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Creative Commons Licenses

Creative Commons
United States of America
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About

Launched: 2001
Record Updated: Oct 12, 2026
Standard, specification or protocol
Creative Commons (CC) provides and stewards CC licenses and public domain tools that give every person and organization in the world a free, simple, and standardized way to grant copyright permissions for creative and academic works; ensure proper attribution; and enable others to copy, distribute, and make use of those works. From the reuser’s perspective, the presence of a CC license on a copyrighted work answers the question, "what can I do with this work?"
Research Organization Registry (Opens in new window)

Domain Relevance

  • Generalist (no disciplinary-focus)

Technical Attributes

Maintenance Status

Actively Maintained

Open Code Repository

Implemented
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Technical Documentation

Implemented
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Open Product Roadmap

Implemented
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Technical Attribute Statements

Technology Readiness Level

  • System complete and qualified

Code Licenses Used

  • MIT License

Content Licensing

  • Other
All CC legal tools have been dedicated to the public domain using our CC0 public domain dedication.

Standards

Community Engagement

Code of Conduct

Implemented
Code of Conduct (Opens in new window)

Community Engagement

Implemented

Contribution Guidelines or Fora

Implemented
Website (Opens in new window)

Community Statements

User Contribution Pathways

  • Contribute funds
  • Contribute to code
  • Contribute to working groups or interest groups

More About Community Engagement

Community Engagement Activities:

Dedicated Community Engagement Manager role, annual Global Summit for community members, periodic Community Conversations on emerging topics such as AI and Creative Commons, Community Spotlights on blog

Additional Information

Organizational History

https://creativecommons.org/timeline

Organizational Structure

Business or Ownership Model

Non-profit organization

Current Affiliations

  • Creative Commons

Funding

Primary Funding Source

  • Contributions

Revenue Sources

  • Earned/commercial revenue
  • Grants (private)
  • In-kind contributions
  • Institutional memberships

Funding Needs

Creative Commons’ legal tools are core open infrastructure, yet most people are unaware that the infrastructure behind the CC Licenses has had no underlying revenue stream to sustain regular maintenance or upgrades. Over the last 20 years, we’ve built up a “technical debt,” a backlog of work our small nonprofit organization hasn’t had the capacity to address. With proper funding, Creative Commons can resolve immediate technical shortcomings while establishing an agile and streamlined maintenance routine that will allow the CC Licenses to thrive and evolve with a rapidly changing digital landscape.
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