Your work powers the internet. You deserve a say in how it is used.
Digital Creators Union helps creators push for consent, credit, clearer platform rules and fair value when AI companies and online platforms use, rank, train on or profit from creative work.
Free to join. Your work remains yours.
DCU is being built by creators to make the AI and platform economy fairer for the people whose work powers it.
What DCU actually does
Protects creator choice
We push for creators to be asked before their work is used in AI systems, commercial datasets or new platform products.
Demands credit and clarity
We work for clear information about where creator work goes, how it is used and whether creators receive credit.
Builds fairer standards
We develop creator-first principles for consent, licensing, attribution, payment transparency and the right to challenge unfair use.
Holds platforms accountable
We gather creator evidence and use it to challenge opaque rules, unexplained decisions and systems that affect creators’ reach, income and rights.
DCU is not here to manage creators. It is here to make the systems around creators work more fairly.
DCU is not a talent agency, influencer-management company or content marketplace. We are building creator-led standards, evidence and accountability for the systems that shape how creative work is used and valued.
What DCU is building
Creator Rights Observatory
A creator-led evidence base on AI use, attribution, platform rules, visibility, payments and disputes.
Creator Consent Standard
A creator-first standard for permission, disclosure, attribution, usage records, payment transparency and withdrawal.
Platform Transparency Index
A practical framework for assessing whether platform rules, monetisation, AI policies and appeal routes are understandable and fair to creators.
Creator Value Lab
A programme exploring how creators can receive fairer value when platforms and AI systems profit from their work.
DCU is building the evidence, standards and accountability tools creators need to be heard in the systems that shape their work and income.
Built for every creator whose work creates value
DCU is for writers, illustrators, photographers, filmmakers, musicians, designers, performers, journalists, developers, educators and independent digital creators.
If your work can be copied, reused, analysed, ranked, trained on, licensed, monetised or made less visible by a platform, DCU is for you.
The rules changed. Creator rights must catch up.
AI systems can learn from creative work. Platforms can shape who gets seen, paid or removed. Yet creators are often left without clear consent, meaningful credit, fair terms or a workable route to challenge decisions.
DCU exists to help creators organise evidence, set better standards and demand a fairer share of the value their work creates.
How DCU creates change
Creators share what is happening
Founding creators take part in surveys, listening sessions and working groups on AI use, credit, platform rules, pay and visibility.
DCU turns experience into standards
We turn creator evidence into practical principles for consent, attribution, licensing transparency, fair value and platform accountability.
DCU takes those standards to decision-makers
We engage platforms, AI companies, policymakers and partners with a clear creator-led evidence base and practical recommendations.
Four ways DCU works for creators
Consent
Creators should know when their work is being used and have a meaningful choice.
Credit
Creators should be acknowledged when their work creates commercial or cultural value.
Fair value
Creators should have credible routes to fair payment when their work generates value for others.
Transparent platforms
Creators deserve understandable rules, meaningful explanations and workable ways to challenge decisions affecting their work and income.
Join the Founding Creator Network
Help build the creator-led standards that platforms and AI companies will increasingly need to meet.
Join to receive updates, take part in research, contribute to creator listening sessions and help set DCU’s priorities from the beginning.
Join freeJoining does not transfer ownership of your work, give DCU authority to act for you, guarantee payment or provide legal representation.
Independent by design
DCU may seek transparent support for independent creator research, consultation and standards work. No funder can buy control over creator data, DCU findings, recommendations or public positions.