To date, the CC Certificate has only been available in English. However, thanks to the incredible efforts of CC Global Network members, the CC Certificate course content (e.g., readings, articles, etc.) is being translated into multiple languages.

In particular, we are proud to highlight the work of CC Network members in Italy and Saudi Arabia. Paola Corti and Lokesh Rajendran have made CC Certificate content translations available in Italian and Arabic. With these translations, over 483 million additional people around the world have access to the course content in their first language.

In addition to these translations, the first country case study was debuted today in English and Italian at the Open Education Global Conference in Italy. The country case study, titled General Principles on “Diritto d’Autore” and Related Rights in Italy provides supplementary information on the rules regulating authors’ rights in Italy.

How are these additions and translations possible?

Upon successfully completing the CC Certificate*, Paola Corti (METID – Politecnico di Milano Project Manager and Instructional Designer) and Lokesh Rajendran (National Center for e-Learning Project Manager) downloaded the CC BY course content and applied their open licensing expertise to create the first translations of the CC Certificate to meet their communities’ needs in Italy and Saudi Arabia. They licensed the works CC BY 4.0 to enable maximum reuse. Their work with METID – Politecnico di Milano colleagues (Deborah de Angelis and Laura Sinigaglia) and National Center for e-Learning’s Saudi Open Educational Content Program team members (Ahmed Al Mobarak, Saleh Al Khaliwey, Rabah Al Bawardi, Sara Mazen, and Maha Al Sheikh) took between 3-5 months to complete.

Their work exemplifies what’s possible when educational resources are openly licensed. Creative Commons has licensed its CC Certificate content CC BY with the intent of making the content as useful and accessible as possible. The CC BY license enables anyone to create adaptations (also known as derivatives), such as language translations, to better meet the needs of different audiences.

We laud these Certificate graduates for their fantastic work, and look forward to highlighting future translations of the CC Certificate content! If you are interested in this work, please contact certificates@creativecommons.org.

*The CC Certificate provides an-in depth study of Creative Commons licenses and open practices, uniquely developing participants’ open licensing proficiency and understanding of the broader context for open advocacy. The training content targets copyright law and CC legal tools, as well as the values and good practices of working in the global, shared commons. The CC Certificate is available as either a 10-week online course or a one-week, in-person training to educators and academic librarians.

The post Millions Now Have Access to the CC Certificate in Italian and Arabic! appeared first on Creative Commons.

When governments choose to use Creative Commons licenses to preserve and share cultural knowledge, like Indigenous languages, it illustrates how our licenses can help create a more accessible and equitable world. 

Recently, CC India’s Global Network Representative (GNC) Subhashish Panigrahi brought to our attention that the Indian state of Odisha licensed 21 dictionaries—in all 21 Indigenous languages that are spoken in the province—under CC BY. This opens them up for adaptation, distribution, and remixing by anyone.

Download or view all of the dictionaries here. 

Global Voices underlined the particular significance of this announcement in a tweet, posting: “India is home to over 780 languages and approximately 220-250 languages have died over the last 50 years.” 

The Indian state of Odisha publishes online dictionaries in 21 indigenous languages https://t.co/MCZ6NkLuDG India is home to over 780 languages and approximately 220-250 languages have died over the last 50 years. pic.twitter.com/zx1t8ROA1a

— Global Voices (@globalvoices) October 24, 2019

We couldn’t be happier to see CC licenses being used to facilitate translation projects and sharing that could ultimately help protect Indigenous languages, knowledge, and culture. We hope that other governments and policy makers around the world will take heed and similarly make valuable content and tools like these dictionaries openly available to the public. 

If you work with a government or institution that needs consultation on how to use CC licenses, please email us at info@creativecommons.org.

The post Indian State of Odisha Releases 21 Dictionaries Under CC BY appeared first on Creative Commons.

A key principle of the open movement is that the power of information relies on its accessibility. As researcher and activist Bushra Ebadi expressed to us recently, “Access to information is intrinsically tied to the right to know and the right to exist.”   

We often receive stories from around the world illustrating how Creative Commons (CC)  licenses have unlocked critical information, giving voice to those who have been silenced or marginalized.

