[2] The company began in 1978 as a private consulting firm doing technical writing, based in the Cambridge, Massachusetts area.

[3] In 1993 O'Reilly Media created the first web portal, when they launched one of the first Web-based resources, Global Network Navigator (GNN).

[4] From 1997 to 2020, O'Reilly was known for producing tech conferences focused on areas ranging from software architecture, AI, big data, web development, design and more.

[2] Although O'Reilly Media got its start in publishing, roughly two decades after its genesis the company expanded into event production.

In 2001, O'Reilly launched Safari Books Online, a subscription-based service providing access to ebooks and videos as a joint venture with the Pearson Technology Group.

To do this, Dale Dougherty and Tim O'Reilly decided to use the term "Web 2.0" coined in January 1999 by Darcy DiNucci.

Web 2.0 framed what distinguished the companies that survived the dot com bust from those that died, and identified key drivers of future success, including what is now called cloud computing, big data, and new approaches to iterative, data-driven software development.

Concerned over their obligation to take reasonable means to enforce their trade and service marks, CMP sent a cease and desist letter to the non-profit Irish organizers of the event.

The legal issue was resolved by O'Reilly's apologizing for the early and aggressive involvement of attorneys, rather than simply calling the organizers, and allowing them to use the service mark for this single event.

[17] O'Reilly uses Creative Commons' Founders Copyright, which grants the company exclusive use of content produced by the authors who sign with them for 28 years.

Although it is shorter than the current default duration of the monopoly in copyright law, it is still quite restrictive compared with other, widely used, licenses offered by Creative Commons.