Creative Commons (CC) will terminate the api.creativecommons.org service on 2026 Nov 02. Please note, however, that hosting or software failure may render the service unavailable before that date.

Removal Rationale

• The API depends on the legacy ccEngine, which was replaced by the current CC Legal Tools on 2023-09-27. It is no longer maintainable.
• The infrastructure hosting the API is no longer supported.
• The data provided changes infrequently enough that an API is a suboptimal solution.

Next Steps

• Evaluate existing flat files to replace API:
  • creativecommons.org/rdf/index.rdf
    • This ccREL file has existed for a long time, but has never been very visible. Its accuracy was significantly improved with the new CC Legal Tools App static site generation starting in 2023 September.
• creativecommons/cc-legal-tools-data: config/cc-legal-tools.csv
  • This file is new this year. Its generation in the CC Legal Tools App can be modified or a new file can be generated if additional data is needed, a different file format is needed, etc.
• If you are using DSpace, see: Replace api.creativecommons.org DSpace/DSpace#11808.
• Please use the following form to share concerns or request ongoing communication: Sunsetting api.creativecommons.org feedback.

Related blog posts

• 2024-05-28: New CreativeCommons.org launched 2023 September
• 2011-08-31: Summary of current licensing tools
• 2011-01-13: CC REST API Updated for Public Domain Mark
• 2009-04-02: Enumeration descriptions in CC Web Services
• 2008-07-24: cc.license in alpha