: Defend and advocate for
a thriving creative commons
Our Plan
In the long-term future, we will know we’ve been successful when a thriving creative commons exists
to solve the world’s greatest challenges.
Along the way, we will work towards ensuring that:
CC-licensed content and open access are enablers of solving the world’s greatest challenges
The commons is strengthened against the enclosure of knowledge
The commons is maintained as a public good
Reciprocity within the commons is increased
Within this strategic period (2025 to 2028), we will focus our efforts on:
Identifying and protecting against exploitative and extractive systems
Being a valued partner in community-driven initiatives that are mission-aligned, so we can do
more together than we can apart
Advocating for publicly funded research to be available for all to access and reuse
Ensuring that anything lovingly created by humans can safely be shared in ways that benefit
creators and the commons
Making available and sharing content that has been created by machines for the good of humans
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"taking a leaf from the Fibonacci tree" by theilr is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
"Globe" by A S Morton is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Goal 3: Center community
We steward the open infrastructure of sharing and contribute to a thriving creative commons with,
and for, community.
Community is not a means to an end; it is central to everything we do and at the heart of our mission
and vision. We need to recalibrate our commitment to serve and recognize those who have built the
commons upon which we all rely. We aim to better center the community of open advocates, who
are credited for the global usability and adoption of the CC legal tools, alongside the rich
generational and geographical diversity of open advocates with varying needs and awareness of CC.
It is not only open advocates who benefit from the commons or who need clarity on how their work
is being used with emerging technologies. It is everyone who benefits or contributes, whether they
consider themselves part of the movement or not.
By centering our community, we can model the world we want to see, of distributed power and
reciprocity.
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Goal 3: Center community
Our Plan
In the long-term future, we will know we’ve been successful when communities leverage CC's open
infrastructure to share knowledge in the public interest.
Along the way, we will work towards ensuring that:
CC’s work is co-generated with open advocates from around the world
CC contributes to developing and nurturing deep and collaborative partnerships within open
communities
CC’s infrastructure and the ways it fosters the commons is a tool for individuals and
communities to meet goals and solve challenges
CC’s infrastructure meets the needs of creative communities
Within this strategic period (2025 to 2028), we will focus our efforts on:
Meeting the needs and interests of creative communities in the face of emerging technologies
Setting realistic expectations about what the organization can provide in supporting the global
community
Being clear and transparent so that global community members, whether individuals or groups,
can better plan and resource their work
Reducing unnecessary silos within the open movement where there is clear overlap and shared
priorities across open communities
Removing barriers to entry and participation in the CC global community
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"Circles" by Sorin Mutu is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
Resourcing
The work of Creative Commons is not simply important, it is an essential service.
As an essential service, we require sustained and predictable long-term funding to improve
infrastructure and build for the future. As an act of reciprocity, we look to those in strong financial
positions who benefit from CC's infrastructure to make a commitment to financially supporting this
infrastructure.
As we put this strategic plan into action, our sincere aim is that our contributions are adequately and
sustainably funded. Without the ongoing support of funders, especially those who fund our core
operations through the Open Infrastructure Circle, our work is not possible. The extent to which we
meet our strategic goals and realize our strategic outcomes will be directly correlated with the
funding we are able to secure.
Here’s to reciprocity and a thriving Creative Commons for years to come!
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This is a frame from “Twenty Years of Creative Commons (in Sixty Seconds)” by Ryan Junell and Glenn
Otis Brown for Creative Commons licensed under CC BY 4.0. View full licensing and attribution
information about all works on Flickr.
About Creative Commons
Creative Commons (CC) is the global nonprofit organization behind the CC licenses and public
domain tools, which power open sharing on popular platforms like Wikipedia, Flickr, YouTube,
Medium, Vimeo, and Khan Academy. Since 2002, the CC licenses have served as an alternative to
traditional copyright, providing a simple, standardized, and legal way for individuals and institutions
to freely share images, music, research, educational resources, and cultural artifacts.
Except where otherwise noted, “2025-2028 Strategy” by Creative Commons
is licensed under CC BY 4.0.
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