CREATIVE COMMONS CORPORATION(A NONPROFIT CORPORATION)DECEMBER 31, 2020

INDEPENDENT AUDITORS’ REPORTAND

CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Creative Commons Corporation (a Nonprofit Corporation)
Independent Auditors’ Report
and Consolidated Financial Statements

Independent Auditors’ Report

1-2

Consolidated Financial Statements

Consolidated Statement of Financial Position

3

Consolidated Statement of Activities and Change in Net Assets

4Consolidated Statement of Functional Expenses

5

Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows6

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

7 - 12

Independent Auditors’ Report
THE BOARD OF DIRECTORSCREATIVE COMMONS CORPORATION (A NONPROFIT CORPORATION)
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA
Report on the Consolidated Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying consolidated financial statements of CREATIVE COMMONSCORPORATION (Creative Commons) which comprise the consolidated statement of financial
position as of December 31, 2020, and the related consolidated statements of activities and change in net
assets, functional expenses and cash flows for the year then ended and the related notes to theconsolidated financial statements.
Management’s Responsibility for the Consolidated Financial Statements
Management is responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of these consolidated financial
statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America;
this includes the design, implementation, and maintenance of internal control relevant to the preparationand fair presentation of consolidated financial statements that are free from material misstatement,
whether due to fraud or error.
Auditors’ Responsibility
Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these consolidated financial statements based on our audits.
We conducted our audits in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the United States ofAmerica. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance
about whether the consolidated financial statements are free of material misstatement.
An audit involves performing procedures to obtain audit evidence about the amounts and disclosures in
the consolidated financial statements. The procedures selected depend on the auditor’s judgment,
including the assessment of the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated financial statements,
whether due to fraud or error. In making those risk assessments, the auditor considers internal control
relevant to Creative Commons’ preparation and fair presentation of the consolidated financial statements
in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of
expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Creative Commons’s internal control. Accordingly, we
express no such opinion. An audit also includes evaluating the appropriateness of accounting policies
used and the reasonableness of significant accounting estimates made by management, as well as
evaluating the overall presentation of the consolidated financial statements.

San Francisco ● San Jose ● San Mateo ● Petaluma

We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis forour audit opinion.
OpinionIn our opinion, the consolidated financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material
respects, the financial position of Creative Commons as of December 31, 2020 and the changes in its net
assets and its cash flows for the year then ended in accordance with accounting principles generally
accepted in the United States of America.

San Francisco, California
June 15, 2021

2

Creative Commons Corporation (a Nonprofit Corporation)
Consolidated Statement of Financial Position

December 31, 2020
AssetsCash and cash equivalents
Investments
Accounts receivable
Prepaid expenses and other assets
Total assets$

2,732,633
723
155,624
51,827$2,940,807$

43,778262,144
87,500371,233

Liabilities and Net Assets
Liabilities:
Accounts payable
Accrued expenses
Deferred revenue
Long-term liabities
Total liabilities

764,655

Net Assets:
Without donor restrictions
With donor restrictions

2,062,402
113,750

Total net assets

2,176,152

Total liabilities and net assets$

See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.
3

2,940,807

Creative Commons Corporation (a Nonprofit Corporation)
Consolidated Statement of Activities and Change in Net Assets

Year Ended December 31, 2020
Without Donor
Restrictions
Revenues:
GrantsContributions
In-kind contributions
Program service fees
Special events income
Investment income
Other income
Satisfaction of program restrictions$

209,462304,790
37,656
141,758
11,89471,545395,819

Total revenues

With Donor
Restrictions$

1,172,924

Expenses:
Program services
Supporting services:Management and generalFundraising

160,000
17,56926,000(395,819)

Total$(192,250)

369,462
322,359
37,656
141,758
26,00011,89471,545980,674

2,060,827

2,060,827

1,738,042
363,010

1,738,042
363,010

Total expenses

4,161,879-

4,161,879

Change in Net Assets(2,988,955)(192,250)(3,181,205)

Net Assets, beginning of year

5,051,357

306,000

5,357,357

Net Assets, end of year$

2,062,402$

113,750

See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.
4$2,176,152

Creative Commons Corporation (a Nonprofit Corporation)
Consolidated Statement of Functional Expenses

