diff --git a/cms/envs/common.py b/cms/envs/common.py
index 8a2a3666e0..5597e7ce1a 100644
--- a/cms/envs/common.py
+++ b/cms/envs/common.py
@@ -151,8 +151,8 @@ FEATURES = {
     'AUTOPLAY_VIDEOS': False,
 
     # If set to True, new Studio users won't be able to author courses unless
-    # edX has explicitly added them to the course creator group.
-    'ENABLE_CREATOR_GROUP': False,
+    # an Open edX admin has added them to the course creator group.
+    'ENABLE_CREATOR_GROUP': True,
 
     # whether to use password policy enforcement or not
     'ENFORCE_PASSWORD_POLICY': False,
diff --git a/cms/envs/devstack.py b/cms/envs/devstack.py
index 31f0d71081..a5e32fa831 100644
--- a/cms/envs/devstack.py
+++ b/cms/envs/devstack.py
@@ -119,6 +119,9 @@ SEARCH_ENGINE = "search.elastic.ElasticSearchEngine"
 ########################## Certificates Web/HTML View #######################
 FEATURES['CERTIFICATES_HTML_VIEW'] = True
 
+########################## AUTHOR PERMISSION #######################
+FEATURES['ENABLE_CREATOR_GROUP'] = False
+
 ################################# DJANGO-REQUIRE ###############################
 
 # Whether to run django-require in debug mode.
diff --git a/cms/envs/test.py b/cms/envs/test.py
index 53db46a3cb..62d0eefea4 100644
--- a/cms/envs/test.py
+++ b/cms/envs/test.py
@@ -323,6 +323,9 @@ SEARCH_ENGINE = "search.tests.mock_search_engine.MockSearchEngine"
 
 FEATURES['ENABLE_ENROLLMENT_TRACK_USER_PARTITION'] = True
 
+########################## AUTHOR PERMISSION #######################
+FEATURES['ENABLE_CREATOR_GROUP'] = False
+
 # teams feature
 FEATURES['ENABLE_TEAMS'] = True