Creative Commons

Creative Commons announced CC Signals in June 2025, a framework it is building to allow dataset holders to specify how their content can or cannot be used by AI systems for training. As of December 2025, the project is in active development and being tested through pilot efforts, with an alpha release originally targeted for November 2025.

CC Signals is designed to be both human- and machine-readable, providing a set of signal options (such as requiring attribution, financial contribution, or open reciprocal sharing) that data stewards can attach to their content collections. The framework is not itself an AI system; it is a technical and legal standard that Creative Commons is developing to govern how AI developers may use openly shared data. CC Signals is being developed in collaboration with the IETF's AI Preferences Working Group and the RSL Collective, and initial design documents are publicly available on GitHub. As of December 2025, Creative Commons described the project as being tested through a series of pilot efforts.

Creative Commons uses its legal and policy expertise to engage with AI governance debates globally, including participating in the IETF AI Preferences Working Group, submitting comments to the U.S. Copyright Office on AI, and engaging EU policymakers on the AI Act.

Creative Commons has engaged in AI policy work since at least 2021, participating in the EU AI Act legislative process, responding to the U.S. Copyright Office's Notice of Inquiry on AI and copyright in 2023, and joining a civil society letter urging U.S. support for openness and transparency in AI. In 2024, CC submitted a position paper to the IETF's AI Preferences Working Group. These activities represent CC's organizational stance-taking and advocacy role, not the deployment of an AI system by Creative Commons itself.