Open access

Creative Commons began in 2021 and sprang from a tension with the development of the internet and with the existing copyright laws that applies to original works and limits use of these works by all other than the copyright owners. From its beginning it was created as a non-profit organization that could offer a way to make copyrighted work usable by the public and thus use some of the potential the web offers in terms of accessibility.

Most people will know the CC icons that are often encountered on research papers. The Creative Commons icons is a visual for the set of licenses that are developed under the Creative Commons and represent several standardized ways to share copyrighted work. Although the licenses are often met in abbreviated form, there is legal code supporting each license which are also available on their site: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
The licenses works as an amendment to existing copyright laws.

References:
The Story of Creative Commons by Creative Commons, CC BY 4.0.  
Eldred v. Ashcroft by Wikipedia, CC BY-SA
Creative Commons Today by Creative Commons, CC BY 4.0.