Visitors to the CC  home webpage recently were welcomed by a big black box and the message “Sorry: This video does not exist.” In the spot where CC was showcasing a custom video made last year for CC’s 20th anniversary, there was now a stark error message, making it look like the CC website was broken.

After some investigation, CC learned that the copy of the video we had hosted on the Vimeo platform had been tagged with an automated copyright violation takedown notice. Anyone who has had this experience knows that typically a service will stop delivering content that automated processes have identified as violating copyright, and then it’s up to you as the account holder to prove you have rights to share the work, or modify it so it no longer triggers automated filters. Meanwhile, your content is missing and your website may look broken.

Almost a week later, Vimeo approved CC’s detailed appeal of the takedown and the video was back on our home webpage. It’s not always easy to figure out how to file an appeal for a takedown like this — in fact Vimeo’s appeal button led to a dead link, so it actually took us at CC extra time to even figure out how to file an appeal with Vimeo.

Robot justice may be blind, but there was plenty of irony in this takedown notice, delivered to an organization like CC that knows a bit about people’s freedom to share. Irony on top of irony: the specific content flagged for copyright infringement was a sample of a musical track from The Wired CD, perhaps the most famous collection of openly licensed music ever published.

Fortunately, CC had taken great care in the production of the video, carefully tracking attributions for every sound and image. In another dose of irony, there is no good way to display the rather lengthy attributions for this video on Vimeo, and so one must look to a different host — like Flickr — for the video to display the full attribution statement.

The internet may not have missed this specific version of a short video for a few days, but this small example demonstrates the stakes of automated systems that put the interests of big copyright ahead of everyone else’s. Even with the black and white “Sorry,” the message that “this video does not exist” betrays a vision of a world where copyright reigns supreme with little to no space left for uses based on fundamental freedoms, like the freedom of expression. Because the video does indeed still exist, not only on Vimeo, where it was merely locked in private mode, awaiting appeal, but also anywhere else it might live, like on Flickr, the Internet Archive, Wikimedia Commons, YouTube (which also has the video in private mode, pending CC’s appeal), or — if you have the resources — on your own internet hosting infrastructure.

CC was embedding the version of this video hosted on Vimeo on our home webpage because Vimeo embedding has some technical advantages, but one lesson here is never to put all your web hosting eggs in a single basket — if you have the time and resources to share open content in multiple places, your content is less likely to “not exist” due to the whims of any one host.

Another lesson is that good attribution practices are not only important to meet the requirements of open licensing — giving credit to upstream creators and guidance to downstream users — but also as a record of the multiple layers of rights and permissions within your  work, ready for you to use when you get that unexpected copyright takedown notice or legal challenge. Because CC had taken such care with the attributions for this video, we were well-equipped to file a successful appeal with Vimeo.

Why wait for your next takedown notice? Brush up your skills in making good attributions via CC’s online guidance or go deeper with our CC Certificate program >

The post Sorry: This video does not exist. CC’s Open VIdeo Blocked by Automatic Copyright Robots appeared first on Creative Commons.

As part of our #20CC anniversary, last year we joined forces with Fine Acts to spark a global dialogue on what better sharing looks like in action. Our #BetterSharing collection of illustrations was the result — we gathered insights from 12 prominent open advocates around the world and tasked 12 renowned artists who embrace openness with transforming these perspectives into captivating visual pieces available under a CC license.

Each month throughout 2023, we will be spotlighting a different CC-licensed illustration from the collection on our social media headers and the CC blog. For September, we’re excited to showcase “Better Sharing, Better Future” by Spanish illustrator, Maria Picassó i Piquer. The piece, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, was inspired by a quote from Kyle Smith, CC Canada member & member of LexDAO and Fellow in Gitcoin’s KERNEL incubator:

“Better Sharing, Brighter Future means continuing Jobs’s ‘bicycle of the mind’ dream with modern ‘IoT’ general purpose machines like Raspberry Pi so we can unleash the latent power of humanity and innovate ourselves out of this fossil-fuel-driven climate crisis.”