Recently, we learned that Russian news outlet Meduza used the CC BY license in a campaign to help free journalist Ivan Golunov by raising awareness around him and his work. We decided to reach out to Meduza via email to learn more. Editor in chief Ivan Kolpakov’s responses are below. 

This conversation has been lightly edited for clarity and length. 

Why did Meduza decide to license Ivan Golunov’s work under CC BY?

Meduza’s investigative reporter Ivan Golunov was arrested on June 6, 2019 in the center of Moscow. From the very beginning, we understood that our reporter was being persecuted because of his work. The people who we believe were behind his arrest are probably characters from his articles (for example, Golunov is famous for his anti-corruption investigations). Very quickly we realized that the smartest answer to this attack was to put Golunov’s work into the spotlight as much as possible. So, a couple of days later, we licensed all of Ivan Golunov’s work on Meduza—more than 100 articles—under a CC BY 4.0 license.

What was the result of that decision? 

The result was incredible. Hundreds of Russian media outlets republished Golunov’s pieces. Including national newspapers, lifestyle magazines (including Men’s Health Russia, GQ and Glamour), niche websites (e.g., Sports.ru), feminist websites, regional press outlets, etc. 

I think it was the first time in the history of Russian media that one journalist’s articles were published at the same time in every outlet. It was an important part of this unprecedented campaign of solidarity with Golunov that began among journalists, and later became more widespread, including the general public. 

The result? The system gave in: Ivan Golunov was released on June 11, 2019.

Do you think this application of a CC license is a useful case study for other news outlets? 

I do. It’s an amazing example of solidarity among journalists, and works perfectly to counter external threats—even when those threats are very powerful. It’s also a good reminder of the role of mass media: To find what’s hidden and to spread it widely. 

At Meduza, we believe that freedom of information and the free distribution of information are key conditions for achieving positive changes in society. It’s hard to find a better illustration of this idea.

Learn more about this story and Ivan Golunov’s work here. 

The post How a News Outlet Used CC BY to Help Its Journalist appeared first on Creative Commons.

Cover page of the CC Style Guide 2019. “Young woman waiting in doctor’s office,” part of SELF Magazine’s “Vaccines Save Lives” campaign. Photographer: Heather Hazzan; Wardrobe: Ronald Burton; Props: Campbell Pearson; Hair: Hide Suzuki; Makeup: Deanna Melluso at See Management. Shot on location at One Medical. CC BY

Crafting and maintaining a consistent style is essential to establishing and promoting an organization’s brand. 

As with any organization, Creative Commons’ (CC) brand should help CC build trust with its stakeholders and the broader open movement, as well as maintain and grow CC’s reputation, legitimacy, and leadership in the Global Commons.

With that in mind, we decided to create a CC style guide for CC staff, affiliates, community members, and CC Chapters to use as a reference when creating content specifically for CC as an organization. 

In this guide, you’ll find information on CC’s: 

• Mission and brand tagline
• Mood board
• Brand identity—including information on our logos, fonts, color palette, and visual elements
• Publications style—including guidance on tone, specific language, abbreviations, acronyms, titles and capitalization, numbers, spelling, punctuation, referencing and licensing, and writing tips

Although important, this style guide shouldn’t feel restrictive or diminish creative expression. 

Instead, it should serve as a useful and inspirational guide for anyone creating content specifically for CC as an organization, such as CC staff and members of the CC Global Network. This style guide is also not final and/or comprehensive, it’s the beginning of a longer process to flesh out, define, and standardize CC’s style in order to portray our brand more clearly and consistently. 

Remix this guide for your own use!

We also decided to publish this guide under CC BY and share it externally so that it can be adapted by anyone for their own personal and/or organizational branding needs. If you’re just starting out as a freelance photographer or emerging as an industry thought leader, for example, we encourage you to adapt and remix this guide to build your own! 

We’d love to know how you use this style guide, so tag us on social media when you do!

Download the CC style guide here.

Please note: Our plan is to revisit this guide annually, with our first review taking place in early 2020. Be sure to send us your suggestions for potential changes and/or additions before December 31, 2019 by adding comments to this online document. (Although this is our preferred method for feedback, we will also accept direct emails to victoria@creativecommons.org.) 

The post We Created a CC Style Guide; It’s Yours to Remix appeared first on Creative Commons.