Today Creative Commons and over two dozen civil society and digital rights organisations released a letter raising concerns about the potential impact of the re-negotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) on access to information, digital rights, and the open internet. The letter was released this week because trade negotiators from Canada, Mexico,…

Without a refocus on user rights, transparency, and meaningful public input, the agreement will become a bonanza for copyright maximalists This week Creative Commons submitted comments to the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) regarding negotiating objectives for the modernization of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). NAFTA is the controversial trade…

Last week, 14 people were convicted by an Uruguayan judge for the crime of making copies of educational resources. The defendants, owners of copy shops located near the University of the Republic (Universidad de la República) in Montevideo, have been sentenced to seven months in prison, although the judge has conditionally suspended the imprisonment. The…

Copyright policy should benefit everyone, not just legacy rightsholders Today the European Commission released its legislative proposal for changes to EU copyright law. The proposal has been introduced as a Directive on copyright in the Digital Single Market. The Directive fails to deliver on the promise for a modern copyright law in Europe. In an ideal…

In April, we posed a question to our community, “How should we attribute 3D printed objects?” and announced our intent to explore the challenge as it aligned with our new strategy, focusing on discovery and collaboration.

Last year, Festival delle Resistenze 2016 in Trentino-Alto Adige misused a photo of the journalist Niccolò Rampini that had been uploaded to Wikimedia Commons under a CC-by-SA-4.0 license by a professional photographer named Federico Caranti.

Prince performing in Brussels during the Hit N Run Tour in 1986, CC-by-2.0 Today at Copyright On!, Britton Payne discussed the unique copyright situation surrounding Prince’s estate. This potentially long and bitter battle could shape the future of music copyright to come. Prince fought a number of legendary copyright battles, which makes this current fight…

Unencumbered access to public sector information is central to a well-functioning democratic system.

Today we commemorate Fair Use Week, a week-long celebration of the doctrines of fair use and fair dealing. Creative Commons is proud of how its licenses respect fair use and other exceptions and limitations to copyright. CC licenses end where copyright ends, which means you don’t need to comply with a CC license if you…

Our Digital Future / OpenMedia.ca / CC BY-NC-SA OpenMedia.ca just released Our Digital Future: A Crowdsourced Agenda for Free Expression. OpenMedia developed the publication through consultations and surveys with many organizations that care about free expression on the internet. It’s organized around three principles: Respect Creators, Prioritize Free Expression, and Embrace Democratic Processes. OpenMedia’s report…