CC101: A Brief History

Hello, everybody, and welcome, and thank you very much for being here. I'm Rebecca, I'm the Director of Strategic Communications, Here at Creative Commons, and I know there are several members of the Creative Commons team here today, so… Hopefully they can introduce themselves in the chat, and you can get to know, uh, various members of our team. So I'm gonna start with just a bit of housekeeping. Um, as a rule, we remove AI recording bots, so you might notice that happening throughout the presentation. Please also make note of CC's Code of Conduct. As you can see, the median is also being recorded, so if you prefer not to be recorded, please keep your camera off and stay muted. And just a gentle reminder, this is going to be a pretty large call, uh, please keep yourself muted, unless you're asking a question. And feel free to ask questions by raising your hand or dropping questions into the chat, and we'll do our best to get to as many questions as possible. I also am so thrilled that you're all here for the day that we are kicking off Creative Commons' 25th anniversary. This is actually our very first anniversary event, so Thank you so much for being here with us. We will be celebrating Creative Commons quarter century of sharing for the rest of the year with a variety of events, like this ones, Activations on social, um, in-person events, and also creating anniversary artifacts together. And at the end of today's presentation, I'll be sharing just a few more ways that you can engage with us in the anniversary throughout the year. Without further ado, I am going to hand things off to Shayna, who is going to tell us all about CC101 and CC's history. Over to you, Shayna. Great, thank you so much, Rebecca. Uh, thank you, everybody, for being here today and joining us. I know, I've seen some familiar names in the chat, which is lovely. I also see a lot of new names in the chat, which is equally lovely. Uh, so, my name is Shana Hollick. I'm the Learning and Training Manager here at Creative Commons, and for a long time before that, I was a librarian, uh, working in academic libraries, public libraries, K-12 schools did a brief stint for the U. S. federal government. kind of been all over the place. Um… So that's a little bit about my perspective and where I'm coming from. I see a lot of great introductions coming in the chat. I would encourage folks to introduce themselves. in the Zoom chat, uh, if you don't have that chat window open, please, uh, I recommend having it open. We're gonna make liberal use of that. Uh, throughout the next hour. Um, so yeah, if you want to tell us a little bit about maybe your name, your geographic location, and maybe your sector or connection to CC, you know, do you work in education? cultural heritage, or science, or research data? Are you a librarian like me? Uh, and I'm coming at you today, uh, from… Pennsylvania, in the U. S., Uh, in a very small rural town with a lot of, uh, local history. Uh, the first thing I'm gonna do, actually, just to, uh, continue to get a sense of… kind of who's joining us today, is I have a very short poll. So, I'm gonna launch this poll in Zoom. It's 3 quick questions. I'm going to just chatter while you answer these. Uh, this is an anonymous poll. Um, so just feel free to let us know, you know, if you've ever attended a CC Summit. Um, these are gatherings we, um, have hosted in the past. Um, we've done quite a few in person, and we've done at least one virtual. Uh, during COVID times, I know. Um, and then, yeah, have you ever applied a CC license to your own work, or have you ever used or shared somebody else's CC-licensed work? Um, this kind of gives us an idea of… what level of experience people have. Um, a lot of you will be very familiar with Creative Commons already. That's probably why you're here. Um, been very familiar with the open movement for a long time, uh, but some of you might be brand new, and that'd be awesome also. Uh, so I'm just going to give that a few more seconds, uh, if there's any last… poll takers? So glad to see all these folks in the chat, and we've got folks from all over. I think all the U. S. time zones are represented. University of Puerto Rico, we've got… some Canadian representation in the chat, uh, Montreal, Quebec City. Um, somebody from the UK, Uh, it's not the best time zone for some of our other international friends, but that's why we're recording, so this is great. Okay, I'm gonna go ahead and end the poll. And I think you are able to see the results.

