It’s the start of a new month, which means a new episode of CC’s podcast, Open Minds … from Creative Commons! Our guest on this episode is Albert Wenger, managing partner at Union Square Ventures, a thesis-driven venture capital firm based in New York City. USV has invested in over 100 companies that use the…

The news yesterday from US trade Ambassador Katherine Tait that the Biden-Harris administration supports waiving IP protections for COVID vaccines is not just welcome, it is laying a stake in the ground for others to follow. The hesitancy of both the EU and UK to support the US places them on the wrong side of…

We are pleased to announce today that our friends at the Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property (PIJIP) at American University Washington College of Law have taken over leadership and stewardship of the Open COVID Pledge (OCP). Last year, Creative Commons joined forces with an international group of volunteer researchers, scientists, academics, and lawyers…

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Creative Commons published an article titled, “Now Is the Time for Open Access Policies—Here’s Why” in March 2020. We felt it imperative to underscore the importance of open access, specifically open science, in times of crisis. A lot has changed since March of last year and it’s important to…

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Creative Commons published an article titled, “Now Is the Time for Open Access Policies—Here’s Why” in March 2020. A lot has changed since then and it’s important to assess the progress made and take a hard look at the dangers ahead. In this panel, we’ll examine the fields of…

Dear Mr. President-elect, First, I’d like to offer my sincere congratulations to you and to Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. This has been such a difficult year for so many around the world, and in this time of extreme polarization it is encouraging to hear you both talk about bringing people together to meet our common…

“United Nations Headquarters” by United Nations Photo is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 As an important part of our stewardship of the Open COVID Pledge, we are pleased to announce that the Pledge is now available in all six of the official languages of the United Nations: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish. This…

The coronavirus outbreak not only sparked a health pandemic; it triggered an “infodemic” of misleading and fabricated news. As the virus spread, trolls and conspiracy theorists began pushing misinformation, and their deplorable tactics continue to this day. Nonsense has been shared about links to 5G phone masts or that a secret cure already exists, and…

Astronaut Edwin Aldrin walks on lunar surface near leg of Lunar Module. Credit: Neil Armstrong/NASA, (1969) in the public domain.

It’s July 20, 1969.  Along with 600 million people, nine-year-old Chris Hadfield is glued to his television—watching intently as American astronaut Neil Armstrong glides down the ladder of the Lunar Module, and in one swift pounce, touches the dust of a familiar yet alien world. His words forever immortalized, “That’s one small step for man,…

The JOGL team by Thomas Landrain (CC BY).

Thousands of strangers working together, almost entirely online, to effectively solve an urgent, global challenge is remarkable—and it’s happening, right now. Recently, we published a post titled, “Open-Source Medical Hardware: What You Should Know and What You Can Do” examining the collaborative efforts by volunteer groups, universities, and research centers to solve the medical supply…