A new license for a new era
On November 25, 2013, Version 4.0 of the Creative Commons licenses ushered in a new era for Creative Commons. The new licenses say a lot about how far Creative Commons has come in the past ten years, and where we’re going.
Version 4.0 was built from the ground up with an international user base in mind, eliminating the need to create custom versions for each jurisdiction. But that would not have been possible if our affiliate network hadn’t spent the past seven years working to adapt the version 3.0 licenses to the laws of more than 35 countries. All of the lessons we’ve learned through the porting process are baked into 4.0. The result is a set of licenses that just work. Everywhere.
The licenses don’t just reflect an increasingly global organization and community; they also reflect the new ways in which people have been using CC licenses. The new licenses include provisions related to database rights, personality rights, data mining, and other issues beyond the scope of the original CC licenses. We improved the licenses to catch up with how you’ve been using them.
In CC general counsel Diane Peters’ words, “These improvements may go unnoticed by many CC users, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t important. We worry about the slight nuances of the law so our users don’t have to.”
Except where otherwise noted, The future is open by Creative Commons is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Image credits
- Globe / Edward Boatman / CC BY 3.0
- File Repair (copyright symbol added) / iconoci / CC BY 3.0
- Link / Matthew Exton / Public Domain
- Raised Hand / Stephen JB Thomas / CC BY 3.0
- Money / Alex Berkowitz / CC BY 3.0
The banner illustrations were created by Luke Surl. To the extent possible under the law, Luke has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights under the CC0 Public Domain Dedication.
The “The future is open” logo is set in Akzidenz Grotesk Bold. This website is set in Roboto Slab.