Either way, I will tell you them. Uh, so… Uh, we have about 10 folks on the call who have been to a CC Summit, but the vast majority of us have not. Um, I… fun fact, I don't think I've ever been to a CC Summit. Um, the last one that I was supposed to go to, I had to… I had to, uh, not attend because I had COVID. Couldn't travel. Uh, so that was a bummer for me. Um, it's about half and half on whether folks have, uh, created their own material and shared it with a CC license. But it's a good… over 80% of us that have absolutely, um, used or shared other CC-licensed works, which is awesome. So, I'm gonna stop sharing those results. I'm gonna dive right in. We're gonna talk a little bit today about kind of the history of Creative Commons. Why did we start this whole… kooky thing, um… And yeah, it's a nice way to look back and reflect on our past. As, uh, we go into our 25th anniversary here this year. So, um… Most of you probably know, but I like to explicitly say it anyway, just in case we have any new folks. Joining us, or watching this recording later on, Creative Commons is an international nonprofit organization. We were founded in 2001. Um, and our main goal is to build a world where education, culture, science, knowledge, where these things, um, are equitably shared as a means to benefit humanity. Um, you know, it's… the best way that we can work together and solve really big problems and meet challenges is to do it together. Um, and as you're gonna see, that's kind of a big part of our origin story. Uh, so, I know a lot of folks are certainly familiar with the licenses, you've seen them around the internet. But not everybody always realizes that there is an actual nonprofit organization behind the licenses. Um, we're a small organization with a small but mighty team of staff. Um, and yeah, we've been working for 25 years now to, uh, create these legal tools and this infrastructure that supports open sharing, and we continue to steward that structure today, and hopefully for at least another 25 years. So, uh, to understand the licenses and kind of, you know, a little bit more about Our mission. It helps to kind of know where we came from. Uh, if you boil it down to sort of our most basic origin story, sort of the… the too-long-didn't-read nutshell version. is that Creative Commons, or CC, really began in response to a global copyright legal system that was starting to feel very outdated. Um, as a lot of you might already know, copyright is the area of intellectual property law that protects original works of creative expression. Um, and copyright law is very old. Um, it was created during the era of the printing press, so we're thinking, like, 1500s-ish? Uh, I think, and someone can correct me in the chat if I'm wrong, Uh, somewhere around there, several, several hundred years ago. And the idea was to incentivize authors to create things, and to incentivize printers to do the arduous physical labor that was involved with printing and making copies. Uh, the printing press was a big mechanical thing. Um, and so copyright literally granted the right to copy. Uh, but as technology evolved, it became… easier technologically and physically. For people to use, copy, and distribute creative and scholarly works, But the copyright system didn't evolve as quickly as the technology did. Uh, so what we're gonna do in the next few minutes here is I'm gonna give you a little more detailed look at the CC origin story, and kind of the tension, and the drama of… Um, that time. Uh, in the olden days. of copyright history. Um, I also forgot to mention that Um, we will have time for Q&A at the end. Um, where you will be welcome to unmute your microphone and ask questions, but you can also please put them in the chat. Uh, and do feel free to put questions and comments in the chat as we go. I have access to the chat. I love to see a lively chat, so if I say something, Um, and you were there? You know, feel free to tell us about it, or if I say something that… Um, inspires a comment, or you're like, hey, I, you know, I have a fun story about this I'd love to share. Um, feel free to do that sort of thing in the chat, and uh, if there are small questions as we go, I will take them as we go. Otherwise, we'll save them for Q&A at the end. Um, so… I'd like you to start by thinking back in time. Um, this is where I give away that, uh, I am older than I probably look. Uh, and so, those of you who might be, uh, you know

middle-aged, like me, or more. Might remember early internet culture. And uh… by this I mean… you know, about 30 years ago, when the internet really started to become… more available to the general public. So we're thinking, like, the mid-1990s or so. Um, in fact, there was, you know, kind of a brief era where… I was on the internet, for example, before the World Wide Web was really a thing. I've got someone in the chat who remembers Usenet, so do I. You can see on the screen my, you know, this fun MS-DOS-style interface that many of us will remember using. Um, these were the times, you know, in the 90s and even a little bit into the early 2000s, where the internet was just starting to become more popular, and was just starting… to become, um, a technology that sort of everyday people… started to… learn about and use in their homes. And it really started to change the ways that we engaged with each other. All of a sudden, sharing creative works was easier and cheaper and faster than ever before. So, when I was 10 years old, I had a pen pal in Japan. Um, and we used to mail things back and forth, and it would take weeks for sometimes even months. Um, for packages and letters. Um, and then, you know, we ended up… Uh, with a computer at home, and I had a dial-up modem, and so did she, and all of the sudden, we could email. Um, we could FTP transfer files back and forth and send each other pictures, or… Uh, fun little stories, And it didn't take weeks anymore. It took seconds. Uh, or sometimes minutes. And there was a lot of optimism and promise in those days, right? People reveled. And the idea that we now had free, unfettered… knowledge and cultural exchanges. You know, we were really entering a phase of growth, of multiculturalism, of innovation. And there was a lot of optimism back in the day, uh, about what could be possible with this new connectedness and this new access to culture and knowledge. Right? I grew up in a very small town in Pennsylvania, even smaller than the one I'm in now. Um, I would have never known anything about Japanese culture, or been able to, you know, have a Japanese pen pal, uh, without that connectedness that the internet really started to give us. Um, I also love… Uh, to see the shout-out to Gopher in the chat. Um, I forgot about