What is Creative Commons
Alchimista - Saturday, October 4, 2025
WHAT IS CREATIVE COMMONS
The modern concept of copyright emerged in the 15th century, following the invention of the movable-type printing press, which revolutionized the production of written works by making them faster and more widely accessible. In the early years, there was no specific legislation regulating the reproduction of texts, and popular works were often reprinted by printers unconnected to the original authors or publishers. This practice led to conflicts and economic harm, prompting the gradual creation of a legal framework to protect creators and other participants in the publishing process.
From this context arose the system of copyright and related rights, but It was only in 1886, with the adoption of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, that nations formally agreed to recognize each other’s copyrights. The Convention also introduced a fundamental principle that endures to this day, assuring that creative works are protected automatically, without the need for formal registration.
In 1989 WWW was invented at CERN by the team of Tim Berners-Lee, in a paradigm of free information, with programs and documents being shared openly. But a few years later, tension between companies that seek to obtain proprietary rights to software and hardware and those who defend the freedom of access, share and reuse those products. Following that tension, with the wide spread of internet and personal computers, there has been a huge increase of information flows, and, once more, companies tried to obtain proprietary rights and gains with that new flow of information.
In 1998, the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA)extended copyright was approved in the US Congress, extending the copyright term for works in the United States by 20 years. According to the new regulations, an individual author’s work would become protected until 70 years after the creator’s death, and if the author is a company, it would be protected for 120 years after creation or 95 years after publication, whichever comes first.
This increase of protection timeline was not peaceful. On January 11 of the next year, Stanford law professor Lawrence Lessig represented Eric Eldred, an Internet publisher known for sharing public domain works, and filled a complaint in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. This was the origin of the Eldred v. Ashcroft case, that seek to prove that the CTEA violates several Constitutional principles. This case reached the supreme court in 2003, and CTEA was considered in compliance with US Constitution and regulations.
But the defeat didn't stopped Lessig, nor the movement of supporters, and, in 2001 Lawrence Lessig, Hal Abelson, and Eric Eldred created Creative Commons, a non-profit organization dedicated to counter the dominant and increasingly restrictive permission culture of copyright. In December 2002, the first CC licenses were published, opening a new era in content licensing.
Currently, Creative Commons provides free, easy-to-use copyright licenses allowing creators to decide how others can use their work. These licenses let creators legally share their work and allow others to reuse it. They keep their copyright but grant permission for sharing and reuse under specific conditions, giving them greater control over how their creations are distributed and reproduced. As of now, there are 7 Creative Commons licenses.
CC is also a worldwide network of individuals and communities around the world, supported through technical, legal, and policy solutions that enable the sharing of education, culture, and science, according to CC visions.
Among this network, GLAM and cultural heritage organizations can use CC licenses and resources into open GLAM projects, to make cultural heritage accessible, reusable, and free to the public. Together, CC and Open GLAM communities support the mission of cultural organizations to preserve, educate, and make culture available to everyone.
BE PART OF THE COMMUNITY
There are several ways to engage with the Creative Commons community:
Read the Blog for CC tips and news about the ongoing work at CC
Attend a CC Summit to meet other CC advocates
Donate to help support the CC cause
USE THE LICENSE
Creative Commons offers a simple guide to help creators choose and apply the right license for their work. It also provides tools like CC Search, which make it easy to find and use openly licensed content from across the web.
LEARN MORE ABOUT CREATIVE COMMONS
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