Aurélie Filippetti / Open Knowledge Foundation / CC BY

French minister of culture and communications Aurélie Filippetti launched a set of initiatives yesterday designed to promote a more creative, more open France. The impressive announcement covers a lot of measures, including an open data policy for cultural data, the launch of a new workspace designed to stimulate cultural innovation, and much more. But of particular interest to us are the new partnerships Filipetti announced with the Open Knowledge Foundation and Creative Commons France.

The ministry of culture and communication will work with CC France to educate students, cultural creators, and society in general on understanding and using Creative Commons licenses. According to the announcement, “These tools align with intellectual property law and fit perfectly within the minister’s policy of digital inclusion as a part of her great national project for arts and cultural education.”*

Meanwhile, the ministry will also work with the Open Knowledge Foundation France to map the French public domain, making it easier for anyone to discern whether a work is in the public domain or not. This partnership is the next step in OKFN’s Public Domain Calculators project, and it’s great news for anyone who cares about a vibrant, living public domain.

We applaud Minister Fillipetti and congratulate both CC France and OKFN France on this exciting partnership.

*Rough translation from the French announcement.