We are pleased to present Creative Commons’ 2023 Annual Report.  This past year, our Open Culture program and Open Climate Campaign entered their third and second years, respectively. We also launched our Open Infrastructure Circle to ensure that our CC Licenses and public domain tools are funded well into the future. We are so grateful…

Creative Commons is proud to announce the launch of “Introduction to Open Educational Resources,” our first professional development microcredential course and partnership with the University of Nebraska at Omaha, commencing on 31 May. This microcredential pilot started with one CC Certificate alumnus’s enthusiasm for open education. Craig Finlay, OER and STEM Librarian at the University…

“The Artist's Father, Reading a Newspaper” by Albert Engström - 1892 - Nationalmuseum Sweden, Sweden - Public Domain.

Last month, the European Parliament and Council gave the green light to an important piece of legislation: the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA). In this blog post, we look at the aims of the EMFA and why it matters for Creative Commons (CC) and everyone’s right to access trustworthy information.

Close-up of the Brussels' Atomium on a clear day By Geertivp, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Close-up_of_the_Brussels%27_Atomium_on_a_clear_day_(cropped).jpg

Last week, Creative Commons took part in the International Public Domain Day celebration at the Royal Library of Belgium in Brussels. Two engaging roundtables were hosted, delving into copyright issues concerning the public domain and its future. The event united advocates for open access to cultural heritage, featuring presentations on topics like the monetization and decolonization of the public domain, as well as updates on the Europeana Public Domain Charter. Creative Commons introduced new guidelines published in February aimed at encouraging users to reference institutions when utilizing public domain cultural heritage materials.

“Barrels of Money” by Victor Dubreuil. 1890s. Brandywine Museum of Art , Public Domain.

In February, we hosted a webinar in our Open Culture Live series titled “Maximizing the Value(s) of Open Access in Cultural Heritage Institutions.” In this blog post, we summarize the key points raised in the discussion and share a link to the recording.

In 2023, the Creative Commons (CC) Open Culture Platform ran an open call for funded activities as part of our efforts to develop local, non-Western models of open culture, and to support the growth of the open culture movement around the world.

“AI Alignment Assembly” by Jakub Koźniewski for the Open Future Foundation is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Dear Open Movement Creators, Activists, and Stewards,  A key question facing Creative Commons as an organization, and the open movement in general, is how we will respond to the challenge of shaping artificial intelligence (AI) towards the public interest, growing and sustaining a thriving commons of shared knowledge and culture. So much of generative AI…

Picture of the Creative Commons team at GLAM Wiki, Montevideo, Uruguay, 17 November, 2023. From left to right: Jocelyn Miyara, Brigitte Vézina, Connor Benedict, and Jennryn Wetzler. © Creative Commons, licensed CC-BY.

From 16 to 18 November, members of the Creative Commons (CC) Open Culture and Learning and Training teams attended GLAM Wiki in Montevideo Uruguay. In this blog post we look back at the event’s highlights from CC’s perspective.

Each month throughout 2023, we will be spotlighting a different CC-licensed illustration from the collection on our social media headers and the CC blog. For November, we’re excited to showcase “Shared Knowledge, Shared Future” by Colombian illustrator, Luisa Brando.

Josh Elkes is the CEO and co-founder of Harbour, a digital contracting platform for the creator economy. Businesses use Harbour’s fast and modern e-signature and contract management tools to securely work with creators at scale. Prior to Harbour, Josh spent 10 years at Viacom, Downtown Music, and Getty Images, Josh’s focus has always been to empower…