Creative Commons Announces Tentative Support For AI ‘Pay-To-Crawl’ Systems

Creative Commons Announces Tentative Support For AI ‘Pay-To-Crawl’ Systems

Creative Commons signals cautious support for pay-to-crawl AI systems Creative Commons is entering the growing debate over how AI companies should pay for online content. The nonprofit, best known for its open licensing framework, has announced tentative support for “pay-to-crawl” systems that would require AI bots to compensate websites when scraping their content. The move raises new questions for publishers, creators, and AI developers alike. Supporters see it as a sustainable revenue path, while critics worry it could reshape the open web. At its core, the proposal asks a simple question many are now searching for: should AI pay every time it reads the internet? Creative Commons’ answer is cautious, but increasingly clear. The organization believes the model deserves serious consideration if implemented responsibly. Credit: BlackJack3D / Getty Images What pay-to-crawl means for the open web Pay-to-crawl refers to automated systems that charge AI web crawlers when they access and extra…