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What is Creative Commons?

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Creative Commons (CC) is an international organization that advocates for open practices. Creative Commons has developed a set of open licenses to facilitate sharing and reuse of all kinds of creative and scholarly works. CC licenses reduce barriers to new knowledge production by clarifying copyright expectations of creators.

Why do I need to know about Creative Commons licenses?

Creative Commons licenses will streamline your creation and sharing process as you develop and publish open projects. CC licenses are useful in many areas, including digital scholarship, open publishing, open pedagogy, and open educational resources (OER).

  • If you want to use or adapt images, video, audio, or any type of content others have created, you’ll want to know how Creative Commons works so you can find and incorporate Creative Commons-licensed content.
  • If you want to share your own content, you’ll want to know how Creative Commons licenses can help you share your work openly and how to choose and apply a CC license to your creations.

What's in this Guide?

This guide will introduce you to Creative Commons licenses, help you use CC-licensed materials, and apply CC licenses to your own works. 

Related Guides

Head of Digital Scholarship

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Denise Hattwig
Contact:
dhattwig@uw.edu
Library, LBA-308a
425.352.5344
Website

Guide Credit and License

"Creative Commons for Open Projects" by Denise Hattwig (2023) is licensed under a  Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.