Meet the artist

Maria is a Catalan artist born in 1983. She graduated in Architecture and soon left her office job to be a full-time illustrator, her lifetime passion. Navigating between design and illustration, her works cover a wide variety of supports such as magazines, books, clothing and video games published worldwide. She’s got a passion for distilling faces down to their most recognisable essence. Her recognizable geometric caricatures have led her to be a guest speaker in various conventions in both Europe and USA.

Follow Maria on Instagram: @maria_picasso_piquer

The full #BetterSharing collection is available on TheGreats.co to be enjoyed, used and adapted, and then shared again, by anyone, forever.

View the full collection >>

The post CC’s #BetterSharing Collection | October: Better Sharing, Better Future appeared first on Creative Commons.

We have an incredible group of people lined up to be keynote speakers at the 2023 CC Global Summit, to be held 3–6 October in Mexico City. In our first announcements, we welcomed writer Anya Kamenetz and Māori media leader Peter-Lucas Jones. We are deeply honored to announce that the Summit’s opening keynote will be from Francisco J. Rivas Mesa, also known by his stage name Tito Rivas. Francisco is a sound artist, musician, researcher, cultural leader, and General Director of Mexico’s National Sound Archive, who will speak on global culture from the deeply rooted perspective of Mexico and Latin America.

Francisco J. Rivas Mesa has a degree in Audiovisual Communication from the Universidad del Claustro de Sor Juana and in Philosophy from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). He is a candidate for a Doctorate in Musical Technologies from the Faculty of Music of UNAM. He has a Diploma in Executive Training for Cultural and Museum Leaders (ILM, Universidad Iberoamericana). His work has focused on experimentation with sound, visual and performative media as a creator, researcher and cultural manager. He has also been interested in strategies to produce social and ethical access to archives and their reuse for educational and cultural purposes. He has been a professor of subjects on sound and audiovisual creation in academic institutions and as a creator and curator his work has been presented and exhibited in various national and international venues and festivals. He has also published specialized articles on sound phenomenology and the archeology of listening. He is a member of the Sound and Listening Studies Network (RESEmx) and the Scientific Committee of the Mexico Acoustic Ecology Network (REAmx). He was part of the team that inaugurated Mexico’s National Sound Archive in 2008 as head of the Sound Research and Experimentation department and as Deputy Director of Sound Promotion and Dissemination. He was curator of the Espacio Sonoro de Casa del Lago (UNAM) and director of the Ex Teresa Arte Actual museum of INBAL. He is currently general director of the National Sound Archive of Mexico and president of the Ibermemoria Sonora, Photographic and Audiovisual Program.

Like Francisco, all our keynoters connect directly with CC’s areas of focus, from contemporary creativity and cultural heritage, to media, science, education, and journalism. With the Summit’s theme of AI and the commons, we also expect to be challenged with new and reborn perspectives that we should consider in thinking about artificial intelligence and its intersection with open knowledge and culture. All the Summit keynotes will honor both the Summit’s location in Mexico, and the CC community’s global scope.

We invite you to join us at the Summit in Mexico City to hear Francisco and many other diverse voices speak. Our hope is that the keynote addresses, the full Summit program, and our informal connections in Mexico City and online will combine to enable us all to cultivate CC’s strategy of better sharing, sharing that is contextual, inclusive, just, equitable, reciprocal, and sustainable.

Register for the CC Global Summit >

The post Francisco “Tito” Rivas to Keynote CC Global Summit 2023 appeared first on Creative Commons.

Tenemos un grupo increíble de personas preparadas para ser oradores principales en la Cumbre Global 2023, que se llevará a cabo del 3 al 6 de octubre en la Ciudad de México. En nuestros primeros anuncios, dimos la bienvenida a la escritora Anya Kamenetz y al líder de medios Māori Peter-Lucas Jones. Ahora nos sentimos profundamente honrados de anunciar que el discurso de apertura de la Cumbre estará a cargo de Francisco J. Rivas Mesa, también conocido por su nombre artístico Tito Rivas. Francisco es artista sonoro, músico, investigador, gestor cultural, y director general de la Fonoteca Nacional de México, quien hablará sobre la cultura global desde la perspectiva profundamente arraigada de México y América Latina.

