It has come to the attention of Creative Commons that there is an increased use of CC licenses by cultural heritage institutions on photographic reproductions and 3D scans of objects such as sculptures, busts, engravings, and inscriptions, among others, that are indisputably in the public domain worldwide. A recent example is the 3000-year-old Nefertiti bust…

When governments choose to use Creative Commons licenses to preserve and share cultural knowledge, like Indigenous languages, it illustrates how our licenses can help create a more accessible and equitable world.  Recently, CC India’s Global Network Representative (GNC) Subhashish Panigrahi brought to our attention that the Indian state of Odisha licensed 21 dictionaries—in all 21…

A key principle of the open movement is that the power of information relies on its accessibility. As researcher and activist Bushra Ebadi expressed to us recently, “Access to information is intrinsically tied to the right to know and the right to exist.”    We often receive stories from around the world illustrating how Creative Commons…

Cover page of the CC Style Guide 2019. Photographer: Heather Hazzan; Wardrobe: Ronald Burton; Props: Campbell Pearson; Hair: Hide Suzuki; Makeup: Deanna Melluso at See Management. Shot on location at One Medical. CC BY

Crafting and maintaining a consistent style is essential to establishing and promoting an organization’s brand.  As with any organization, Creative Commons’ (CC) brand should help CC build trust with its stakeholders and the broader open movement, as well as maintain and grow CC’s reputation, legitimacy, and leadership in the Global Commons. With that in mind,…

The story of the Creative Commons (CC) logo is linked to the story of CC.  In 2002, just one year after the founding of CC, designer Ryan Junell accomplished the difficult task of designing a logo that is distinctive, yet teaches through its design. Over time, the CC logo has become a recognizable symbol of…

Image credit: "Teaching," Joris Louwes, CC BY-ND 2.0

As part of the drafting committee, Creative Commons (CC) fully supports the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Educational Resources (OER) on which the member states will vote at the 40th session of the UNESCO General Conference in November. We laud the multitude of national governments and open education experts engaged in the development of this international…

Design by Victoria Heath; Image by Sebastiaan ter Bur, CC BY

The 2020 Creative Commons (CC) Global Summit is returning to Lisbon, Portugal on 14-16 May! We’ve grown the CC Global Summit every year as hundreds of leading activists, advocates, librarians, educators, lawyers, technologists, and more have joined us for discussion, debate, workshops, planning, talks, and community building. Whether you’re new to the community or a…

Image by Sebastiaan ter Bur, CC BY

The 2020 Creative Commons (CC) Global Summit is returning to Lisbon, Portugal on 14-16 May, co-hosted by CC Portugal. You can help bring the CC Summit to life for our participants by volunteering for a role on one of our planning committees. Please note: These are remote positions; you do not need to be located…

At the 2017 Creative Commons Global Summit, we hosted a special session with filmmaker Robin McKenna that featured an early look at her then-in-progress documentary GIFT. McKenna’s film is now completed and opens today in select cities in the US. Inspired by The Gift, Lewis Hyde’s influential 1983 book about creativity and sharing (and an…

From CC Nepal: Photo by Roshan Kumar Karn, Director of Open Access Nepal, licensed CC BY 4.0

The Creative Commons Global Network (CCGN) is a passionate community that lights up our vibrant, collaborative, global commons. The CC Network is also critical to our mission of sharing. To support CC Network members, we launched a scholarship program for CC Certificate courses.  Today, we are proud to highlight our first 10 CC Certificate Scholarship…