Creative Commons Launches CC Signals to Foster Ethical AI Data Sharing

Nonprofit Creative Commons, renowned for its role in the licensing movement that enables creators to share their works while retaining copyright, is taking a significant step into the AI era with the launch of a new project called CC signals. Announced on Wednesday, CC signals is a framework designed to help dataset holders specify how their content can or cannot be reused by machines, particularly for training AI models. The project addresses a pressing concern: the potential erosion of internet openness due to the relentless demand for data to fuel AI advancements. This could lead to websites being walled off or protected behind paywalls, limiting access to vital information. Creative Commons aims to provide a balanced and sustainable solution through a combination of legal and technical tools, fostering a framework for dataset sharing. As the organization explained in its blog post, many companies are currently struggling with their policies and terms of service regarding AI training. For example, X initially permitted third parties to train AI models on its public data but later rescinded this allowance. Reddit has started using its robots.txt file, which typically guides web crawlers, to restrict bots from scraping data for AI training. Cloudflare is exploring a solution that charges AI bots for scraping data and employs tools to confuse bots that ignore "no crawl" directives. Open-source developers have also created tools to slow down or waste the resources of AI crawlers that disrespect their data usage guidelines. In contrast, CC signals propose a set of tools that offer a spectrum of legal enforceability while carrying significant ethical weight, akin to the Creative Commons licenses that currently govern billions of openly licensed creative works online. "CC signals are designed to sustain the commons in the age of AI," said Anna Tumadóttir, CEO of Creative Commons. "Just as the CC licenses helped build the open web, we believe CC signals will help shape an open AI ecosystem grounded in reciprocity." The project is still in its early stages, but initial designs have been published on the Creative Commons website and GitHub page. The organization is actively soliciting public feedback and plans to launch an alpha version (early test) in November 2025. Additionally, Creative Commons will host a series of town halls to gather input and address questions, ensuring that the framework meets the diverse needs of the community. By introducing CC signals, Creative Commons hopes to strike a balance between protecting creators' rights and promoting an open and ethical AI landscape.