While I had heard of Creative Commons before, I had never used it before and was really unfamiliar with the specifics of its mission. This organization aims to create a community for users to legally share their creativity on a global scale.

Creative Commons provides free, easy-to-use copyright licenses to make a simple and standardized way to give the public permission to share and use your creative work–on conditions of your choice.

About page of Creative Commons

Going forward, I think my search strategies for digital content will be forever changed. Like most people, I have been a loyal Google Images searcher, and I never really thought twice about if I was allowed to use the images I found–I just used them. I would never think about using someone’s written work without permission or a proper citation, but I never thought about images in that same way. Now that I am more aware of copyright and the purpose of Creative Commons, I have no reason to continue that habit. I can take advantage of all the images Creative Commons has to offer and feel confident that I am allowed to use them and can provide proper attribution. I can also maintain my loyalty to Google Images but use its search tools to be shown only the images I have a right to use.

I would definitely be willing to share the work I create and use Creative Commons licensing. Although I wouldn’t really consider myself a creator, I understand how important both roles of Creative Commons users are. If people aren’t willing to share their own work, there will be nothing for users searching for images to find. Maintaining that balance between creators and users is extremely important for the success of the Creative Commons organization as a whole.