Private company

Creative Commons

Organization designing open copyright licenses

Creative Commons (CC) is an American nonprofit organization and international network devoted to educational access and expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has released several copyright licenses, known as Creative Commons licenses (CC licenses), free of charge to the public, to allow authors of creative works to communicate which rights they reserve and which rights they waive for the benefit of recipients or other creators.2 From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 16, 2026.

Overview

Jan 15, 2001Founded1
  • HeadquartersMountain View1
  • Websitecreativecommons.org
  • Legal formnonprofit organization1
  • Slogan“Creative Commons develops, supports, and stewards legal and technical infrastructure that maximizes digital creativity, sharing, and innovation.”1

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The story

Founded by Eric Eldred, Hal Abelson and Lawrence Lessig on Jan 15, 2001.1

Leadership

Who has led Creative Commons, and when. Pick a name to see everywhere that person has worked.

Chief executive

  1. Ryan Merkley2014–2019
  2. Catherine Stihler2020–2024
  3. Anna Tumadóttir2024–now
20052010201520202025

Products and brands

  • Creative Commons license

Listed on Wikidata.1

Subsidiaries and ownership

Subsidiaries

  • Creative Commons Bangladesh
  • Creative Commons India
  • Creative Commons Indonesia

From Wikidata.1

Revenue over time

As stated on Wikidata, in the currency reported.

Revenue

Creative Commons revenue by year1$4.9M in 2023+68% since 2014
0$5.0M$10.0M$15.0M2014: $2.9M$2.9M20142015: $1.7M$1.7M2015−42%2016: $12.6M$12.6M2016+638%2017: $1.6M$1.6M2017−87%2018: $2.0M$2.0M2018+22%2019: $3.3M$3.3M2019+63%2020: $942.8K$942.8K2020−71%2021: $9.9M$9.9M2021+945%2022: $7.7M$7.7M2022−22%2023: $4.9M$4.9M2023−36%
  • 2023$4.9M1
  • 2022$7.7M1
  • 2021$9.9M1
  • 2020$942.8K1
  • 2019$3.3M1
  • 2018$2.0M1

Timeline

  1. Apr 2024New chief executive Anna Tumadóttir becomes CEO1
  2. Aug 17, 2020New chief executive Catherine Stihler becomes CEO1
  3. Jun 1, 2014New chief executive Ryan Merkley becomes CEO1
  4. Jan 15, 2001Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

  1. 1
  2. 2