Category: Licenses & Tools

CC and Communia Statement on Transparency in the EU AI Act

by Creative Commons Better Internet, Licenses & Tools, Open Culture, Open Knowledge, Technology
An abstract European Union flag of diffused gold stars linked by golden neural pathways on a deep blue mottled background.
"EU Flag Neural Network" by Creative Commons was cropped from an image generated by the DALL-E 2 AI platform with the text prompt "European Union flag neural network." CC dedicates any rights it holds to the image to the public domain via CC0.

The European Union’s Artificial Intelligence Act will be discussed at a key trilogue meeting on 24 October 2023. CC collaborated with Communia to summarize our views emphasizing the importance of a balanced and tailored approach to regulating foundation models and of transparency in general.

Making AI Work for Creators and the Commons

by Creative Commons Better Internet, Community, Events, Licenses & Tools, Open Culture, Open Knowledge, Technology
A group of about 20 people standing in a room with a slide behind them that says Open Future & Creative Commons.
"CC Global Summit 2023 Day 0" by Creative Commons is licensed CC BY 4.0.

On the eve of the CC Global Summit, members of the CC global community and Creative Commons held a one-day workshop to discuss issues related to AI, creators, and the commons. Emerging from that deep discussion and in subsequent conversation during the three days of the Summit, this group identified a set of common issues and values.

Understanding CC Licenses and Generative AI

by Kat Walsh Better Internet, Licenses & Tools, Open Creativity, Technology
A black and white illustration of a group of human figures in silhouette using unrecognizable tools to work on a giant Creative Commons icon.
“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…

Wikipedia Moves to CC 4.0 Licenses

by Creative Commons Licenses & Tools
Black logos for the Wikimedia Foundation and Creative Commons, side by side.

We are thrilled to announce that Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects have now adopted version 4.0 of the Creative Commons BY-SA license! The project first began using version 3.0 of the CC licenses in 2009 following a community process, having previously used the GNU Free Documentation License. This decision, made as part of a Terms…

The Complex World of Style, Copyright, and Generative AI

by Stephen Wolfson Better Internet, Licenses & Tools, Open Creativity, Technology
Illustration of four superheroes, wearing masks and punk outfits and two holding guitars, standing in a washed out cityscape.
“Grunge Heroes” by Stephen Wolfson for Creative Commons was generated by the Midjourney AI platform with the text prompt “a grunge band from the 1990s made up of superheroes.” CC dedicates any rights it holds to the image to the public domain via CC0.

In my previous posts on generative AI, I discussed fair use and AI training data, copyright over AI outputs, and a recent U.S. Copyright Office decision on registration for a work produced by generative AI. In the next posts in our series, I will look at claims (exemplified in a recent case against Stable Diffusion…

CC Community Input: Better Sharing for Generative AI

by Nate Angell Better Internet, CC Global Network, Licenses & Tools, Open Creativity, Technology
Veins of hot glowing orange lava flowing through vein-like channels in dark black volcanic rock.
“Input” by jputman, here slightly cropped, is licensed via CC BY-SA 2.0.

Over the last year, innovation and use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) has proliferated, providing new ways for people to create content from art to zines, and everything in between. At CC, we’ve been watching these experiments in creativity while considering what it all means for what we call better sharing: sharing that is contextual,…

Zarya of the Dawn: US Copyright Office Affirms Limits on Copyright of AI Outputs

by Stephen Wolfson Better Internet, Copyright, Licenses & Tools, Open Creativity, Technology
Close up of the face of Zarya, from the comic Zarya of the Dawn, looking intent in a dark urban landscape with glowing lights.
“Zarya of the Dawn”: detail of an image generated by Midjourney AI from the full graphic novel by Kristina Kashtanova.

In a recent post, we explained why, absent significant and direct human creative input, generative AI outputs should not qualify for copyright protection. We noted that exactly what constitutes enough human input is not entirely clear; while a simple text prompt shouldn’t be enough, other areas will present more complex questions. Just this week, the…