CCC helps organizations integrate, access, and share information through licensing, content, software, and professional services. Founded in 1978 as a not-for-profit organization in response to negotiations preceding the United States Copyright Act of 1976, the CCC still maintains not-for-profit status in New York, but for federal purposes is a for-profit corporation.

CCC is a long-time supporter of the creation, development, and proliferation of persistent identifiers (PIDs) that are globally unique and associated with accurate metadata about an article, a grant, a person, a project, or an organization, play a vital role in the ecosystem.