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Better Sharing, Brighter Future

“Twenty Years of Creative Commons (in Sixty Seconds)” by Ryan Junell and Glenn Otis Brown for Creative Commons is licensed via CC BY 4.0 and includes adaptations of the multiple open and public domain works. View full licensing and attribution information about all works included in the video on Flickr.

Creative Commons is an international nonprofit organization that empowers people to grow and sustain the thriving commons of shared knowledge and culture we need to address the world's most pressing challenges and create a brighter future for all.

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The nonprofit behind the licenses and tools the world uses to share

For over 20 years, Creative Commons has supported a global movement built on a belief in the power of open access to knowledge and creativity. From Wikipedia to the Smithsonian, organizations and individuals rely on our work to share billions of historic images, scientific articles, cultural artifacts, educational resources, music, and more!

“Farmer and his brother making music” by Russell Lee, here cropped, is marked with CC PDM 1.0.
“Flickr photowalk at the Creative Commons Global Summit 2019, Lisbon” by Sebastiaan ter Burg, here cropped, is licensed via CC BY 2.0.
“Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2” by NIAID, here cropped, is licensed via CC BY 2.0.
“Children kabuki theater in Nagahama (warrior Kumagai, 12 y.o.)” by lensonjapan, here cropped, is licensed via CC BY 2.0.

Latest News

CC Licenses, Data Governance, and the African Context: Conversations and Perspectives
Licenses & Tools

Woman's ceremonial overskirt by a Kuba artist, ca. 1900, CC0, The Met.

Over the past year, we’ve been engaged in a series of conversations with a small group of researchers specializing in IP, AI policy, and data governance about what CC licensing means—and does—in African contexts today. What started as an organic exchange in various spaces has revealed something larger: a strong appetite to move these conversations into the open. At stake are not only questions about CC licenses but deeper issues of data sovereignty, equity, governance, and power in global knowledge systems.
How to Keep the Internet Human
by Sarah Hinchliff Pearson Policy
Building What Comes Next: Community Engagement at Creative Commons
by Jocelyn Miyara Community
CC at the AI Impact Summit: Core Interventions for the Public Interest
by Anna Tumadóttir, Rebecca Ross Events
Global Call to Action: Open Heritage Statement Now Open for Signature
by Brigitte Vézina, Dee Harris Open Culture, Open Heritage

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