Creative Commons is a nonprofit organization dedicated to building a globally-accessible public commons of knowledge and culture. We make it easier for people to share their creative and academic work, as well as to access and build upon the work of others. By helping people and organizations share knowledge and creativity, we aim to build a more equitable, accessible, and innovative world.
In order to achieve our mission, we:
- Provide Creative Commons 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 allow others to copy, distribute, and make use of those works
- Work closely with major institutions to ensure the correct use and implementation of CC licenses and CC-licensed content
- Support the CC Global Network, a community initiative working to increase the volume, breadth, and quality of openly-available knowledge worldwide
- Develop technology like CC Search that makes openly licensed material easier to discover and use
- Offer the Creative Commons Certificate, an in-depth course for people interested in becoming experts in creating and engaging with openly-licensed works
- Produce CC Summit, an annual event that brings together an international group of educators, artists, technologists, legal experts, and activists to promote the power of open licensing and global access
Learn more about Creative Commons through our collection of public reports and financials. For information about CC’s funding agreements, please see our Contributions Policy.
