Creative Commons (CC) is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to helping build and sustain a thriving commons of shared knowledge and culture. Together with its global community, CC develops tools and supports implementations that aim to increase access to knowledge. CC also  advocates for policies that center equity, accessibility, and reciprocity. Over the last 25 years, CC has helped overcome legal obstacles to the sharing of knowledge and creativity, trained thousands of people, and fostered a global community. 

Founded to help facilitate openness on the web in response to strict copyright laws, Creative Commons continues to develop and steward legal and technical tools for sharing. Its most well-known tool, the CC licences, have become the legal and normative foundation of the open movement and are used on tens of billions of works worldwide.

Since its founding, much has changed about the way people share, remix, and access content. In response, CC itself has evolved to address new legislation, policy, and technologies that have the potential to threaten to limit access to knowledge. Today, in the age of AI, where all human expressions are also now data for machines, CC’s mission to protect the commons and find ways for humanity to create and share in ways that are beneficial for all has never been more important. 

As CC works to develop frameworks that directly address the disruptions to the online ecosystem by AI, we continue to work toward a world where education, culture, and science are equitably shared, creators are respected, and innovation advances the commons.

Our Vision

A world where education, culture, and science are equitably shared as a means to benefit humanity.

Our 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.