that, and… Now, those memories are flooding back as well. So, still in the 90s. We start to see the rise of the internet. It's technologically easier to share, but traditional copyright laws are still largely the same as they have always been since the days of the printing press. Um, and we'll talk a little bit more about copyright in a minute, but, you know, the general idea to keep in mind at the moment is… Um, that copyright means that When somebody creates a new original work, Uh, they have copyright in that work. And copyright means that only the copyright holder has the rights to do certain things with that work, to use it, to share it, to distribute it, etc. Um, this is a legal barrier. to sharing, right? Under all rights reserved copyright, what the law says I'm supposed to do is, if I want to use someone else's work, I find some cool photograph online, I need to find who actually owns the copyright in that photo, And then ask them for permission. Um, that's really hard to do, especially… Uh, as we share things more easily on the internet, it's not always clear who actually owns the copyright in that photograph. Or how on earth I'm supposed to get a hold of them. Um, I can't just, you know, look them up in my local telephone book. Um, and kids, feel free to Google what a telephone book is, but that's an archaic technology that we used to have in the 90s. So, you know, it… there was some friction in this process. Uh, the technology was making that friction, go away, but the law was not changing. So, around the same time, um, a piece of copyright legislation in the U. S. was put forward. And so I'm going to spend a few minutes talking specifically about this U. S. legislation, um, but we're gonna see that there's a broader global impact to keep in mind here, too. Um, so, uh, as you might be able to tell from the slide on your screen, Uh, the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act, uh, was enacted in 1998. And what this did was that it extended the term of copyright protection for every work in the United States. Even those that were already published, so everything that is already published, plus anything new that was created

um, would now have copyright protection for an additional 20 years. And this is still what it is today. In the US, the copyright term is for individuals is the life of their creator plus 70 years. Um, other countries have slightly different copyright terms. I think the most common one I see tends to be life of the author plus 50 years, which is a little bit shorter than the US. Some countries have, um, life of the author plus 100 years. I think that's where Mexico is right now, so they can be longer. But either way, um, copyright protection lasts for a really long time. Um, you know, these slides that I created, this in 2026, Uh, are copyrighted. for… probably over 100 years, hopefully. I, you know. With any luck, I will live another 20, 30, 40 years or so, and then another 70 years after that. Um, quick fact, fun fact, before we move on, uh, the CTEA, that Copyright Act in the U. S., was commonly referred to as the Mickey Mouse Protection Act. Because, uh, it just happened… to, uh, become legislation, become law, just before the original Mickey Mouse cartoon, Steamboat Willie, would have first fallen into the public domain. Um, that's probably not a coincidence. So… Despite this new technology that was making it quicker and easier to connect with people and to share content online, Our legal ability to access, download, share, and adapt these works was unchanged. The law was still restrictive, still rooted in that arduous and physical context of copying works by hand. Even though new technology kind of made that context less applicable. Um, so what happened is, uh, there was a publisher, this gentleman you see on your screen here, named Eric Eldred, Uh, and he ran a press, um, online that… where he published rare and out-of-print books. For online audiences that otherwise might not have access to them. Um, so… When, uh, we just talked about how copyright lasts for a long time, but it doesn't last forever. Eventually, when copyright terms expire, A work enters what we call the public domain. Um, and so it goes from this all-rights-reserved copyright status, to… copyright is gone now. It's in the public domain, where there are no more rights reserved, and anyone is free to do whatever they want, in terms of copyright with that work. Um, so, you know, very old materials are in the public domain, and we're going to talk a little bit more about that in a second, but the public domain is really important. Um, it's this vast pool of creative works Where copyright no longer applies, And this is a big part of how we build new knowledge and culture. Right? So, if I have any scientists in the room, for example, um… We do new science. When we do new research, we are building on the work that previous folks have done. We're building on previous research. Um, without the ability to use and build on those previous works, it's hard for us to make forward progress, and we wouldn't be able. To make nearly as much progress as we would, as we typically do. Um, so that's kind of the idea in general, right? All of the knowledge and culture that we create um, is really based on… Um, human creativity, from the past. Uh, we're all kind of standing on the shoulders of giants in that way. Um, so, uh, what Eric Eldred would do is that when a book would fall into the public domain, the copyright would expire, he would publish it online. And now, folks who didn't have physical access to books, Um, or, you know, maybe it was just never printed in their region or their country. Now they could go online and download the text. And they would have access to this knowledge and culture. Um, that they would be able to then learn from and build upon. So, what happened is that, um… you know, Eric Eldred was planning… Uh, in the next couple of years, you know, we're still in that mid-90s to late-90s era. And he knew that Winnie the Pooh, for example, and some of Ernest Hemingway's works, Uh, that their copyrights were due to expire. in the next year or so. And so he was planning to put those up on his website, because once the copyright expires, He is now free to copy those things. Um, but because of that CTEA, that copyright term extension, once that was passed into law, works like Winnie the Pooh that would have fallen into the public domain pretty soon. We're now gonna stay under copyright for another 20 years. Um, and a lot of folks…

