A quick overview of Creative Commons
Creative Commons–A nonprofit organization founded on the notion that some people would prefer to share their creative works (and the power to copy, modify, and distribute their works) instead of exercising all of the restrictions of copyright law. (From Lessig transcript)
Learn: Creative Commons was founded in 2001 as a way for people to share their works in either a limited or completely unlimited way. Whereas copyright laws are in place to tell you what you can’t do with a certain work, Creative Commons licenses assure you that sharing said work is a-ok. Click the link for a general history. Some highlights:
-By 2003, 1 million CC licenses in use. 2004 showed 4.7 million. In 2005, that number jumped to 20 million. In 2006, 50 million. 2007 showed 90 million, and 2008 showed 130 million. What happened in 2005 that caused such a spike?
-Lawrence Lessig was a founding board member and CEO, but stepped down in 2008 to focus on Change Congress.
Nine Inch Nails released a full-length album with a CC license in 2008.
Share: The only way to keep this resource fresh is to continue to contribute content. If you have a work that you want to license, and you aren’t contractually bound to any other distributor, you can go here to obtain a CC license. You can choose to give users the right to manipulate or sell your work, and you can still retain your rights to the materials as well as be credited for those works – they call this a “some rights reserved” copyright.
Do: When visiting Creative Commons for materials, you first specify whether your derivative will be manipulated and whether it will be used for commercial purposes. You then have the option of searching through Google Images and Web, Yahoo Web, Flickr, Jamendo, SpinExpress, and WikiMedia Commons for materials pertaining to your keywords. Creative Commons then finds materials that meet those usage criteria.
Be aware that there is a disclaimer: you have to verify that the results of your query have CC licenses.