Dive into our early thinking below, then help shape what comes next! We’re looking for your ideas, feedback, and questions on the legal, technical, and social layers of this work. ❓We’d especially like to gather input on the following questions: CC signals are aimed at demanding reciprocal action by AI developers. What does reciprocity in…

Last updated June 12, 2025 Our Commitment Creative Commons (CC) is an organization and global community that champions openness, sharing, and creativity. We are committed to fostering a safe, inclusive, respectful, and harassment-free environment for everyone—regardless of age, ability, disability status, ethnicity, gender identity and expression, level of experience, nationality, personal appearance, race, religion, or…

The application of copyright law to AI training is complex.  Around the world, there are varying exceptions and limitations to copyright that permit AI training. Jurisdictions also often consider the specific uses of the copyrighted work within AI training and outputs.  *Reminder* CC licenses are copyright licenses. That means that applying CC licenses to AI…

Reciprocal Roof (Shed) by Ziggy Liloia is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0 A lot has changed in the past few years, and it is high time for Creative Commons (CC) to be louder about our values. Underpinning our recently released strategic plan is a renewed call for reciprocity. Neutrality serves only the status quo and…

Sharing your collections and content comes at the last step on the road towards open access, but it is the one that will prove the value of the decision of releasing collections and content. Engaging with the public takes time and work, and it is important that users understand how they can engage with collections…

Among CHIs’ competing priorities, copyright may not be at the top. But copyright is a fundamental part of everyday activities at these institutions, particularly when it comes to digitization and open access projects. Here is a basic overview of some of the important considerations about copyright and digital collections. Big Question / Why It Matters…

Open Culture presents both opportunities and challenges. Understanding them is crucial to making an informed decision on opening collections. This understanding will allow you to take advantage of the positive outcomes and work around the negative ones. Being able to explain the opportunities and plan for the challenges will help you build a strong argument…

The concept of “open” has served different purposes in a variety of fields, from software to scholarly communications, to research and education, to science and culture. Generally speaking, the notion of “open” in these fields often refers to “making something accessible” without financial, technological, or legal restrictions that limit reuse. The cultural heritage sector currently…

Open access content is digital, online, free of charge, and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions on reuse. Open access stands in contrast to the existing “closed” system for communicating scientific and scholarly research. This current approach is slow, expensive, and ill-suited for research collaboration and discovery. And even though scholarly research is largely…

Much of this course focused on how to create openly licensed materials, by sharing the legal perspective and the practical steps needed. In this unit we will explore and practice how to create OER so they can have the biggest impact and be used without any legal or technical barriers. Big Question / Why It…