Creative Commons Terms Scorecard

Grade B — Fair terms (score 77/100)

Creative Commons ToS eliminates all monetary liability, allows account termination for any reason, mandates Northern District of California venue, and imposes broad user indemnification. Notice of changes and right to sue are protective.

Standard ToS with broad liability waiver, unilateral termination, and venue restriction

Terms at a glance

Sells your data
NO
Forced arbitration
NO
Trains AI on your content
UNCLEAR
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... except that material changes will take effect 30 days after the change is made and identified as material.

Material changes get email notice plus a 30-day effective period before binding the user.

Section 7 — Registration / 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.

CC can terminate or remove your account at its sole discretion, without cause or prior notice.

Section 11 — Limitation of Liability

IN NO EVENT WILL CREATIVE COMMONS BE LIABLE TO YOU ON ANY LEGAL THEORY FOR ANY INCIDENTAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, PUNITIVE, ACTUAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR OTHER DAMAGES...

All monetary liability is disclaimed regardless of legal theory, effectively a $0 cap.

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... (c) your use of any of the Services, and/or (d) the Content you make available on any of the Services.

User must defend and pay CC's legal costs for almost any claim tied to service use or posted content.

Section 16 — Termination

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

Users can terminate the agreement simply by ceasing to use the services.

Section 17 — Miscellaneous Terms (Dispute Resolution)

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

All disputes must be litigated in Northern California regardless of user location.

Last reviewed 2026-09-06 under rubric v3.5.

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