Anytime you create something – a song, a piece of art, a research paper – you hold the copyright to that work. This means creators have control over the permissions granted to others to access, edit, and share a work.

If authors want to give people the right to share, use, and build upon a creative work, consider publishing it under a Creative Commons (CC) license. CC licenses are the standard way to give people permission to share and use research or creative work.

CC licenses may be limited (non-commercial use only, for example) or allow people to access, share, and edit work freely, as long as they give credit to the creator or researcher.

Why is Creative Commons so important? Copyright can make it hard to legally copy, paste, edit, and share information online. CC licenses support the ideal of universal access to research, education, and culture. Scholars have access to hundreds of millions of works under CC licenses that they can use, edit, and build upon in their own work.

Check out the State of the Commons to see how CC licenses increase access to creativity and culture.