Creative Commons Campaign
Introduction
Creative Commons is a non-profit that offers a flexible copyright for creative work. Using copyright licenses that provide a range of freedoms and protections, Creative Commons builds upon all rights reserved of traditional copyright to create a voluntary some rights reserved license. Millions of works are now released under a Creative Commons license and Yahoo! even have a Creative Commons specific search system.
The Creative Commons Licenses
Traditional copyright, shown on the left in the diagram above, reserves all rights for the creator, meaning that we have very few freedoms to use, copy and remix their work. Public domain, on the right of the diagram, reserves no rights for the creator giving the public every freedom but offering the creator no protection. Creative Commons sits in the middle, offering the following protections and freedoms:
- Attribution - all licenses require that you give credit where it is due
- Derivative use - you can allow or deny the right to make derivatives (remixes) from your work
- Commercial use - you can likewise allow or deny commercial use
- Share Alike - you can force people to release their derivative works under the same license, keeping their work in the commons
Take action!
You can help promote Creative Commons in a variety of ways. You can:
Release any of your own work under Creative Commons licenses, and encourage others to do the same. Picking a license is easy using the Creative Commons license chooser
Join one of the LocalGroups and offer to do any of the following:
- Hold a Creative Commons stall at community events
- Give a presentation on Creative Commons to local schools, colleges, universities, community events, etc.
Participate or start up a RemixProject
Learn More
Follow these links to learn more about Creative Commons: