15 Eldred vs Ashcroft
The Formation of Creative Commons |
Eldred was distraught over the CTEA and decided to fight this new law. He began his fight as a disruptor and decided to publish the works of Robert Frost, despite facing civil disobedience. However, his plan became a federal offence after Congress passed the No Electronic Theft Act in the same year. Eldred had no other recourse than to take his fight to the courts.
Enter Lawrence Lessing into the picture. Lessing was a Stanford University law professor and agreed with Eldred that the Act was unconstitutional. He fought the case citing two distinct claims: (1) that extending existing terms violated the Constitution’s “Limited Times” requirement, and (2) that extending terms by another twenty years violated the First Amendment.
The case, known as Eldred vs. Ashcroft went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court…and lost. The Act was upheld.
Inspired by the development of the CTEA and results of Eldred vs. Ashcroft, Lessing and supporters created an organization called Creative Commons. This nonprofit organization was created in 2002 and would provide a set of free, public licenses that would allow creators to retain their copyrights while sharing their work under more flexible terms.
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“Free Culture” Chapter 13:Eldred by Lawrence Lessig Creative Commons CC BY 4.0
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