Creative Commons

For Creative Commons’ 25th anniversary, we asked some of the people behind CC: What does the commons mean to you? Their answers became this four-part series of personal reflections. We’re kicking things off with four perspectives. Continue to follow along this week as we release more stories.

New projects added to our November 8 hackathon at @archive.org in San Francisco including: @securedrop.org @eff.org @creativecommons.bsky.social and @onionpress.org & a screening of The Internet's Own Boy in #portland via @portlandciviclab.bsky.social 🤩 www.aaronswartzday.org/2026-hackath...

Creative Commons and Local Contexts’ guidance is now available in Spanish! This practical resource helps museums, libraries, and archives navigate access to and reuse of Indigenous heritage and data, with respect for Indigenous rights, cultural authority, and community protocols. buff.ly/T8dAZE0

This year’s Open Access Week theme, “The Cost of Knowledge,” raises a question: who sustains the knowledge we all depend on? “We want a future where openness is not simply an aspiration, but a sustainable practice.” –Anna Tumadóttir. For #OAWeek2026, share your favorite open resource in the replies!

In you missed our License Guidance in the Age of AI webinars, the event recording is now up! We have combined the best of the presentation with both Q&A sessions into one video. Watch our blog for more to come on our ongoing work with AI and the commons. buff.ly/cDreJZs

To commemorate our anniversary, CC created a zine featuring submissions from the CC community! Download the zine and assemble by simply folding the pages in half and stacking, or read the digital version! Print: buff.ly/guQyuIl Digital: buff.ly/lhqtp1P

"Open by itself does very little, but enables a lot." At Open @ UNGA81 with @opensource.org & @creativecommons.bsky.social, our own amanda casari explored what it takes to make good on openness—from investing in vendor-neutral standards to rethinking trust & maintainer tooling in the AI era.

More than 10,000 historical images from Chile are now CC licensed through the platform enterreno.com, making it easier for people and institutions to find and reuse images like this alpaca 🦙 Image: "Alpaca en Hacienda Graneros en Graneros, 1983", Jorge Sánchez, CC BY-NC, Turistel Archive.

If you missed the Open Preprints webinar today, catch the recording to learn about CC's policy framework for funders and institutions, our advocacy strategies for researchers and libraries, and concrete steps to make preprints open by default. buff.ly/yAO8gn9

Find something you want to understand better. Democracy's Library makes government publications easier to discover and use, so you can find the records behind the issues that shape our society. #ToolsYouCanUse

After Creative Commons hosted an Exploratory Dialogue on Open Heritage at UNESCO House, we returned to Paris with a smaller group to discuss how Member States can help advance action at UNESCO to establish a UNESCO Recommendation on Open Heritage. Read the recap from the event: buff.ly/DQsT0C2

If you missed the event this morning, you can catch the recording now! Watch "Community Voices on AI: Attribution as the Norm," featuring panelists Monica Granados, Todd Carpenter, Archie Davis, Andrew Farrior, Rita Ho, and Pau Giner! buff.ly/y069URW

This year, our annual community survey received responses from 62 community members from 23 countries. They shared their experiences, priorities, ideas, and hopes for the future of the Commons. In a new blog post, we share key takeaways and our community strategy for the year ahead. buff.ly/uJ4aEjR

Our next event "Community Voices on AI: Attribution as the Norm," exploring attribution in AI systems, is tomorrow, October 1, from 10-11am EDT! Register below. Can't make it? Watch our social channels later this week for the event recording. buff.ly/l9dR6Bz

Recently, CC convened experts, practitioners, and builders for a day of conversation about the collaborative underpinnings of openness. In a new blog post, Anna Tumadóttir reflects on throughlines from the symposium and how to allow open resources to exist, evolve, and endure. buff.ly/PqzU9ZB

In two upcoming webinars on October 14, we will present on our updated Guidance on CC Licenses in the Age of AI and how it impacts different sectors like Education, Science and Culture. We will then take questions from the audience and hear about any feedback you might have. buff.ly/Ofo43CY

CC has been exploring questions around artificial intelligence for a long time. As the technology, its impacts, and what we’ve learned from communities have evolved, so has our thinking. But our principles have not. buff.ly/iu2xM7Z

Join practitioners from Creative Commons, NISO, AXM, and the Wikimedia Foundation for a grounded community conversation about why attribution should be the norm in AI systems, and how the field is actually building solutions for the future. buff.ly/w8WYiwY

CC and Local Contexts recently launched a new publication entitled "Guidance for Indigenous Collections and Indigenous Data." In a new blog post, we offer some background to the publication and recap the launch webinar. Read the blog: buff.ly/uVYOHlT Watch the event recording: buff.ly/ycgUAby

Our updated "Guidance on Using CC Licenses in the Age of AI" contextualizes the use of existing licenses as AI reshapes the digital landscape. Our goal is to continue to balance public access with licensor choice, providing options even in this new complex world of sharing. buff.ly/feUVKin

Tomorrow, September 1 at 3 pm UTC, Creative Commons and Local Contexts are hosting a virtual conversation with the authors of "Guidance for Indigenous Collections and Indigenous Data." Register for the event: pro.gofundme.com/event/respon... Read the guidance: zenodo.org/records/2107...