really felt that this was a problem, that extending copyright protection like this limits the public domain. and undermines the public interest. Um, and if you think about it, right, if we just keep extending copyright terms, then things will never enter the public domain. Um, which is gonna make it more difficult for people to reuse things and build new works upon existing works, and this really slows down. scientific and cultural progress. Um, this particular example was especially polarizing. Give me one second, because my robot vacuum just turned on, Apologies if you could hear that in the background. It's not scheduled to come on this time of day, but, you know, technology is gonna do whatever it wants to do. So, um… Yeah, if you'll remember, Uh, the example that I was giving… Uh, the CTEA was passed When Steamboat Willie would first have fallen into the public domain. And this, you know, cynical folks among us were like, okay, so we extended copyright for 20 years, What happens in 20 years? Are we just going to extend it again? Because we just want to keep protecting These corporate interests, right? This particular example, Um, was especially polarizing at the time. A lot of folks felt that the CTEA, that legislation, was passed primarily to appease corporate financial interests. Um, and it wasn't clear that, you know, if protecting and extending the copyright terms for a large, wealthy corporation was compatible with protecting the public interest in using and accessing information and culture and knowledge. Um, and this is a thing we're gonna keep talking about. the next 10-20 minutes, that, um, the copyright system has long tried to be about balance. Um, and this is one of several examples where we'll see The need for a balance between private interests and copyright, right, creators need to be able to make a living. Um, they need to be incentivized to create work, that's important. Um, but also, there's public interest in being able to use the work. Uh, and build on it, and make new things. Um, so what happens is… Uh, Stanford law professor Lawrence Lessig. Um, usually known as Larry. gets together with Eric Eldred. They believe this new law is unconstitutional, and they take it to court. Um, you know, they're like, copyright has been continually extended over the years, but the end of a copyright term is really important. We need to be able to have access to use those works, and it's a critical part of that balance in the copyright system. Limited copyright terms ensure that… Copyrighted works eventually move into the public domain. And join that big pool of knowledge and creativity that we can all freely draw from to create new things. Um, and I saw a link in the chat. Um, so thank you for that. Uh, with more context about this court case, Eldred v. Ashcroft. that case went to the U. S. Supreme Court. Um, but it was not successful. Eldred lost. Um, I can also… there are some great resources in the chat, I'll put in one more. Uh, to the Wikipedia summary about the court case, if anyone's interested in there. Um, but even though this court case wasn't successful, the story does not end there, clearly. We're all still here today. Um, inspired by the value of Eldred's goal to make more creative works freely available online, and, you know, responding to this growing community of folks online who are creating and remixing and sharing content, Eldred, Larry Lessig, um… their peer, Hal Abelson, um, these folks get together and they come up with an idea, and they say, let's found a small nonprofit organization to help power the open movement. And in 2001, Creative Commons The organization is born. And by 2002, we have published the first Creative Commons licenses. This set of free public licenses that allow creators to keep their copyrights, While still sharing their works on their own terms. All of the sudden, we've moved from a system where either things are under copyright, and all their rights are reserved, Or… there is no copyright, it's expired, or some other reason, and no rights are reserved because we're in the public domain. There's all this space in between with a whole bunch of other options. potential options that traditional copyright law doesn't account for. That's where the CC licenses can come in and give creators more agency and more choice and more freedom over how there works. are used. Um, so we're gonna talk a little bit about the licenses in a minute.

But I'm just gonna keep rolling right along. By the way, um, love the chat, and if there's any questions, please put them there. Uh, before I talk about the licenses, It helps to know a little bit more about copyright. Right, so now we know about this sort of specific… context, there was this specific legislation in the U. S. and this resulting court case, Um, that was really kind of the proximal, call, you know, really, um… Yeah, kind of, like, the closest sort of, uh… inspiration for, hey, we really need to do something about this, let's try to create an organization and see what we can do. Um, but let's go back, talk a little bit about copyright, because understanding a little bit more about how copyright law works will help us understand why the history that we just looked at is really just one part of a larger movement to provide greater access to the world's knowledge and culture. You know, it quickly became apparent, and, you know, thanks to the internet, we were able to talk to folks. outside of the U. S. and outside of, you know, California. And realize that this problem we have, where the copyright system maybe isn't as balanced as it should be. Um, where we need to figure out how to… protect creators and also protect the public interest. This is a problem outside the U. S. also, and there's people all over the world who are doing a lot of good work trying to figure out how to square that circle, so to speak, you know? How can we actually… um… improve the system, and make it more balanced. Um, and as, you know, this group of lawyers and activists get together, they, you know, do some research, And they realized there's a few key concepts in copyright law, that applies across jurisdictions. Everywhere that has a copyright law, has these particular qualities. There are a lot of, um… Specific distinctions in exactly how copyright law, does certain things in different countries, right? We already talked about how there's different… Um, terms that, you know, things stay under copyright for different amounts of time in different places. But there's a… there's some key commonalities. So, uh, most of this will be review for a lot of you, but just in case, I like to walk through it. Uh, some of the key things to keep in mind are that copyright is automatic. No registration is required. Registration is often helpful, especially if you want to defend your copyright in court. Um, but you have copyright as soon as you create an original work. Uh, in some jurisdictions, like the U. S., that