Last October we submitted an initial proposal to get CC license symbols into Unicode. Since then we’ve gotten some feedback from them, incorporated that into our thinking, and submitted an updated application.

Here is the new proposal. (The old one for reference here.) The new proposal presents the CC license icons as graphic symbols. We’ve discussed a bit how trademark rights come into play and think we’ve come up with an inclusive approach that permits public access to the graphic symbols, without affecting the trademark rights in the specific icons. This is similar to how companies like IBM have managed their marks with Unicode.

We also asked the public some questions about how you currently mark works with CC licenses. We thought you’d be interested in the results so here are some very simple graphs that show those results (disclaimer: I am not a data analyst). Of the 709 responses, it seems that more than half (441) use the CC license icons or buttons to indicate the license on a work. Many more (681) said they would also like to be able to use the CC license icons in text (Unicode!) to indicate the CC license. Good news—we’re working on addressing your concerns. Fingers crossed that our new proposal will be accepted by Unicode. Thanks for all your support!