Francisco J. Rivas Mesa es licenciado en Comunicación Audiovisual por la Universidad del Claustro de Sor Juana y en Filosofía por la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (U.N.A.M). Candidato a Doctor en Tecnologías Musicales por la Facultad de Música de la U.N.A.M. Cuenta con un Diploma en Formación Ejecutiva para Líderes Culturales y de Museos (ILM, Universidad Iberoamericana). Su trabajo se ha enfocado en la experimentación con medios sonoros, visuales y performáticos como creador, investigador y gestor cultural, asimismo se ha interesado en las estrategias para producir acceso social y ético de los archivos y su reaprovechamiento con fines educativos y culturales. Ha sido profesor de asignaturas sobre creación sonora y audiovisual en instituciones académicas y como creador y curador se ha presentado y expuesto su trabajo en diversos recintos y festivales nacionales e internacionales. También ha publicado artículos especializados sobre fenomenología del sonido y arqueología de la escucha. Es miembro de la Red de Estudios sobre el Sonido y la Escucha (RESEmx) y del Comité Científico de la Red Ecología Acústica México (REAmx). Formó parte del equipo que inauguró en 2008 la Fonoteca Nacional como jefe del departamento de Investigación y Experimentación Sonora y como Subdirector de Promoción y Difusión del Sonido. Fue curador del Espacio Sonoro de Casa del Lago (UNAM) y director del museo Ex Teresa Arte Actual del INBAL. Actualmente es director general de la Fonoteca Nacional de México y presidente del Programa Ibermemoria Sonora, Fotográfica y Audiovisual.

Al igual que Francisco, todos nuestros oradores principales se conectan directamente con las áreas de enfoque de CC, desde la creatividad contemporánea y el patrimonio cultural hasta los medios, la ciencia, la educación y el periodismo. Con el tema de la Cumbre sobre la IA y los bienes comunes, también esperamos enfrentar el desafío de perspectivas nuevas y renacidas que deberíamos considerar al pensar en la inteligencia artificial y su intersección con el conocimiento y la cultura abiertos. Todas los oradores principales de la Cumbre honrarán tanto la ubicación de la Cumbre en México como el alcance global de la comunidad CC.

¡Estén atentos para conocer a nuestros otros oradores principales! Te invitamos a unirte a nosotros en la Cumbre en la Ciudad de México para escuchar hablar a Francisco y muchas otras voces diversas. Nuestra esperanza es que los oradores principales, el programa completo de la Cumbre y nuestras conexiones informales en la Ciudad de México y en línea se combinen para permitirnos a todos cultivar la estrategia de CC de compartir mejor, un compartir que sea contextual, inclusivo, justo, equitativo, recíproco y sostenible.

Regístrese para la Cumbre Global CC >

The post Francisco “Tito” Rivas Será un Orador Principal en la Cumbre Mundial CC 2023 appeared first on Creative Commons.

“Generative AI & the Creative Cycle Panel” by Jennryn Wetzler for Creative Commons is licensed via CC BY 4.0.

This week, Creative Commons (CC) convened 100+ participants during two events in New York City to discuss the important issues surrounding generative artificial intelligence (AI), copyright, and creativity.

For many years, we at CC have been examining the interplay between copyright and generative AI, exploring ways in which this technology can foster creativity and better sharing, i.e. sharing that is inclusive, equitable, reciprocal, and sustainable — and it is through this lens that we strive to tackle some of the most critical questions regarding the potential of generative AI tools for creators, cultural heritage institutions, and the general public.

In search of answers we have been holding community consultations over the past months to consider how best to maximize the public benefits of AI, to address concerns with how AI systems are trained and used, and to probe how AI will affect the commons. These two NYC events come within the scope of these wider consultations aimed at assisting us in taking action with informed intention.