Year Ended December 31, 2020
Program Services
International
Affiliates

Education
Salaries
Payroll taxes
Employee benefits$

Accounting fees
Bank charges
Board cultivation and meetings
Consulting and design
Insurance
Legal fees
Licenses and fees
Membership and dues
Occupancy
Operations
Printing
Project support
Publicity and communication
Recruiting
Special events
Supplies
Technology
Telephone
Training
Travel and conferences
WebsiteTotal expenses$

214,417
13,70623,524$23,8281,524
2,635

Supporting Services

Legal
$

237,973
15,22326,353Total
ProgramServicesTechnology$

500,550
32,01954,768$976,768
62,472
107,280

Management
andGeneral$775,978
75,346125,258

Total
Supporting
Services

Fundraising$

231,000
14,77725,513$

1,006,97890,123
150,771

Total
Expenses$

1,983,746
152,595
258,051

251,647

27,987

279,549

587,337

1,146,520

976,582

271,290

1,247,872

2,394,392

1,810
50,150
192
386
146
20,000
1,204
288
312
116
3,531
-

1,927
335,817368
960
69,395
1,100
192
20,211
1,510
-

8,297
490
889
80
52
735
95
-

797
366,7022,906
200
18,122
2,161
3,166
-

4,534
760,966
1,050
5,141
146
89,3952,304
760
38,697
3,012
8,302
-

73,36039,251
117,50244,38744,16558,845
1,964
3,643
7,758
462
5,600
1,813
55,6192,612
1,487
26,641
3,261
12,54452,641
207,905

1,136
54,26340
671
176
33,9001,534-

73,36040,387
171,765
44,38744,16558,845
2,004
3,643
8,429
462
5,600
1,989
55,6192,612
1,487
60,541
4,795
12,54452,641
207,905

73,36044,921
932,731
44,38744,16558,845
3,054
3,643
13,570608
94,995
4,293
55,6192,612
2,247
99,238
7,807
12,54460,943207,905

329,782$

459,467$

290,187$

981,391$

2,060,827$

1,738,042

See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.
5$363,010$

2,101,052$

4,161,879

Creative Commons Corporation (a Nonprofit Corporation)
Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows

Year Ended December 31, 2020
Cash Flows from Operating Activities:
Change in net assets
Adjustments to reconcile change in net assets to net cash
provided by operating activities:
Net realized and unrealized loss on investments
Change in operating assets and liabilities:
Accounts receivable
Prepaid expenses and other assets
Accounts payable
Accrued expenses
Deferred revenue$(3,181,205)

788
172,356
37,001(20,400)
108,334
51,500Net cash used by operating activities(2,831,626)

Cash Flows from Investing Activities:
Proceeds from sale of investments

4,455,496

Net cash provided by investing activities

4,455,496

Cash Flows from Financing Activities:
Proceeds from issuance of long-term liabilities

371,233

Net cash provided by investing activities

371,233

Net Increase in Cash

1,995,103

Cash and Cash Equivalents, beginning of year

737,530

Cash and Cash Equivalents, end of year$

See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.
6

2,732,633

Creative Commons Corporation (a Nonprofit Corporation)
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

Note 1 -Organization:
Creative Commons Corporation (Creative Commons) is a Massachusetts nonprofit
corporation that develops, supports, and stewards legal and technical infrastructure thatmaximizes digital creativity, sharing, and innovation. Because it can be expensive andburdensome to secure legal permission to use a copyrighted work published to the Web,
Creative Commons provides a set of free copyright licenses and public domain tools thatenable everyone to grant copyright permissions to their creative works so that they can belegally used by others. Creative Commons’ public domain tools allow creators to waive allrights to a work and place it in the public domain, or to mark a work that is already in the
public domain.
Creative Commons enables scientific research and innovation by enabling open accessjournals and the open exchange of scientific data. When a Creative Commons license isapplied to a journal or scientific data, the journal and data can be freely reused by others.
Creative Commons’ licenses and public domain tools are also used to make data anddatabases freely available. The Creative Commons public domain dedication tool is used toremove all copyright restrictions.
Creative Commons also provides the legal infrastructure that powers Open Educational
Resources (OER). OER are openly licensed educational resources that are developed byinstitutions, communities, and individuals to further universal access to education. Creative
Commons’ licenses enable educational materials to be translated for use around the world.
Creative Commons is also developing software and metadata standards to improve search anddiscovery of educational resources.
Creative Commons’ licenses and tools have been developed in consultation with legal experts
and Creative Commons’ affiliate institutions in over 85 jurisdictions. Nearly 2 billion
Creative Commons-licensed works have been published by authors on the Internet.
In 2012, a Canadian subsidiary, 0941176 B.C. LTD, was established to enable Creative
Commons to engage the services of Canadian-based individuals. Creative Commons is thesole shareholder of the subsidiary. A management services agreement is in place between theorganizations and provides the structure for provision of those services to Creative Commonsby the subsidiary through its employees and its operations are reported in the consolidated
financial statements.

7

Creative Commons Corporation (a Nonprofit Corporation)
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

Note 2 -Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
a. Basis of Accounting and Consolidation
The consolidating financial statements of Creative Commons are prepared on the accrualbasis of accounting and in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in
the United States of America (U.S GAAP) specific to nonprofit organizations. The
consolidating financial statements include the accounts of its subsidiary (see Note 1). All
material intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated.
Net Assets Without Donor Restrictions – the portion of net assets that is neither time andpurpose nor permanently restricted by donor-imposed stipulations. These net assets areintended for use by management and the Board of Directors for general operations.
Net Assets With Donor Restrictions – the portion of net assets the use of which is limitedby donor-imposed stipulations that either expire by passage of time or can be fulfilled andremoved by actions of Creative Commons.
b. Estimates
Management uses estimates and assumptions in preparing consolidated financial
statements. Those estimates and assumptions affect the reported amounts of asset andliabilities, the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities, and the reported revenues
and expenses. Actual results could differ from those estimates.
c. Cash and Cash Equivalents and Concentration of Risk
For purposes of the statement of cash flows, Creative Commons considers all unrestricted
highly liquid investments with an initial maturity of three months or less to be cash
equivalents. Creative Commons maintains cash balances at several financial institutions
which from time to time exceed federally insured limits.
d. Revenue Recognition
Unconditional promises to give, which include grants and contributions, are recognized
upon receipt and are recorded as increases in net assets without donor restrictions or withdonor restrictions, depending on the existence and/or nature of any donor restrictions.
When a donor-specified restriction expires (that is when a stipulated time restriction ends
or purpose restriction is accomplished), the net assets with donor restrictions arereclassified to net assets without donor restrictions.
Unconditional contributions and grants receivable are recorded at net realizable value if
expected to be collected in one year and at present value if expected to be collected in
more than one year. No allowance for uncollectible receivables has been recorded basedon management’s evaluation of collections.

8Creative Commons Corporation (a Nonprofit Corporation)
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

At December 31, 2020, all receivables are due within one year.
Program service fees are recorded when earned.
Donated services are reported at fair value in the financial statements when those services
create or enhance non-financial assets or (b) require specialized skills, are performed bypeople with those skills, and would otherwise be purchased by Creative Commons.
Donated services of legal services totaling $37,656 were recorded for the year ended
December 31, 2020.
e. Investments
Investments are carried at fair market value with realized and unrealized gains and losses
reflected in the Statement of Activities and Changes in Net Assets.
f.

Fair Value Measurements
Creative Commons classifies its financial assets and liabilities measured at fair value on arecurring basis based on a fair value hierarchy with three levels of inputs. Fair value isthe price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer liability in an orderlytransaction between market participants at the measurement date. Level 1 values are
based on unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical securities. Level 2
values are based on significant observable market inputs, such as quoted prices for
similar securities and quoted prices in inactive markets. Level 3 values are based on
significant unobservable inputs that reflect Creative Commons’ determination ofassumptions that market participants might reasonably use in valuing the securities. The
valuation levels are not necessarily an indication of the risk or liquidity associated withthe assets and liabilities measured at fair value.

g. Income Taxes
Creative Commons is exempt from income taxes under Internal Revenue Section
501(c)(3) and is exempt from California tax under Section 23701(d) of the Revenue
Taxation Code.
Creative Commons recognizes the effect of income tax positions only if those positions
are more than not likely to be sustained. Management continuously evaluates tax
positions reflected in the Creative Commons’ tax filings and does not believe that any
material uncertain tax positions exist.
h. Functional Expense Allocations
Expenses are allocated directly to program activities if they can be specifically identified
with a program. If not specifically identifiable, expenses are allocated to programs basedon estimated usage by each program. These allocation ratios are reviewed periodically bymanagement.

