The internet has changed the way that we can discover, share, and build on other people’s work, but early into the age of widespread adoption of the internet, some were already noticing that traditional policies and expectations of copyright weren't devised to keep up with this rapidly changing world. Creative Commons is a nonprofit organization founded in 2001 to provide clear and meaningful ways for content creators (including but not limited to academics, artists, and software developers) to retain intellectual property rights related to their creations while actively and explicitly encouraging the sharing, availability, and reuse of their work. Creative Commons licenses can be applied simply and straightforwardly by a creator by adding a badge and/or a link to the place that their work is hosted, and many platforms now have optional Creative Commons license assignment integrated into their workflows. Creative Commons licenses vary in the reuse that they allow, from reuse with clear attribution (CC BY) to the more restrictive Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license, which requires clear attribution, restricts to non-commercial purposes, and prohibits the dissemination of any derivative versions of the work, including remixes or other adaptations. The CC0 license provides a means for a creator to affirmatively enter their work into the public domain, “by waiving all of his or her rights to the work worldwide under copyright law.”
To read more about Creative Commons, explore the licenses, and see examples of the sites and institutions using the licenses, visit https://creativecommons.org/.
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