On 12 September, we ran a workshop at the offices of Morrison Foerster to unpack the multiple issues that arise once generative AI enters the creativity cycle. If all creativity remixes the past — which needs to be responsibly preserved and cared for — is generative AI a game changer? This was the question an interdisciplinary mix of participants approached with insight and empathy throughout the afternoon’s dynamic sessions. History teems with examples of how humans dealt with technological disruptions in the past (from the printing press and oil painting to photography), yet many participants pointed to the need to think differently and imagine new structures for AI to deliver on its promise to enhance the commons. Issues around attribution, bias, transparency, agency, artistic identity and intent, democratization of AI, and many others, peppered the discussions in small and large groups. While no definite pathways emerged, participants embraced the uncertainty and relished the prospect of generative AI being used for the common good.

The conversations flowed through the following day’s symposium, Generative AI and the Creativity Cycle, at the Engelberg Center at New York University. 100 participants attended the event, which brought together experts from various fields — including law, the arts, cultural heritage, and AI technology — speaking on seven panels covering a wide range of issues at the nexus of creativity, copyright, and generative AI.

Running like red threads across the panels, here are some of the key themes that surfaced throughout the day’s lively conversations:

• Transparency: This requirement was often cited as a precondition for society to build trust in generative AI. Transparency was deemed essential in the datasets, algorithms and models themselves, as well as in AI systems in general. Similarly, a focus on the ways users of AI content could be transparent about their processes was also needed. This tied closely to notions of attribution and recognizing machine input into creative processes.
• Attribution (or similar notions of recognition, credit, or acknowledgement): This feature reflects CC’s emphasis on better sharing: nurturing a fair and equitable sharing ecosystem that celebrates and connects creators.
• Bias: The problem of bias in AI models as well as the inequalities they perpetuate and compound came up in most if not all sessions. The imperative to address bias was raised alongside calls for greater diversity and inclusion, as is already undertaken in data decolonization efforts.
• Economic fairness: Several discussions pointed to a need for fair remuneration, distributive justice, and a universal basic income, as well as employment protection for creators.
• Copyright issues (both on the input/training and output levels): While some speakers suggested a sense of loss of control due to a lack of copyright-based permission or consent, others reiterated the fundamental right for anyone to read and absorb knowledge including through machine-automated means.
• A multi-pronged approach: Given the multifaceted nature of the challenges raised by generative AI, many speakers highlighted the need to engage on multiple levels to ensure responsible developments in AI. This tied in with the need for adequate incentives and support for open sharing, a sustainable open infrastructure, culture as a public good, sharing in the public interest, all in order to prevent further enclosures of the commons.
• Collaboration: Collaborative creation with machines as well as with other humans could give rise to a “remix culture 2.0,” where generative AI as a tool could assist in the emergence of new forms of creativity through “amalgamated imagination.”

Although the above summary does not do justice to the depth and thoughtfulness of the event’s discussions, it does give a flavor of the topics at stake and should help inform those thinking about AI development, regulation, and its role in supporting better sharing of knowledge and culture in our shared global commons.

A special thank you to our workshop participants and symposium speakers and moderators. We are grateful to have had the opportunity to connect with many of you and share diverse perspectives on this complex topic. We are grateful to Morrison Foerster for supporting the workshop, donating space and resources. We’d also like to thank our lead symposium sponsor Akin Gump as well as the Engelberg Center on Innovation Law & Policy for publicly hosting these important conversations.

View symposium video recordings

Subscribe to CC’s email newsletter to stay informed about all our work with AI, culture and creativity, and more.

Continue the discussion on AI and the commons at the CC Global Summit during 3–6 Oct 2023 in Mexico City >

Check out these images from different panels during the symposium!

“Generative AI & the Creative Cycle Panel A” by Anna Tumadóttir for Creative Commons is licensed via CC BY 4.0.

“Generative AI & the Creative Cycle Panel B” by Brigitte Vézina for Creative Commons is licensed via CC BY 4.0.

“Generative AI & the Creative Cycle Panel C” by Brigitte Vézina for Creative Commons is licensed via CC BY 4.0.

“Generative AI & the Creative Cycle Panel D” by Brigitte Vézina for Creative Commons is licensed via CC BY 4.0.

“Generative AI & the Creative Cycle Panel E” by Brigitte Vézina for Creative Commons is licensed via CC BY 4.0.

