Creative Commons Terms Scorecard

Grade A- — Mostly protective (score 86/100)

Creative Commons reserves broad rights to terminate accounts and modify terms, but does not claim ownership of user content.

Standard terms with broad termination rights and indemnification requirements.

Terms at a glance

Sells your data
NO
Forced arbitration
NO
Trains AI on your content
NO
Collects biometric data
NO
Shares data with government
UNCLEAR
Easy to cancel
YES
Tells you before changes
YES
Deletes data on request
UNCLEAR

What the terms actually say

Section 3 — Changes to the Terms

If we feel the modifications are material, we will make reasonable efforts to post a prominent notice on the relevant Website(s) and notify those of you with a current CC Login Service account via email.

The company commits to notifying registered users via email if they make significant changes to the terms.

Section 16 — Termination

Creative Commons reserves the right to modify or discontinue your account or your membership in the CCGN at any time for any reason or no reason at all.

The company can terminate your account at their sole discretion without needing a specific cause.

Section 12 — Indemnification

you agree to indemnify and hold harmless Creative Commons... including reasonable attorneys’ fees, resulting directly or indirectly from or arising out of (a) your violation of the Terms...

You are required to cover the company's legal costs and damages if your actions lead to a third-party claim against them.

Section 16 — Termination

By you: You may immediately stop accessing or using the Services at any time.

You have the right to terminate your agreement with the company simply by ceasing use of the services.

Section 17 — Miscellaneous Terms

any disputes between Creative Commons and you concerning these Terms, and/or any of the Services may only brought in a federal or state court of competent jurisdiction sitting in the Northern District of California

Legal disputes are restricted to a specific jurisdiction in California, which may be inconvenient for users located elsewhere.

Last reviewed 2026-07-26 under rubric v3.5.

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