Creative Commons

CC merch is more than just t-shirts and hoodies—it can mean real connections with other community members in your everyday life! Hear from Molly Van Houweling on why she loves wearing her CC hoodie, and then snag your own at store.creativecommons.org!

Timely read heading into #Wikimania from Jacob Rogers at Wikimedia Foundation on how AI is threatening the social contract of free knowledge, including failures to give credit, cite sources, and contribute knowledge back to the commons. As our CEO Anna Tumadóttir put it, this piece "echoes many of the same concerns we've been hearing from the multitude of communities that rely on Creative Commons legal infrastructure." Full read here: https://lnkd.in/g3K8dfve

After months of collaborative development and iteration with the community of the common European data space for cultural heritage and the Europeana Initiative, the landmark paper ‘The case for Public AI: making it happen with cultural heritage’ has been published. The position paper was developed with over 400 cultural heritage professionals through the Alignment Assembly on Culture for AI. CC is proud to be one of the many contributors to this effort. At its core, the paper expresses a vision for Public AI: an AI ecosystem governed by public values rather than private interests alone. One where cultural heritage data—curated, multilingual, and contextualized—serves as a foundation for AI systems that are more trustworthy, diverse, and accountable. 👉 Read the full paper: https://buff.ly/jmpbGOy Image: "The case for Public AI mockup" by Ana Moreno, Europeana Foundation, is licensed under CC BY-SA.

I'll be in Paris next week for #Wikimania where there will be *lots* of interesting sessions going on, including this conversation with Alek Tarkowski, Monica Westin, Stan Adams, and Mark Graham, fellow travelers in the open movement. Creative Commons will also be hosting a pre-conference event on Tuesday the 21st and taking part in a variety of other activities. Drop us a line and come say hi to the CC team on-site: Annemarie Eayrs, Jocelyn Miyara, and Dee Harris. (I'm told there will be lots of stickers.)

Over the years, the open culture community has produced a remarkable amount of practical knowledge: guides, toolkits, case studies, policy templates, and more. What’s been missing isn’t expertise but rather a single place that points to all of it. CC is proud to publish The Open Heritage Companion: a practitioner’s guide developed to help cultural heritage institutions navigate the journey from closed to open collections. Grounded in the legal, policy, and ethical questions institutions face along the way, the Companion brings together 200+ curated resources, tools, and examples, organized into six chapters that guide practitioners from their first questions about openness to leading the field. Access the Companion in English, French, and Spanish!

Next week. Paris. #Wikimania with Anna Tumadóttir Jocelyn Miyara and Annemarie Eayrs Come say hello at the Creative Commons booth. It's going to be a busy (and exciting!) week. I'm looking forward to celebrating 25 years of both Creative Commons and Wikimedia during the CC Salon, reflecting on how far we've come and where we're headed together. And you won't want to miss CC's Sharing & Collective Action in the Age of AI workshop. I'll also be contributing to the Wikimedia Foundation's Global Advocacy Training on communications strategy, coalition building, and engaging with decision-makers, and speaking during Bridging Institutions, Wikidata, and Generative AI: From Data Silos to Shared Infrastructure. Looking forward to reconnecting with old friends, meeting new ones, and celebrating the communities that have helped make the commons thrive for the past 25 years. See you in Paris!

🔔 Panel Announcement - Creative Commons / Wikimedia Foundation / Open Futures / Cambridge University Press 🔔 The explosion of large-scale AI crawlers is reshaping how open knowledge travels online. How do we defend the human relationships and creative contributions that keep open knowledge generation alive? On 23 July, as part of Wikimania 2026, we’re convening a panel that cuts across open-knowledge platforms, policy leadership, and publishing: Anna Tumadóttir, CEO, Creative Commons Alek Tarkowski, Director of Strategy, Open Future Foundation & Board Member, Wikimedia Europe Stan Adams, Public Policy Counsel, Wikimedia Foundation Monica Westin, Director of Open Policy Development, Cambridge University Press & Trustee, Wikimedia UK  Link session details & schedule in comments. #Wikimania2026 #AI #OpenKnowledge #DigitalCommons #WebPolicy #CreativeCommons #Wikimedia

This is your last chance to register for CC's preconference session at Wikimania 2026! The session on July 21 from 9:30 to 13:00 will be a participatory gathering where CC community members and Wikimedians will gather together to celebrate what openness has made possible as we co-create art, share stories, and imagine the future of the open movement over the next 25 years.

Register for the Copyright office hours on the Open Heritage Statement. Brigitte Vézina and Maarten Zeinstra will talk about the Open Heritage Statement, its content, the expected impact, and how to support it. Copyright office hours are informal sessions for members of the community to share their insights, questions, and concerns with other participants. https://lnkd.in/ej8tZqFk