The post Generative AI and Creativity: New Considerations Emerge at CC Convenings appeared first on Creative Commons.

“Better Sharing With AI” by Creative Commons was generated by the DALL-E 2 AI platform with the text prompt “A surrealist painting in the style of Salvador Dali of a robot giving a gift to a person playing a cello.” CC dedicates any rights it holds to the image to the public domain via CC0.

As part of Creative Commons’ ongoing community consultation on generative AI, CC has engaged with a wide variety of stakeholders, including artists and content creators, about how to help make generative AI work better for everyone.

Certainly, many artists have significant concerns about AI, and we continue to explore the many ways they might be addressed. Just last week, we highlighted the useful roles that could be played by new tools to signal whether an artist approves of use of their works for AI training.

At the same time, artists are not homogenous, and many others are benefiting from this new technology. Unfortunately, the debate about generative AI has too often become polarized and destructive, with artists who use AI facing harassment and even death threats. As part of the consultation, we also explored how to surface these artists’ experiences and views.

Today, we’re publishing an open letter from over 70 artists who use generative AI. It grew from conversations with an initial cohort of the full signatory list, and we hope it can help foster inclusive, informed discussions.

Signed by artists like Nettrice Gaskins, dadabots, Rob Sheridan, Charlie Engman, Tim Boucher, illustrata, makeitrad, Jrdsctt, Thomas K. Yonge, BLAC.ai, Deltasauce, and Cristóbal Valenzuela, the letter reads in part:

“We write this letter today as professional artists using generative AI tools to help us put soul in our work. Our creative processes with AI tools stretch back for years, or in the case of simpler AI tools such as in music production software, for decades. Many of us are artists who have dedicated our lives to studying in traditional mediums while dreaming of generative AI’s capabilities. For others, generative AI is making art more accessible or allowing them to pioneer entirely new artistic mediums. Just like previous innovations, these tools lower barriers in creating art—a career that has been traditionally limited to those with considerable financial means, abled bodies, and the right social connections.”

Read the full letter and list of signatories. If you would like to have your name added to this list and are interested in follow-up actions with this group, please sign our form. You can share the letter with this shorter link: creativecommons.org/artistsailetter

While the policy issues here are globally relevant, the letter is addressed to Senator Chuck Schumer and the US Congress in light of ongoing hearings and “Insight Fora” on AI hosted in the USA. Next week, Schumer is hosting one of these Fora, but the attendees are primarily from tech companies; the Motion Picture Association of America and the Writers Guild of America are invited, but there are no artists using generative AI specifically.

We also invited artists to share additional perspectives with us, some of which we’re publishing here:

Nettrice Gaskins said: “Generative AI imaging is a continuation of creative practices I learned as a college student, in my computer graphics courses. It’s the way of the future, made accessible to us in the present, so don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.”

Elizabeth Ann West said: “Generative AI has allowed me to make a living wage again with my writing, allowing me to get words on the page even when mental and chronic health conditions made doing so nearly impossible. I published 3 books the first year I had access to Davinci 3. Generative AI allows me to work faster and better for my readers.”

JosephC said: “There must be room for nuance in the ongoing discussion about machine-generated content, and I feel that the context vacuum of online discourse has made it impossible to talk and be heard when it comes to the important details of consent, the implications of regulation, and the prospects of making lives better. We need to ensure that consenting creatives can see their work become part of something greater, we need to ensure pioneering artists are free to express themselves in the medium that gives them voice, and we need to be mindful of the wishes of artists who desire to have their influence only touch the eyes and ears and minds of select other humans in the way they want. Opportunities abound; let us work together to realize them.”

Tim Simpson said: “Generative AI is the photography of this century. It’s an incredible new medium that has immense potential to be leveraged by artists, particularly indie artists, to pursue artistic visions that would have been completely infeasible for solo artists and small teams just a year ago. Open source AI tools are immensely important to the development of this medium and making sure that it remains available to the average person instead of being walled off into monopolized corporate silos. Many of the regulatory schemes that are being proposed today jeopardize that potential, and I strongly urge congress to support measures that keep these tools open and freely available to all.”

