CreativeWork Schema — The General Type for Original Work
CreativeWork is schema.org's parent type for anything someone made: articles, books, videos, images, courses, and more. Use it directly only when no more specific type fits.
Generate CreativeWork JSON-LDWhat is CreativeWork?
On schema.org, CreativeWork is "the most generic kind of creative work, including books, movies, photographs, software programs, etc." Article, Book, Movie, Recipe, VideoObject, ImageObject, Course, Dataset, SoftwareApplication, WebPage, and Review are all subtypes of it, and they all inherit its properties.
That makes CreativeWork two things at once:
- A type you can use directly for original work that has no closer match, such as a downloadable template, a worksheet, a slide deck, an original painting, or a report.
- The source of properties that every subtype shares, such as
author,datePublished,license, andabout. Learning them here helps with every other content type.
Pick the most specific type that fits
Search engines get more from a specific type than from the general one. Before using CreativeWork, check whether one of these describes your page:
| What the page is | Use |
|---|---|
| News story, blog post, or editorial | Article, NewsArticle, or BlogPosting |
| Book or ebook | Book |
| Film | Movie |
| TV show | TVSeries |
| Recipe | Recipe |
| Video | VideoObject |
| Photo or illustration | ImageObject |
| Course | Course |
| Dataset | Dataset |
| App or software | SoftwareApplication |
| Song or album | MusicRecording or MusicAlbum |
| Podcast episode | PodcastEpisode |
| Review | Review |
| Generic page | WebPage |
If none of them fit, CreativeWork is the right choice.
Google Search status
CreativeWork has no rich result of its own. Two things are worth knowing:
- Google's paywalled-content markup applies to CreativeWork and several of its subtypes. If part of your work is for subscribers only, mark it with
isAccessibleForFreeandhasPart, as in the members-only report example on this page. - Google's rich results for content, such as articles, books, movies, recipes, and videos, are tied to the specific subtypes. Another reason to use the most specific type that fits.
Properties worth including
All of these are defined on CreativeWork, so every subtype can use them too:
name: the title of the work.authororcreator: the person or organization that made it. Use a Person or Organization, not a plain string, when you can.datePublished,dateModified,dateCreated: when it was published, last changed, and made.description: a short summary that matches the page.urlandimage: the work's page and a representative image.license: a URL pointing to the license, such as a Creative Commons page.about: the topic of the work.inLanguage: the language, as a code likeenores.copyrightHolderandcopyrightYear: who owns the rights and since when.isAccessibleForFree:falseif the work is behind a paywall or login.isPartOfandhasPart: how the work relates to a larger collection or to its sections.
How to build one here
- 01
Confirm no more specific type fits (see the table above).
- 02
Enter the name, description, and page URL as they appear on the page.
- 03
Add the author or creator as a Person or Organization.
- 04
Add publish and update dates, and a license URL if the work is shared under one.
- 05
If part of the work is paywalled, add isAccessibleForFree and hasPart.
- 06
Copy the JSON-LD into the page and check it in the Schema Markup Validator.
Common mistakes
- Using CreativeWork when a subtype fits. A blog post marked as CreativeWork loses the article-specific meaning. Switch to the specific type.
- Author as a plain name only.
"author": "Jordan"is valid, but a Person or Organization object with a name and URL is clearer. - Dates that don't match the page. Keep
datePublishedanddateModifiedin sync with what visitors see. - License as text. Use the URL of the license so it can be followed and recognized.
Recommended properties
nameauthor or creatordatePublisheddateModifieddescriptionurlimagelicenseaboutinLanguageisAccessibleForFree
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"name": "Content Calendar Template 2026",
"description": "A spreadsheet template for planning a year of blog and social posts.",
"url": "https://www.example.com/templates/content-calendar-2026",
"image": "https://www.example.com/images/content-calendar-2026.png",
"author": {
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Example Studio",
"url": "https://www.example.com"
},
"datePublished": "2026-01-05",
"dateModified": "2026-09-12",
"inLanguage": "en",
"license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
"about": {
"@type": "Thing",
"name": "Content marketing"
}
}{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"name": "Harbor at Dawn",
"description": "Oil on canvas, 24 × 36 inches.",
"url": "https://www.example.com/gallery/harbor-at-dawn",
"image": "https://www.example.com/gallery/images/harbor-at-dawn.jpg",
"creator": {
"@type": "Person",
"name": "Jordan Rivera"
},
"dateCreated": "2025-06-14",
"copyrightHolder": {
"@type": "Person",
"name": "Jordan Rivera"
},
"copyrightYear": 2025,
"genre": "Landscape painting"
}{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"name": "2026 State of Local SEO Report",
"url": "https://www.example.com/reports/local-seo-2026",
"author": {
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Example Research"
},
"datePublished": "2026-08-20",
"isAccessibleForFree": false,
"hasPart": {
"@type": "WebPageElement",
"isAccessibleForFree": false,
"cssSelector": ".members-only"
}
}FAQs
Should I use CreativeWork or a more specific type?ShowHide
Use the most specific type that is true. A blog post is BlogPosting, a book is Book, a video is VideoObject. Use CreativeWork only when none of its subtypes fit, such as a downloadable template, a worksheet, or an original piece of art with no closer type.
Does CreativeWork get a rich result?ShowHide
Not on its own. Google's paywalled-content markup accepts CreativeWork, and Google's rich results use its subtypes, such as Article, Book, Movie, Recipe, and VideoObject.
author or creator?ShowHide
Both are valid on any CreativeWork. author is the common choice for written work and is what Google's article guidance uses. creator is a broader term for whoever made the work, and fits art, media, and templates.
How do I state the license?ShowHide
Put a URL in license that points to the license text, for example a Creative Commons license page or your own terms page.