15318215771_72c527508c_k Photo of the Ndebele Tribe in South Africa by UN (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)-

This post was co-authored by CC’s Open Policy Manager Brigitte Vézina and Legal and Policy Intern Alexis Muscat. Tomorrow is International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, a day that seeks to raise awareness of and support Indigenous peoples’ rights and aspirations around the world. We at Creative Commons (CC) wish to highlight this important…

Have you ever wondered who looks for openly licensed images? Or how those images are used? Before we launched CC Search in April 2019, we assumed that the search engine would serve three broad groups of creators: Those making designs, imagery, and art Those illustrating text, such as bloggers, journalists, or educators Those creating videos…

5169051592_632fc3cc6b_h Kollage Kid (CC BY-NC-SA)

Over 300 million images are uploaded to Facebook a day. Yes, just Facebook. Once other social media and photo-sharing platforms like Flickr, Unsplash, Instagram, etc. are taken into account, that number quickly grows into the billions.  A lot has changed since the dawn of photography in the 19th century—when Nicéphore Niépce (a.k.a. the “Father of…

Image features icons by Vectors Point and Guilherme Furtado via Noun Project (CC BY).

Did you know that the Creative Commons Global Network (CCGN) consists of 43 CC Country Chapters? Spread across the globe, these CC Chapters are the home for a community of advocates, activists, educators, artists, lawyers, and users who share CC’s vision and values. They work to implement and strengthen open access policies, copyright reform, open…

La Donna Della Finestra, 1881 by Dante Gabriel Rossetti via Birmingham Museums Trust (CC0)

The following is a summary of “GLAM Collections on Social Media: Navigating Copyright Questions—a conversation with Aleksandra Strzelichowska, Mikka Gee Conway and Anne Young” published on 31 May 2020 by Scann (licensed CC BY).  How often do you debate whether to share an openly licensed work on social media? If you do share a work,…

At the end of April, CC Search officially celebrated its first birthday! After releasing the search tool last year on April 30, we eagerly watched as it was put to use. Now, with a year behind us and over 2.8 million users across 230 countries and territories, we’re gathering and examining search data to better…

Today is International Museum Day and we at Creative Commons (CC) are thrilled to celebrate the institutions that curate, care for, and provide access to the world’s rich diversity of cultures, ideas, and forms of knowledge. This year’s theme, dedicated to the universal values of equality, diversity, and inclusion, is a testament to museums’ ability…

We’re pleased to announce the selection of our mid-year 2020 interns from Google Summer of Code (GSoC) and Outreachy! Both of these programs aim to support students and early career professionals as they venture into open source software development.  Over the next three months, these interns will work with members of the Creative Commons’ team…

"Sultan Ahmed Mosque" by Konevi (CC0) via Pexels

On the occasion of both Earth Day and World Intellectual Property Day, which this year centers on the theme of Innovation for a Green Future, we’d like to underline the importance of cultural heritage preservation as a response to the threats posed by climate change. In this post, we’ll also share some insights on how…

Image by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images/Images of Empowerment, November 2017 (CC BY-NC)

Since the founding of Creative Commons (CC) in 2001, we’ve been supported by like-minded organizations and individuals who value open access, the open community, and the global commons as much as we do. As we near our 20th anniversary, we are reflecting on the past and planning for the future. What better way to do…