A quote from a new community member this morning: "JUST LEARNED ABOUT CC 20 MIN AGO. I THINK CC IS THE SH*T. I MEAN THAT. I BELIEVE IN KNOWLEDGE/INFORMATION SHARING." Couldn't have said it better ourselves ❤️

In partnership with Local Contexts, our September 1 webinar "Responsibilities, Ethics, and Access" will explore how cultural institutions can apply practical, community-centered approaches to Indigenous collections. This webinar will be presented in both English and Spanish. buff.ly/ieyp02B

@uoylibrary.bsky.social is now a community member of the @creativecommons.bsky.social Open Infrastructure Circle. We are supporting the technical and legal maintenance of CC Licences, which are critical to the future of open research and preserving the at-risk global commons 🔓🌍

Looking to support free and only-licensed news? We've made a list of all the Creative Commons-licensed news outlets that are active on Bluesky. Have a browse or follow them in bulk here below! #Journalism #CreativeCommons @creativecommons.bsky.social

Register for our next Community Office Hours! Our Sr. Manager of Community Strategy and Engagement will be online to answer questions about the CC community, how to get involved, and more. Plus, connect with other community members to share your ideas and learn from peers. buff.ly/H4wmyWo

Join us Sept. 21 at NYU for a @creativecommons.bsky.social commons -led discussion on open source and AI “sovereignty.” Can open source provide a decentralized alternative to today’s AI stack-- and if not, what would it take? Register: creativecommons.org/event/open-u...

“We do research because we want to understand the world a little bit better. To get that information out, we need to have as few barriers as possible.” University of Toronto featured our very own Monica Granados and her career making research free and accessible in a new article! buff.ly/eF9Tzs7

The recent emergence of generative artificial intelligence has had a phenomenal impact on cultural heritage institutions, threatening their economic stability and clashing with the values and norms of the commons. Read more and learn how to get involved in our newest blog post! buff.ly/KrNeMYU

Our next Legal Office Hours are on September 1 at 2 pm EDT/6 pm UTC! Legal Office Hours offer the chance to ask all of your licensing, open sharing, and copyright questions to a member of our legal team. They are open to all, so register today and then get your questions ready! buff.ly/abimnTu

Alongside UNGA 81, CC is bringing together leading civil society and digital rights organizations for a day-long symposium examining how to balance digital sovereignty with open collaboration. Programming will be held at the NYU Engelberg Center from 10 am-3 pm. Register: buff.ly/0uhqRxm

Congrats to Cory Doctorow for his seventh consecutive week on the Canadian bestseller list for "The Reverse Centaur's Guide to Life After AI!" Right now, donors who give $125 USD or more will receive a signed copy of Cory Doctorow’s previous limited-edition art book, Canny Valley. buff.ly/IBXqVxs

If you missed our CC201 webinar, check out the recording and presentation for resources, tips, and some answers to your licensing questions! Recording: buff.ly/07Caamb Presentation: buff.ly/zNvVaR5

Don't forget: "CC 201: Finding & Reusing CC-Licensed Works" is tomorrow at 10am EDT! This webinar will walk you through the best places to find CC-licensed content, how to reuse works under each license, how to properly attribute, and more. buff.ly/7XSigHJ

We're excited to announce that we will be supporting four regional events for CC’s 25th anniversary. The events represent regions around the world with groups who are working to advance open knowledge. Read the full announcement for more! buff.ly/MihGn1f

Our virtual panel on 1 September will feature the authors of "Guidance for Indigenous Collections and Indigenous Data" as they discuss how cultural institutions can balance openness with respect for Indigenous protocols, consent, and control. buff.ly/gUMSgxb

This year's Wikimania gave us space to trade ideas, learn from other open advocates, and think through emerging conversations around AI. Our new blog post reflects on the key takeaways from the many conversations we were a part of during our week in Paris! buff.ly/Jp37ty9

Last call to submit work to CC's 25th anniversary zine! Send us your photographs, poems, reflections, memes, remixes, oral histories, and more by August 15. docs.google.com/forms/d/1KyK...

Attribution is the mechanism that lets a piece of knowledge or creativity stay connected to the people who made it possible. In our new blog post, Jack Hardinges and Irina Bejan share reasons to be optimistic that AI systems can, in fact, credit their sources. buff.ly/hIW94fx

Join us for our next webinar on August 13 to learn how to find and reuse CC-licensed content confidence. We’ll explore some of the best places to discover openly licensed content, decode the different CC licenses, walk through the ins and outs of proper attribution, and more! buff.ly/VipX1vD

CC merch is more than just t-shirts and hoodies—it can mean real connections with other community members in your everyday life! Hear from Molly Van Houweling on why she loves wearing her CC hoodie, and then snag your own at store.creativecommons.org!

CC is proud to have been one small part of this vital work.

CC is proud to publish The Open Heritage Companion: a practitioner’s guide developed to help cultural heritage institutions navigate the journey from closed to open collections. The Companion brings together 200+ curated resources and is available in in English, French, and Spanish!