work needs to be fixed in a tangible form. The idea there is that it needs to be actually, you know, saved to a hard drive, or… Uh, written down on a piece of paper that it can't just exist inside your head. Um, but some countries differ. Uh, on exactly what… whether or not fixation is required, or what exactly that means. But the idea is that, you know, as soon as I have created an original thing. You know, I paint a beautiful painting in my house of my dog, who is asleep on my couch next to me right now, I now have copyright in that painting. Whether I want it or not. And that copyright protection lasts for a long time. In the US, it's gonna last for as long as I live, plus another 70 years. Um… The other important thing we're going to talk about in a second is that, uh, there are limitations and exceptions to copyright. I'm gonna put that aside for the sec- for a second. Um, to really stress this idea… that, um, I think a lot of us here have probably been working in copyright for a long time, so I would love If you could try to imagine with me Uh, if you think back to the first time you started learning about copyright, Um, because my job is teaching people about this stuff, right? So, I talk to a lot of folks who don't know anything about copyright, they've never heard of this, And I remember the first time I heard of this, it's kind of bizarre. to think about, you know, okay… So, when I am, like, taking notes in class, uh, and I do some highly original doodling, And I'm writing my notes in my own words, and so I'm creating an original thing. that now there's copyright in those. And I have all these exclusive rights that… that I don't even necessarily know about. Uh, it doesn't matter if I want them, or if I know about them, they're there. They just sort of magically appear. Um, that's kind of a mind-blowing idea. And, uh, there aren't a lot of other… Uh, property protections that kind of work this way. Um, and so the idea behind, uh, Creative Commons licenses and open licensing is that, um, while some people… want and need that copyright. You know, it is a useful thing. It exists for good reason.

Some people want to reserve all of the rights under copyright that they have, But a lot of folks really want to be able to share their work with the public more freely. And so, we've created an easy way for creators who want to share their works in ways that are still allowable under copyright law and are consistent with copyright law, but that allow greater flexibility within that framework. Um, so we're gonna get to some examples in a second. Um, before we do that, I said I would come back to exceptions and limitations. And so I want to do that. And I think this is a part… There's some points I'm going to keep stressing as we go through today. And one of those is, um… You know, I keep talking about this balance in the copyright system, and it's important to remember that copyright was always intended to be part of a balanced intellectual property system. Where we recognize that we have two… Different goals that can sometimes be in tension. Where it's important to incentivize creators to build new things, right? We're not gonna make any progress if people don't make new stuff. We need inventors to invent things, and we need writers to make new stories, and we need artists to make new music and new film, because that's how we move forward as a culture. Um, and giving them exclusive rights to their work? helps them make new work. Uh, so that's important. And it's also important for the general public to have access to those new creations. Even in cases where they might not be able to afford the fees to pay for it. or where they might not be able to wait. until the life of the author plus 70 years for the copyright to expire, and for the thing to fall into the public domain. And this is why every jurisdiction that grants, copyright protection, also has some sort of exceptions and limitations to copyright. Exactly what those exceptions are can be different in different jurisdictions. I have some examples on the screen for you here. of kind of, you know, a general idea of some of the most common types of exceptions we see. Um, but copyright law has always kind of recognized that Um, creators deserve to have exclusive rights in their work. but also that there are some cases Where the public interest is more important. than the creators' rights. Um, some of the biggest examples are, um, in teaching and education. Um, scientific research is another common exception. Um, exceptions for people with disabilities. I might need to make a copy of your work so that I can then translate it into Braille, for example, because I am vision impaired, and that's a service I need. Um, copyright law does say… it's okay to do that, right? That… All of my rights are reserved. If you want to do anything with my work, you should get permission, except… If your use falls under one of these really important public interest exceptions, then, okay, you don't have to ask for permission, you are good to go. Um, there's a lot more… That I could say about this here. Um, but in the interest of time, I'm going to skip… I'm gonna move on. I will also use this, uh, opportunity to let you know that, um, We do intend to make the slides available along with the recording, So, I do have some additional background information, I have links in the notes, if that's of interest to anyone. Yeah, you will have access to that, and it's great. Uh, so I'm gonna keep it brief and high level for now. Um, and thank you again to, uh, I think it's Emily for… for posting more info in the chat. Um, about things like fair use in the U. S., uh, it's fair dealing in a lot of other countries, etc. So, right, I am a person, let's say, you know, I have a background in education, so, right, let's say I'm an educator. And I wrote a really cool lesson plan. I wrote, um, this really cool activity for my students, and I want to share it with other teachers, because that's just kind of what teachers do. It's a big part of the culture. Um, is that we share resources with each other. Librarians do this, too. Um, but copyright law says… You know, if I just find something on the internet, it's probably under copyright. Copyright's automatic, It applies as soon as there's an original work. So, how do I know? if I'm allowed to use it, and how do I let other people know that Yes, you can use my work, and you're not gonna get in trouble with me for it. These are the types of solutions that CC developed, and this is where legal tools like the CC licenses come into play. Um, so you can see on your screen here, you have likely seen these symbols around the internet. Uh, CC currently has 6 different licenses and 2 public domain tools.

