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Ford Foundation Requires Creative Commons Licenses for Funded Projects

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image © QThomas Bower

The Ford Foundation has adopted a policy, effective February 1, that requires its grantees and consultants to use the Creative Commons license CC-BY 4.0 for all projects and research funded by the foundation. Materials resulting from these funded projects and research will be available free of charge, requesting permission to reuse the materials will not be required, and individuals will be able to copy, redistribute, and adapt the materials, provided they give appropriate credit to the original author.

The foundation noted:

The Ford Foundation is proud to join other organizations, including Open Society Foundations, the Packard Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which use some form of Creative Commons license. Working together with these partners and others, the foundation is reaffirming its commitment to make the philanthropic sector a leader in information sharing and knowledge transfer.

For more details, see the February 3, 2015, Ford Foundation news release, “Ford Foundation Expands Creative Commons Licensing for All Grant-Funded Projects.”

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