Rob Sheridan said: “As a 25 year professional artist and art director, I’ve adapted to many shifts in the creative industry, and see no reason to panic with regards to AI art technology itself….I fully understand and appreciate the concerns that artists have about AI art tools. With ANY new technology that automates human labor, we unfortunately live under a predatory capitalism where corporations are incentivized to ruthlessly cut human costs any way they can, and they’ve made no effort to hide their intentions with AI (how many of those intentions are realistic and how many are products of an AI hype bubble is a different conversation). But this is a systemic problem that goes well beyond artists; a problem that didn’t begin with AI, and won’t end with AI. Every type of workforce in America is facing this problem, and the solutions lie in labor organizing and in uniting across industries for major systemic changes like universal healthcare and universal guaranteed income. Banning or over-regulating AI art tools might plug one small hole in the leaky dam of corporate exploitation, but it closes a huge potential doorway for small creators and businesses.”

The post An Open Letter from Artists Using Generative AI appeared first on Creative Commons.

As part of our #20CC anniversary, last year we joined forces with Fine Acts to spark a global dialogue on what better sharing looks like in action. Our #BetterSharing collection of illustrations was the result — we gathered insights from 12 prominent open advocates around the world and tasked 12 renowned artists who embrace openness with transforming these perspectives into captivating visual pieces available under a CC license.

Each month throughout 2023, we will be spotlighting a different CC-licensed illustration from the collection on our social media headers and the CC blog. For September, we’re excited to showcase “Open Is Beautiful” by Ukrainian illustrator, Tanya Korniichuk. The piece, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, was inspired by a quote from Cecília Oliveira, Executive Director of Fogo Cruzado:

“The powerful hide important data to prevent us from demanding change. This is true with armed violence in Brazil, but is also true where you live on issues that you care about. Find a way to use open data to make changes in your society.

To me, Better Sharing Brighter Future means… a city where people aren’t afraid of being shot. I created Fogo Cruzado because the authorities were not sharing important data, and they did it to prevent accountability. And, unfortunately, there were no institutions out there who were ready to fill in the gap. So I decided to do it myself. We had offers to make money off of selling our data, and we had others who were taking our data and using it poorly, but we knew that the ONLY way to make this situation better was to make our work open and free and easy to access for everyone. Our focus is armed violence, but really our mission is about fighting secrecy.”

Meet the artist

Tanya is an illustrator from Kyiv, Ukraine, based in Vilnius, Lithuania. She gets her inspiration from simple things, people around her, her lovely dog. Through her expressive and bright style, she translates complex ideas into dynamic visuals, deftly encapsulating concepts. In her works she uses only standard shapes, so anyone can get inspired and recreate it.

Follow Tanya on Instagram:@tanya.korn

The full #BetterSharing collection is available on TheGreats.co to be enjoyed, used and adapted, and then shared again, by anyone, forever.

View the full collection >>

The post CC’s #BetterSharing Collection | September: Open Is Beautiful appeared first on Creative Commons.

“CC Icon Statue” by Creative Commons, generated in part by the DALL-E 2 AI platform. CC dedicates any rights it holds to this image to the public domain via CC0.

Many wonder what role CC licenses, and CC as an organization, can and should play in the future of generative AI. The legal and ethical uncertainty over using copyrighted inputs for training, the uncertainty over the legal status and best practices around works produced by generative AI, and the implications for this technology on the growth and sustainability of the open commons have led CC to examine these issues more closely. We want to address some common questions, while acknowledging that the answers may be complex or still unknown.

We use “artificial intelligence” and “AI” as shorthand terms for what we know is a complex field of technologies and practices, currently involving machine learning and large language models (LLMs). Using the abbreviation “AI” is handy, but not ideal, because we recognize that AI is not really “artificial” (in that AI is created and used by humans), nor “intelligent” (at least in the way we think of human intelligence).

CC licensing and training AI on copyrighted works

Can you use CC licenses to restrict how people use copyrighted works in AI training?

This is among the most common questions that we receive. While the answer depends on the exact circumstances, we want to clear up some misconceptions about how CC licenses function and what they do and do not cover.

