COVID-19 has changed many things about how we all learn, work, and play. In fact, it has drastically changed how we lead our lives. But in these exceptionally distressing times, one thing that hasn’t changed is the dynamism and resilience of the Creative Commons (CC) community. In this blog post, we’re thrilled to share some of the work that the amazing individuals and organizations that are part of the CC Network have been up to, upholding CC’s values and pursuing our goals in the face of COVID-19.

Over the past months, we’ve talked on the Creative Commons blog about the effect of the pandemic on science and education and asserted how important it is to share knowledge and culture as openly as possible, now more than ever. We also launched the Open COVID Pledge, a groundbreaking initiative founded on the idea that relevant scientific resources and intellectual property owned or developed in relation to COVID-19 should be made freely available to anyone in the world to use and build upon to end the pandemic.

Credit: “33962822768_a6f5d169b8_o” Sebastiaan ter Burg (CC BY)

Members of the CC community launched remarkable initiatives across the globe to support open education, open science, and open GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums). From New Zealand to Poland, from Brazil to the Netherlands and Italy, all over the world they have been leading inspiring actions to ensure the public interest continues to be promoted and protected in the midst of this global crisis.

We asked our community members to share what they were doing so we could contribute to Wikipedia’s effort to document the impact of the pandemic on different aspects of everyone’s lives and the measures taken to mitigate that impact.

You can read about the activities carried out in the field of:

• Education – for example, several initiatives were taken to facilitate access for students and teachers to openly licensed educational resources, and many organizations helped clarify how to navigate copyright rules related to teaching and learning activities (especially online) under such exceptional circumstances. 
• Science – for example, we shared different projects that highlight how open access to scientific research resources is key to quickly find a cure for the disease. 
• Culture – for example, some of our network members carried online training workshops and webinars for cultural heritage professionals to learn about relevant risks and exceptions to copyright when providing online services. Other organizations, e.g. in Australia, organized fact sheets to provide libraries and archives with basic guidance on how to deal with copyright challenges. 

Truth be told, the global health emergency triggered by the spread of COVID-19 brought into stark relief the belief that Creative Commons has been holding all along: by openly sharing knowledge and culture, we can better support scientists, researchers, teachers, students, cultural institutions, and society at large. The crisis also magnified the power of CC’s thriving community members, who continue to spin on a dime and quickly and directly support practitioners on the ground.

Interested in joining or supporting the CC Global Network? Learn more here. To support our work more generally, please donate here. 

? Stop the spread of COVID-19 by taking these steps outlined by the WHO, including washing your hands for at least 20 seconds and social distancing.