For over 25 years, Creative Commons has worked side by side with institutions, platforms, governments, educators, scientists, and creators to ensure that open sharing works in the real world.

Creative Commons empowers people everywhere to share knowledge and creativity openly. Our licenses and tools are used across the world—in science labs, classrooms, cultural institutions, newsrooms, governments, and countless digital platforms.

Implementation is stewardship. Stewardship is how we keep the commons alive. 

We support the implementation of the CC tools and the open infrastructure of sharing by:

• Supporting institutional adoption
• Training educators, librarians, and policymakers
• Advising platforms and repositories
• Publishing guidance and best practices
• Hosting and participating in webinars and events

Sharing Across Sectors. Making a Global Impact.

Creative Commons supports implementation across diverse fields that depend on openness to thrive with a focus on education, science, and culture. Read more about how we are making a global impact.

Implementing CC Licenses and Public Domain Tools

Whether you wish to CC-license your own work or reuse someone else’s CC-licensed works, we’ve got you covered with best practices, considerations, and tools.

Choose a license →

Apply a CC license →

Discover the Commons

Interested in accessing CC-licensed works? We provide a search portal [link] and other recommendations on how to access and find CC-licensed content. We also work with major platforms and institutions to make openly licensed content searchable, recognizable, and reusable.

Access and reuse CC-licensed content →

Capacity-Building Resources

Creative Commons provides resources to ensure licensors and users understand what licenses allow—and what they require. Browse our resource library for guidance on everything from best practices for metadata to primers on topics related to AI and the commons.

Visit the resource library →

Become a Patron of the Commons

As a nonprofit organization, we rely on the community to sustain the public infrastructure we maintain.

Your support helps ensure:

• Licenses remain free and enforceable
• The public domain stays protected
• Sharing scales without exploitation
• AI respects the commons
• Knowledge remains accessible worldwide

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Stay Connected

Learn how the commons thrives—and how you can help shape it.

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