You can use CC licenses to grant permission for reuse in any situation that requires permission under copyright. However, the licenses do not supersede existing limitations and exceptions; in other words, as a licensor, you cannot use the licenses to prohibit a use if it is otherwise permitted by limitations and exceptions to copyright.

This is directly relevant to AI, given that the use of copyrighted works to train AI may be protected under existing exceptions and limitations to copyright. For instance, we believe there are strong arguments that, in most cases, using copyrighted works to train generative AI models would be fair use in the United States, and such training can be protected by the text and data mining exception in the EU. However, whether these limitations apply may depend on the particular use case.

It’s also useful to look at this from the perspective of the licensee — the person who wants to use a given work. If a work is CC licensed, does that person need to follow the license in order to use the work in AI training? Not necessarily — it depends on the specific use.

• To the extent your AI training is covered by an exception or limitation to copyright, you need not rely on CC licenses for the use.
• To the extent you are relying on CC licenses to train AI, you will need to follow the relevant requirements under the licenses.

Another common question we hear is “Does complying with CC license conditions mean you’re always legally permitted to train AI on that CC-licensed work?”

Not necessarily — it is important to note here that CC licenses only give permission for rights granted by copyright. They do not address where other laws may restrict training AI, such as privacy laws, which are always a consideration where material contains personal data and are not addressed by copyright licensing. (Many kinds of personal data are not covered by copyright at all, but may still be covered by privacy-related regulations.)

For more explanation, see our flowchart regarding the CC licenses in this context, and read more in our FAQ on AI and CC licenses.

CC Licenses and outputs of generative AI

In the current context of rapidly developing AI technologies and practices, governments scrambling to regulate AI, and courts hearing cases regarding the application of existing law, our intent is to give our community the best guidance available right now. If you create works using generative AI, you can still apply CC licenses to the work you create with the use of those tools and share your work in the ways that you wish. The CC license you choose will apply to the creative work that you contribute to the final product, even if the portion produced by the generative AI system itself may be uncopyrightable. We encourage the use of CC0 for those works that do not involve a significant degree of human creativity, to clarify the intellectual property status of the work and to ensure the public domain grows and thrives.

Beyond copyright

Though using CC licenses and legal tools for training data and works produced by generative AI may address some legal uncertainty, it does not solve all the ethical concerns raised, which go far beyond copyright — involving issues of privacy, consent, bias, economic impacts, and access to and control over technology, among other things. Neither copyright nor CC licenses can or should address all of the ways that AI might impact people. There are no easy solutions, but it is clear we need to step outside of copyright to work together on governance, regulatory frameworks, societal norms, and many other mechanisms to enable us to harness AI technologies and practices for good.

We must empower and engage creators

Generative AI presents an amazing opportunity to be a transformative tool that supports creators — both individuals and organizations — provides new avenues for creation, facilitates better sharing, enables more people to become creators, and benefits the commons of knowledge, information, and creativity for all.

But there are serious concerns, such as issues around author recognition and fair compensation for creators (and the labor market for artistic work in general), the potential flood of AI-generated works on the commons making it difficult to find relevant and trustworthy information, and the disempowering effect of the privatization and enclosure of AI services and outputs, to name a few.

For many creators, these and other issues may be a reason not to share their works at all under any terms, not just via CC licensing. CC wants AI to augment and support commons, not detract from it, and we want to see solutions to these concerns to avoid AI turning creators away from contributing to the commons altogether.

Join us

We believe that trustworthy, ethical generative AI should not be feared, but instead can be beneficial to artists, creators, publishers, and to the public more broadly. Our focuses going forward will be:

• To develop and share principles, best practices, guidance, and training for using generative AI to support the commons. We don’t have all the answers — or necessarily all the questions — and we will work collaboratively with our community to establish shared principles.
• To continue to engage our community and broaden it to lift up diverse, global voices and find ways to support different types of sharing and creativity.
• Additionally, it is imperative that we engage more with AI developers and services to increase their support for transparency and ethical, public-interest tools and practices. CC will be seeking to collaborate with partners who share our values and want to create solutions that support a thriving commons.

