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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

Where CC Stands on Pay-to-Crawl
by Creative Commons Policy, Sustaining the Commons

"Distorted Sand Mine" by Lone Thomasky & Bits&Bäume, licensed under CC BY 4.0.

As we’ve discussed before, the rise of large artificial intelligence (AI) models has fundamentally disrupted the social contract governing machine use of web content. Today, machines don’t just access the web to make it more searchable or to help unlock new insights; they feed algorithms that fundamentally change (and threaten) the web we know. What once functioned as a mostly reciprocal ecosystem now risks becoming extractive by default.
Integrating Choices in Open Standards: CC Signals and the RSL Standard
by Anna Tumadóttir Licenses & Tools, Sustaining the Commons
Global Call to Action: Open Heritage Statement Now Open for Signature
by Brigitte Vézina, Dee Harris Open Culture, Open Heritage
New Community Chat Platform: Moving from Slack to Zulip
by Jocelyn Miyara Community
The Benefits of Open Heritage in the Digital Environment
by Brigitte Vézina, Dee Harris Open Culture

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