And these are legal tools that allow creators to choose Which rights under copyright they want to reserve and keep just for themselves. And which rights they want to allow the public to use. So, with a CC license, um, people are able to not just share their own works, but also to legally access, adapt, and build upon others' works as well. Um, so the licenses really enable more efficient collaboration and innovation. Um, I'm not gonna go into detail about each of these licenses right now, uh, but I will note that we are planning to have more of these webinars, uh, throughout the year to help celebrate our 25th anniversary and to just help share, uh, some cool, awesome knowledge with all of you. Uh, so there will be a future session where, uh, we'll talk through each of the licenses and legal tools and explain you know, exactly what they mean and how to use them. Uh, in the meantime, you're welcome to look at our website. Uh, where you can also find more information. Um, and just a big shout out to our website, if you haven't been there in a while, it looks brand new and very cool, and uh, the team here really put a lot of work into that. So, uh, huge, huge thanks, uh, and all the staff members. should give themselves big pats on the back. Um, and go look at our pretty new website. But yeah, so the idea here… is that, from the start, Uh, Creative Commons licenses… were intended to be used by folks. And we did very intentionally, um… Make them with… lawyers and experts from around the world. Uh, we always intended these to be global tools. And, you know, today there are tens of billions of works that are licensed with a CC license. Um, they… licenses are legally enforceable, they're easy to understand, they're probably the most widely used open licenses. Um, there are other open licenses that exist. And it's awesome to be a part of this broader ecosystem. Um, for example, uh, the one area that CC licenses were not intended for is software. There are some special copyright things with software. Um, and there are some other open software licenses. Um, that do a very good job of that. Um, so… you know, we're not the only tool that's… Helping to propel the open movement and the open internet. Um, but we're really one of those foundational things. Um, that has helped contribute to this global movement of openness, uh, across creative industries and across sectors like education and culture and science. And so, while, uh, those CC founders I talked about were initially motivated Uh, by that piece of U. S. copyright legislation in the 1990s, similar copyright laws all over the world were restricting how our shared culture and collective knowledge could be used. And even though digital technologies and the internet were opening new ways for people to participate in culture and knowledge production, Um, there… the legal barriers were still there, and so the CC licenses are really one great way to address that. Um, for the last 25 years, these tools have been an alternative for creators who want to share their works with the public, Under more permissive terms than that default all-rights-reserved approach under copyright. Um, the CC licenses and legal tools are integrated into content platforms like YouTube and Flickr. They're used by non-profit open projects, like Wikipedia, Open Newswire, OpenStax. They're used by big institutions, like the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Europeana, and they're used by individual creators, uh, like Juliana Huxtable, Corey Doctorow, Jonathan Colton, And a whole bunch more, um, that I might not even know about. So, in addition to giving creators more choices for how to share their work, Um, the CC legal tools, uh, and the organization also… work towards important policy goals in fields like scholarly publishing and education. And in a lot of communities of shared practices, the licenses Uh, also act as a signal. to kind of portray a set of values. You know, when I create something and I publish it online, and I put a CC license on it, I'm telling people that… I value sharing. I value openness. And that I want to operate in a world that is a little bit different. than the one that's given to us by the default copyright system. Um, and that's really cool. You know, we're really proud of that work that we've been able to accomplish. Uh, in the last 25 years or so. And, uh, you can see some additional milestones on our history page on our website, which, um, I have just put in the chat. Uh, we don't have time to go through…

Uh, too many of those highlights here. Uh, but do take a few minutes, um, to just kind of see all the different ways Over the years, um, where, you know, we started from 1 or 2 or 3 or a handful of CC-licensed works to tens of billions. Um, online. I seen CC licenses offline, on printed, printed media as well. Um, and… Yeah, the more you start looking for these things, uh, the more you will find them. Uh, but we're not quite done yet. So… you know, an anniversary year, Uh, we spend a lot of time Uh, looking at our past and our legacy and our history, and that's really important. We want to be able to remember and reflect on where we came from. Uh, but we also want to be looking towards our present and our future. And if you remember, kind of one of these major through-lines that we've been talking about is sort of this… This central tension. Uh, between how easy it is to create and share things online, And how restrictive sharing can be under traditional copyright law. Um, there's a tension between the exclusive rights that copyright gives to creators, Um, but also the need to balance the rights of the public to use things that are in the public interest. Um, and copyright law has long strived to be about this balance. Right? Balance between the rights of creators to own and monetize their works, also the rights of the public to use and build upon those works. Um, and so this is, you know… why copyright does these two kind of seemingly contradictory things, where it grants exclusive rights to copyright holders, But also, importantly, has those exceptions and limitations built in to those rights. Um, so maybe they aren't really exclusive after all, at least not totally. But now we're kind of entering a world where we're again seeing that balance kind of shift. In some ways, uh, it's a little uncomfortable. You know, since the founding of Creative Commons, a lot has changed. You know, we're not in the 1990s anymore, although the fashion trends are coming back, uh, much to my delight. All of the flannels, Uh, and plaid outfits that I wore 30 years ago are cool again, and I