For over two decades we have stewarded the legal infrastructure that enables open sharing on the web. We now have an opportunity to reimagine sharing and creativity in this new age. It is time to build new infrastructure that supports better sharing with generative AI.

We invite you to join us in this work, as we continue to openly discuss, deliberate, and take action in this space. Follow along with our blog series on AI, subscribe to our newsletter, support our work, or join us at one of our upcoming events. We’re particularly excited to welcome our community back in-person to Mexico City in October for the CC Global Summit, where the theme is focused squarely on AI & the commons.

The post Understanding CC Licenses and Generative AI appeared first on Creative Commons.

“Sharing Is Growing” by Olga Mrozek for Creative Commons and Fine Acts is licensed via CC BY-SA 4.0.

As part of our #20CC anniversary, last year we joined forces with Fine Acts to spark a global dialogue on what better sharing looks like in action. Our #BetterSharing collection of illustrations was the result — we gathered insights from 12 prominent open advocates around the world and tasked 12 renowned artists who embrace openness with transforming these perspectives into captivating visual pieces available under a CC license.

Each month throughout 2023, we will be spotlighting a different CC-licensed illustration from the collection on our social media headers and the CC blog. For August, we’re excited to showcase “Sharing Is Growing” by Olga Mrozek. The piece, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, was inspired by a quote from Medhavi Gandhi, founder of The Heritage Lab:

“To me, with better (open) sharing, comes the promise of equality.”

Meet the artist:

Olga Mrozek is a multidisciplinary designer and an illustrator who finds interest in issues, development, structure, and functioning of human society. She enjoys creating concepts that challenge and provoke the viewer as she believes that the change begins with the thought.

Follow Olga on Instagram: @omrozill

The full #BetterSharing collection is available on TheGreats.co to be enjoyed, used and adapted, and then shared again, by anyone, forever. View the full collection >>

The post CC’s #BetterSharing Collection | August: Sharing Is Growing appeared first on Creative Commons.

“Better Sharing for Brighter Future” by Janice Chang for Creative Commons and Fine Acts is licensed via CC BY-SA 4.0.

As part of our #20CC anniversary, last year we joined forces with Fine Acts to spark a global dialogue on what better sharing looks like in action. Our #BetterSharing collection of illustrations was the result — we gathered insights from 12 prominent open advocates around the world and tasked 12 renowned artists who embrace openness with transforming these perspectives into captivating visual pieces available under a CC license.

Each month throughout 2023, we will be spotlighting a different CC-licensed illustration from the collection on our social media headers and the CC blog. For July, we’re excited to showcase “Better Sharing For Brighter Future” by Janice Chang. The piece, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, was inspired by a quote from Tyler Green, Author, Historian, Art Critic and Producer/Host, The Modern Art Notes Podcast:

“It means understanding that sharing and open content is a means, not an end. For me, it means understanding that sharing and open content is a means, not an end, that open content and open access policies aren’t an end in and of themselves. Although within the context of an individual project, it’s an excellent end. But what we get, we the community of scholars, we the broader community of people, what we get is an opportunity to understand how this material fits within the worlds around us, allowing new and different ideas to more fully inform us. My favorite example is always going to be the more art and visual material, whether it’s photographs or engravings in 19th century magazines. The more we understand how images have worked across histories, the more we will understand how impactful artists and visual makers, engravers, whomever have been. And so I think that open access is probably the primary and most important means through which we will understand how artists have impacted the world.”

Meet the artist:

Janice Chang is a Los Angeles born and raised illustrator based in Brooklyn, NY. Much of her work takes on an honest representation of the sometimes humorous and bendy limbs of her characters as a way to engage in conversations around social and interpersonal issues. She works primarily for editorial, commercial, advertising, and motion clients, but also loves to explore painting murals, animation, and making sculptures.

Follow Janice on Instagram: @janiceechang

The full #BetterSharing collection is available on TheGreats.co to be enjoyed, used and adapted, and then shared again, by anyone, forever. View the full collection >>

The post CC’s #BetterSharing Collection | July: Better Sharing For Brighter Future appeared first on Creative Commons.