Critical Commons is a public media archive and fair use advocacy network that supports the transformative reuse of media in scholarly and creative contexts. Critical Commons is also part of the technical and conceptual architecture for numerous electronic publishing efforts that directly engage media as objects of analysis, curation and critique. At the heart of Critical Commons is an online platform for viewing, tagging, sharing, annotating curating and spreading media. Our goal is to build open, informed communities around media-based research, teaching, learning and creativity.