Creative Commons, Open Access, Free/Libre Open‐Source Software
Kat Braybrooke · The International Encyclopedia of Anthropology · 2021
Creative commons (CC), open access (OA), and free/libre open‐source software (FLOSS) are three examples of how commoning, or the social practices of producing, using, and maintaining a public resource for collective benefit, can proceed in digital terrains. Commoning is historic and rooted in ancient traditions, and there are many different kinds of commons, from common‐pool resources such as oceans, air, and land to knowledge commons, which consist of data, content, and other intellectual property that has become digital, such as paintings, photographs, and publications. CC, OA, and FLOSS offer different kinds of commons‐based license frameworks that enable creators to make their work freely available on the web. They are also commons‐based movements, consisting of diverse virtual communities of hackers, makers, scholars, developers, volunteers, and advocates around the world who believe universal access to knowledge should be a public right—the critical dynamics of which anthropology is especially suited for examining.