As a type of license adopted at the time of making the owned data open to the public, a license called "creative commons license (hereinafter referred to as "CC license") is widely used in Japan and in many other countries. This organization is also recommending the use of the license indicated as CC license in the Open Data Guidance, Version 1.

The content of the CC license was revised last year and draft Version 4.0 was published. Period for public comments for the draft Japanese version runs from January 1 to February 1 of this year.

Main revised points are as follows:

- Rules concerning obligations of indication such as credit indication were put together so that they can be understood more easily.
- The scope of rights other than the copyright (such as database right) was enlarged so that works and materials subject to licenses can be utilized more easily.
- The way of description was unified worldwide so that the consistency of licenses is improved.

While the Japanese Government currently adopts Government of Japan Standard Terms of Use (Version 1.0), there is a possibility that the above-mentioned CC license comes to be used in future replacing the former. In the meantime, a number of municipalities are already using the CC license. Your frank opinions as to whether the CC license is actually easy to handle are always welcome.

This organization continues to undertake activities towards utilization and dissemination of open data and big data throughout this year and beyond. Your support to our activities is highly appreciated.