INTRODUCTION TO

CREATIVE COMMONS & AFFILIATE TEAMSThis document provides an overview of Creative Commons, the Affiliate Teams and the work they do tobuild and help maintain communities of people who use CC licenses and tools. The purpose of the
document is to provide information for those who are interested in learning more about Creative
Commons’ international work and in getting involved in their local community.

CREATIVE COMMONSCreative Commons (CC) is a nonprofit corporation that provides free licenses and other legal tools tomark creative work with the freedom the creator wants it to carry. This makes it easier for people toshare and build upon the work of others, consistent with the rules of copyright. There are six different
CC licenses, based on four core elements. These elements are Attribution (author requires credit,
shorthand: BY), ShareAlike (author allows sharing as long as derivative works carry the same license,
shorthand: SA), NonCommercial (author does not allow commercial works, shorthand: NC) and
NoDerivs (no derivative works, author only allows reuse in original form, shorthand: ND).

Attribution (BY)

ShareAlike (SA)

NonCommercial (NC)

NoDerivs (ND)

CC licenses are applicable to anything to which copyright applies and are used by a variety of entities
around the world, including Al Jazeera, Google, Nine Inch Nails, OER Africa, and the White House.
While CC’s headquarters is based in the United States, the organization is international. The licenses are
adapted to match the local copyright legislation of a jurisdiction. Currently, there are over 50
jurisdictions with adapted licenses, with several more in process. The jurisdictional projects are headed
by local CC Affiliate Teams.

CC AFFILIATE TEAMSThe goal of CC Affiliate Teams is three-fold: to bring together people who want to share their works into
a community and to help this community use the tools; to localize CC legal tools; and to generally
promote legal sharing. The team does this in partnership with one or more local Affiliate Institutions andCreative Commons Headquarters (CC HQ). Teams are headed by Project Leads, who report to, and workwith, CC HQ.
CC Affiliate Teams have a wide range of responsibilities, including building communities, adapting theCC licenses, translating materials, and maintaining resources for CC users. They serve as the hub for CC
activity in their jurisdictions. Each team has a point person for the following four areas: Community
Building, Legal, Tech and Language. People wishing to become involved in a certain area can contactthat area’s point person. Sometimes, one Affiliate Team member will handle more than one area or one
area will have more than one point person.

COMMUNITY
Community building is coordinated by the Public Lead. They are the face of the project, and in charge oforganizing events the team does as part of the project, fielding inquiries, consulting with local adoptersand other general outreach activities. Community building includes workshops, salons, showcases,
license launches and other events that help promote and educate about Creative Commons licenses.
If you are interested in helping to build the CC Community in your area, contact your Team’s Public
Lead or community point person.

LEGAL
Legal team members work under the Legal Lead to help CC and its communities understand local
copyright regimes and how the licenses operate in the jurisdiction under its laws. They also work withthe language team to ensure translations of CC legal tools are of high quality. Legal and language teammembers prepare a first draft of one of the licenses and submit it to CC HQ for review. The draft issubmitted to the local community for public review. The Legal and language team members consider the
input from the community and develop. Members also keep CC HQ informed of relevant legal changes
in the jurisdiction.
People with legal training who are not part of the Affiliate Team can contribute to the translation processduring the public discussion phase. The more input from local lawyers, the better the translated licenses
will be. Contact your Affiliate Team’s Legal Lead or legal point person if you would like to be informed
when your jurisdiction-specific license enters public discussion.

TECH
The tech members are responsible for maintaining a webpage and other internet services for thejurisdiction. The site will be used throughout the project for promoting CC and the team's events. Afterthe legal part of the team completes the licenses and CC HQ approves them, the tech part of the team will
be in charge of the technical arrangements of the license files to prepare for CC HQ to post on the CC site.
If you have a tech background and are interested in helping your Affiliate Team with its website or otherwork, such as promoting events through social media, contact your Affiliate Team’s tech point person.

LANGUAGE
Language team members are responsible for translating CC legal tools and the library of CC resources.
The Affiliate Team as a whole decides how many and in which languages the tools and resources should
be available. The licenses and a set of FAQs must be available in at least one chosen language before thelicenses can officially launch.
People interested in helping the Affiliate Team with translations must be fluent in English as well as thelanguage into which they wish to translate materials. Your Affiliate Team can tell you which languages
are planned for translation. If you would like to help translate the CC materials or would like to suggest
another language to add, contact your Affiliate Team language point person. If you would like totranslate general CC informational items, visit http://wiki.creativecommons.org/Translate.

AFFILIATE INSTITUTION
Affiliate Institutions provide the local infrastructure for the Affiliate Team and serve as the official houseof the CC project in the jurisdiction. Affiliate Teams partner with an institution for a number of reasons.
One of the main reasons is credibility. Because the Affiliate Teams are part of the international CC
Affiliate Network, they cannot incorporate locally as a separate non-profit. With an institution
supporting them, Affiliate Teams are viewed as legitimate and accountable. Affiliate Institutions give theAffiliate Team a path through which funding can travel if the team seeks grants, as well as providing alocation and partner for various programs and workshops the Affiliate Team might wish to conduct.
If you would like to donate or offer a grant to an Affiliate Team, please contact the Team’s Affiliate
Institution. If your institution would like to get involved in a local CC project, please contact CC HQ.

BECOMING PART OF THE CC AFFILIATE NETWORKWorking with Creative Commons and CC Affiliate Teams is entirely voluntary, and volunteers do what
they are able. A successful team is comprised of dedicated people with a desire to see CC grow in theircommunity. All team members, including the Affiliate Institutions are part of the CC Affiliate Network.
If you are interested in joining or starting a CC Affiliate Team, please contact CC HQ for information on
your jurisdiction’s current team or to receive the CC Affiliate Team Self-Assessment Tool; email affiliateprogram@creativecommons.org.

MORE INFORMATION
If you would like more information about the translation process or building a Affiliate Team, please
visit: http://wiki.creativecommons.org/Affiliates.
If you would like more
http://creativecommons.org.

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