think my bell-bottom or flare jeans are also coming back. Very excited for that. Uh, but a lot has changed about the way people share and remix and access content. And CeCe has continually responded and evolved to address new legislation, new technologies, new policies, that have the potential to limit access to knowledge. Um… Today, we're in the age of AI. That's this word cloud you're looking at on your screen is a bunch of words about AI. Uh, and so now all of those creative, original works of human expression are also data. for machines. Uh, and CeCe's mission has never been more important. We are here to try to protect the commons and find ways for humanity to continue to create And share those creations in ways that are beneficial for everyone. AI systems depend on these vast amounts of human-created content, and a lot of times that content has been collected without the awareness or involvement of those who made it. Um, we're starting to see a dynamic where power is really becoming concentrated in the hands of just a few people, or a few large corporations. And, um, a lot of folks are really starting to feel… Um, a lot less trust in the social contract of the commons. Right? So… you know, in the 90s, if I… wrote something cool, and I put it online, I was kind of trusting that other folks would… read that piece and maybe use and take that work Um, and do… meaningful, useful human things with it. Um, and that, you know, somehow this was in the public interest, and generally a good thing for the world. Um, but that social contract doesn't feel quite the same. Um, so CC licenses, over the last 25 years, have become this legal and normative foundation for the open movement. But it's becoming really clear that new tools and new frameworks and new approaches are going to be needed to address the ways that AI has sort of shifted this balance, um, has sort of undermined this trust in many ways, has disrupted the online ecosystem of sharing. Um, you know, the benefits of sharing don't always feel quite the same. If my work becomes just one small bite in an enormous dataset

Uh, if my identity as the creator of that work is no longer associated with it, if somehow that gets separated, if people are using my work in ways Um, that, you know, I find to be harmful, then I might be more reluctant to share my work. And that's a real problem. Um, if people, you know, it shrinks… it shrinks this comments, this pool of knowledge and creativity that we can build from. Um, and that would be a real shame. So, this is what we've been grappling with, and what we're continuing to work with. Can we create new tools to help creators deal with these imbalances? can we advocate for new policies that will resolve some of the new tensions that we're seeing? in the sharing ecosystem. Um, these are some of the big questions that, uh, we've been wrestling with for the last few years, and that we will continue to wrestle with in the future. Um, and… Throughout the rest of this year, and beyond, Um, we hope to be sharing more and more of that work with you. Um, so… Uh, I feel kind of bad, because many of you are probably on the edge of your seats, like, what are those new things? And, uh, that's not what we're gonna talk about today, because today we're focused on the history. So I want to give you a preview, a look forward, of that work, um… Uh, but as Creative Commons celebrates its 25th year in 2026, Uh, we're really working to continue to build a commons of knowledge and culture that is inclusive, that is just, and that inspires reciprocity. Um, you can learn more at our website about the infrastructure that we have built and that we continue to maintain. Um, ways in which our existing tools are put into practice across sectors, across the globe, to empower the world to share. Um, and it's really important to acknowledge, you know, I probably spent Um, too much time focused on sort of the U. S. context. Um, and probably a little bit of my own bias there. being in the U. S. But it's important for us to remember, um, and… to keep stressing that the achievements and the work of the past 25 years, all of these things that we've been able to accomplish, have not been done alone. Um, we have a large community of activists, researchers, artists, policy makers and engaged citizens who are really passionate about open access. And they've helped Creative Commons grow from a, you know, a tiny little desk in the basement of a law school into this global nonprofit organization that's a part of this more powerful and larger open movement. Um, so, uh, we'll put some links in the chat, and on the next slide, you'll see some QR codes, um, you can scan, where you can find out more information about how to join us in this work that we're continuing to do ahead. Um, you can learn more about, uh, some of the events we have planned, you can join our email list to stay tuned. Um, where we're gonna start looking more into, um, not just our past and our history, but also ways we can build towards a brighter future. So definitely stay tuned for those sorts of things. Um, and that's where I'm going to… And for now, um, and I'm gonna turn things back over to Rebecca to, um, just tell us a little bit more about… ways we can get involved, things we can do, and then we'll have some time for Q&A. So thank you very much. Thank you so much, Shayna. Big round of applause for Shayna. That was, uh, lots of fun to, uh, watch and listen to, and I know I learned some new things as well. Um, so folks, uh, think if you have any questions, drop them in the chat. Uh, in the meantime, As Shayna had said, we have lots of things planned for you over this year. I mentioned in the chat, uh, to please save the date for the CC101 session on the CC licenses. That registration information is coming soon, and if you're anxious to hear about that, the best place would be to sign up for our email list, where you will get all of the information throughout the entire year. on, uh, various anniversary events. I also want to mention, and you can't quite see it, but Shayna is wearing a new CC Uh, merch t-shirt, okay, there it is. We have launched a new merch store, um, so if you're interested in getting your hands on some new CC merch, Please head over to the website. Oh, Shayna's also got the cap, which is my favorite so far. Um, and we are also gonna submit a survey at the end of this. You'll get it by email, so please let us know and give us feedback on this event. We're just so pleased that you are all here to join us. So, without further ado, let's open up the floor to any questions. I think I saw one in the chat.

