Creative Commons would not exist without you. As we wrap up our winter fundraising campaign, it’s time for our most important message: thanks. Thank you for your donations to support the work of our staff, affiliates, and volunteers around the world. We met and exceeded our goals. Without your support, Creative Commons simply wouldn’t exist.…

The Presidio by Mindus under CC BY-NC-SA It’s a new year, and Creative Commons and the Open Policy Network are excited to work with the inaugural group of fellows at the Institute for Open Leadership. The Institute for Open Leadership–or IOL–is an effort  to cultivate new leaders in open education, science, public policy, and other…

There’s still time. Support Creative Commons in 2014. This is the fundraising message where the CEO writes and tells you about how important your donation is. And without question, your donation is important. Earlier this month, you heard from our board chair, and a member of our legal team, and a volunteer leading our chapter…

Invest in a more open culture. Support CC. I’m writing on behalf of the Creative Commons Affiliate Network, a community of over 100 affiliate teams in 79 countries. El Salvador joined CC’s global network this year, and I am its first public lead. I work every day to preserve and protect cultural heritage, under CC’s…

Congratulations to CC Norway on the Norwegian translation of 4.0! This is the second published official translation of the license suite. The translation effort was led by longtime CC affiliate and noted internet scholar Gisle Hannemyr, of the University of Oslo. We are particularly grateful to this early team for working with us as we…

Be a voice for sharing. Support CC. 2014 was a big year in the open movement. Both the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation approved open policies requiring grantees to publish their content under CC BY, the most open Creative Commons license. That means that for any content funded…

Last year, the U.S. Congress included a provision in its appropriations legislation that would ensure that some research conducted through federal spending would be made accessible online, for free. It mandated that a subset of federal agencies with research budgets of at least $100 million per year would be required provide the public with free…

Another End of Year list, but one which I hope you’ll take to heart: the amazing accomplishments of the volunteers running School of Open programs around the world, comprised of the Creative Commons, P2PU, Mozilla, and related open communities. SOO logo on Holiday Wreath by Kelly Teague under CC BY-SA This year, our community: Gave…

Wellington / John Bunney, courtesy of Te Papa Tongarewa / No known copyright restrictions In the first of a series of blog posts focusing on our global activities, Matt McGregor tells us of exciting developments in CC in New Zealand Aotearoa. 2014 has been a busy year for the commons in Aotearoa. After a few…

Hellas Chaos on Mars / ESA/DLR/FU Berlin / CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO As of yesterday, the European Space Agency is now sharing all of its images and videos from the Mars Express mission under CC BY-SA. ESA is using the IGO port of CC BY-SA 3.0. ESA is one of several intergovernmental organizations to use…