Creative Commons licences  – a set of ready-made licences creators can apply to their work to enable and encourage sharing and reuse – are 12 years old in December, and the Creative Commons team have produced a great infographic detailing the current state of the commons. A full report looking to the future is also available – both are well worth your time, and do remember that if you’re adding your research output to NECTAR, Creative Commons licensing of uploaded material is supported – contact the NECTAR team (nectar@northampton.ac.uk) for help and advice.