I see one from Mark. Do we want to start there? Yeah, let's start there, Shayna. Yeah, is CC law generally the same around the world? If so, does anyone have a framework we could use? And I think Mark's talking about applying the CC licenses to, um, in their organizational context. Yeah, I think so too. Um, and… Um… First of all, I should note that I am not a lawyer, uh, and… None of this is legal advice. Probably should have said that at the beginning. Um, but yeah, so copyright law… if you kind of remember those key concepts, uh, that we looked at and talked about, Um, there is a lot of similarity in copyright law around the world. So, a lot of these key foundational… concepts that I put back on the screen here. do apply in all jurisdictions, and this is why the CC licenses work across… every country that I know of. Um, there's probably some exceptions somewhere in the law, there are always exceptions. Um, but yeah, this is, uh, there's always going to be specific differences, but the CC licenses were really intentionally, Um, written and created to work globally. And we're currently on version 4. 0 of the licenses. Um, a lot of the times when we release new versions, what we're doing is kind of updating that legal language, updating those specifics. Um, to make them… more robust and more legally enforceable. Globally, including around the world. Um, so I'd encourage you to, um, take a look at some of the license info we have online. You're always welcome to reach out to me or, um… to the organization for additional resources. Um, but yeah, so this… Specifics of the law will absolutely change. Uh, but there's enough commonality, mostly thanks to things like international treaties, Um, that the CC licenses work worldwide, they're legally enforceable, they're really robust, it's pretty great. Um, I also know Uh, actually… I'm not gonna put anybody on the spot, but if there's anybody else, uh, on the team in the call who wants to say more about that, do feel free to do so. Um… Yeah, hopefully that answered your question. I also know we had another question in the chat about, will there be another CC Global Summit? this person would love to attend another one. Me too. Um, for those who aren't looking at the chat, I'll just read out loud that, uh, we're not currently planning to host a summit in the near future. Uh, but stay tuned, we do have some regional events Uh, in the works. Um, and so we're hoping to announce some things later this year that, uh, we might have some smaller events. Uh, some… some more regionally based things. Uh, and hopefully, many of you will be able to attend those. So, any other questions or thoughts? Um, I'd love to know… If, uh, anyone else was there for some of this early history, I think… I'm just gonna keep rambling until, um, somebody has a question, but I also wanted to point out, somewhere in the introductions, I'm trying to find it, Um… Yeah, we have some folks who I know… there have been some other… open initiatives that have also been around for a really long time, and so one of them, I'll just give a shout out. We have someone with us Uh, from MIT OpenCourseWare, and this is another really important open initiative. Uh, it's a lot of CC-licensed content that has been made available online… for 20-plus years, uh, since those early days of the internet, before I even knew what CC was, I was, uh… a young kid in my… in high school in my first year of college, just learning cool stuff. from MIT, uh, and I felt very fancy being able to have access to that college-level content. Even though I couldn't afford an MIT tuition fee. Um, so that's really great. Other questions? Sheena, I'm not… I'm not seeing any other questions, so I'm wondering if we want to wrap there and give folks back, uh, 5 minutes. So, thanks again, Shayna. That was loads of fun, and thank you all for being here with us, uh, especially today as we kicked off the anniversary, the year-long anniversary, and We really hope to see you all, um, at future events and gatherings that we have throughout the year. So take care, everybody, and as Shana said, this will be recorded, and we will share further slides and resources with you all.

Thanks, everybody! Yeah, thank you everybody for coming.