9Creative Commons Corporation (a Nonprofit Corporation)
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statementsi.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements
AdoptedIn May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued AccountingStandards Update (ASU) 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606),
to supersede nearly all existing revenue recognition guidance under U.S. GAAP. The
core principle of ASU 2014-09 is to recognize revenues when promised goods or services
are transferred to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which anentity is expected to be entitled for those goods or services. ASU 2014-09 defines a fivestep process to achieve this core principle and, in doing so, it is possible more judgment
and estimates may be required within the revenue recognition process than required under
existing U.S. GAAP, including identifying performance obligations in the contract,estimating the amount of variable consideration to include in the transaction price andallocating the transaction price to each performance obligation. Creative Commons
adopted Topic 606 as of January 1, 2020. The adoption of Topic 606 did not have amaterial effect on Creative Commons’ financial statements.
Upcoming
In September 2020, the FASB issued ASU 2020-07, Presentation and Disclosure by Not
for- Profit Entities for Contributed Nonfinancial Assets. This ASU changes the requiredpresentation for in-kind contributions. The first element will require separate presentationon the statement of activities and the second element will require additional disclosure
about how the in-kind gifts were utilized (in which program or part of management andgeneral or fundraising), donor restrictions associated with the gifts and valuation
techniques employed. The ASU is effective for the Creative Commons’ year ending
November 30, 2022. Creative Commons is currently assessing the impact the adoption ofthis ASU will have on its financial statements.

j.

Subsequent Events
Creative Commons evaluated subsequent events with respect to the consolidated financial
statements for the year ended December 31, 2020 through June 15, 2021, the date these
consolidated financial statements were available to be issued. There were no material
subsequent events, except as described in Notes 3 and 7, that required recognition or
additional disclosure.

10Creative Commons Corporation (a Nonprofit Corporation)
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

Note 3 -Long-term Liabilities:
On April 15, 2020, Creative Commons received a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan
under the provisions of the Coronavirus, Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act,in the amount of $342,523. Under the terms of the PPP, certain amounts of the loan may beforgiven if they are used for qualifying expenses, as defined in the PPP, generally payroll,
payroll related costs and facilities costs. Creative Commons used the entire loan amount for
qualifying expenses. Subsequent to year-end, on May 24, 2021, Creative Commons received
notice from the U.S. Small Business Administration that the loan was forgiven in full.
On May 20, 2020, Creative Common’s Canadian subsidiary 0941176 B.C. LTD received aloan in the amount of $40,000 Canadian dollars, or $29,710 American dollars, from the
Canadian government. Under the terms of the loan, certain amounts of the loan may beforgiven if they are used for qualifying expenses, as defined in the PPP, generally payroll,
payroll related costs and facilities costs. If Creative Commons repays 75% of the loan by
December 31, 2022, the remaining balance will be forgiven. If this does not happen, the fullamount must be repaid by December 31, 2025 and any unpaid portion at December 31, 2022
will begin accruing interest at 5% per annum.

Note 4 -Net Assets With Donor Restrictions:
Net assets of $395,819 were released in accordance with respective donor restrictions.
Net assets are restricted as to purpose and time as of December 31, 2020 as follows:

Note 5 -CC Search
Creative Commons Global Summit 2021
CC GLAM Certificate$

75,00025,00013,750

Total$

113,750

Pension Plan:
Creative Commons has a tax-sheltered annuity under IRC Section 403(b), which allows all
employees to contribute through payroll deductions. Creative Commons provides
discretionary matching contributions of 5% of annual salary for all employees who work 20
hours or more per week. Creative Commons’ contributions made during the year ended
December 31, 2020 totaled $ 89,381.

11

Creative Commons Corporation (a Nonprofit Corporation)
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

Note 6 -Liquidity and Availability:
Creative Common’s financial assets at December 31, 2020 that are available to meet general
expenditures over the next twelve months are as follows:
Financial assets:
Cash and cash equivalents
Accounts receivable
Investments$ 2,732,633
155,624723
2,888,980

Less:
Net assets with donor restrictions
Financial assets available to meet general expenditures
within one year

Note 7 -113,750$ 2,775,230

Subsequent Events:
Subsequent to year-end, Creative Commons received a five-year, $5,000,000 conditional
grant in support of its major program. As the first milestone was met in May 2021, the first
installment of $1,000,000 is expected to be received by Creative Commons in July 2021.
As a result of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, economic uncertainties have arisen
which may negatively impact financial activity for the Foundation in the fiscal year ending
December 31, 2021. Other financial impact(s) could occur though such potential impact is
unknown at this time.

12