CC Case Studies

Creative Commons kicks off global case studies effort. Share your story. Discover new works and new models.

With upwards of 150 million CC-licensed works published from every corner of the world, no single use case can tell the whole story. Creators and users come to CC for different reasons, and for many, CC solves different problems. We’re trying to capture the diversity of CC creators and content and build a resource that inspires new works and informs free culture.

Today we're kicking off Creative Commons Case Studies 2009 – and we want to hear your story! We’re collecting cases big and small on our re-launched Case Studies wiki, an online portal to upload and discover documentation about CC-licensed projects.

The top user-submitted stories will be featured on our website and in the next printed volume of Creative Commons Case Studies. You'll also collaborate with our CEO, Joi Ito, whose doctoral work focuses on select case studies from CC and the sharing economy.

How to get involved

• Visit the Case Studies wiki to add your story. You can also browse existing studies and download Building an Australasian Commons: Creative Commons Case Studies Volume I, a stunning publication that highlights 60 exemplary CC-licensed users in Australasia and worldwide. The book was edited by Rachel Cobcroft and supported by CC Australia.
• Remix published case studies. Source files and PDFs are available for all chapters of Volume I. Download digestable booklets about CC in the visual arts, government, education, cultural institutions, music, and more. Tailor the material to meet your needs and add your entry to Case_Studies/Collections.
• Curate a collection of case studies via Case_Studies/PrediaPress, a service that builds an OpenOffice document, PDF, or printed book from selected wiki pages. Publish your collection yourself on a site that supports CC licenses such as Scribd and submit the link to Case_Studies/Collections.
• Teach with real-life examples. We’re encouraging educators to follow CC Australia’s lead and integrate the CC Case Studies into their curricula. Teaching with case studies can be compelling and instructive. Have your students analyze existing studies or write their own.

Not sure what a good case study looks like? Check out these featured submissions: Blender Foundation, SomeRightsReserved, the African Sleeping Sickness Test, and Architecture for Humanity.

Whether you’re looking for inspiration, business models, or precedents, the CC Case Studies are a perfect place to start. Help us expand this resource by sharing your work and telling your story.