15 CC: Organization, Licenses, Movement

Creative Commons as an organization originally formed to provide licenses to be used by creators all over the world. Although motivated by U.S. Copyright restrictions, the shared knowledge and collective creations remain the driving force behind the organization. The Internet and digital technologies have changed the way creations are shared and has made remixing the new norm. However, although seemingly innocent, these sharing activities could be in violation of copyright law. Creative Commons provides creators the ability to license their work to be shared with a chosen set of permissions. Today, CC licenses are used by nearly 2 billion online works, across 9 million websites. CC icons serve as a non-copyright function in communities of shared practices and act as a signal to a set of values of open sharing.

Creative Commons Set of Licenses are legal tools that function as permissions for creators to share their works with the public under less restrictive measures than traditional copyright. These licenses are utilized by YouTube, Flicker, Wikipedia, and OpenStax. In addition, they are used by institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum. The CC icons have a shared meaning for shared values, such as openness and collaboration. What CC tries to accomplish with its licenses is to serve as core legal tools that have been vetted by legal experts and function as an alternative for creators to share their works with the public. Currently, there are six different types of CC-Licenses.

As a movement, Creative Commons is comprised of a global group of activists fighting for copyright reform. This includes advancing policies to mandate open access to publicly funded educational resources, research, and data. Interestingly enough, most of the people and institutions that are a part of the CC movement are not formally connected to Creative Commons, but rather share a common set of values. Creative Commons does exist as a formal Global Network, which includes lawyers, activists, scholars, artists, and creators. In addition, there are parallel movements of Open Data, Open Educational Resources, and Open Innovation.

“What is Creative Commons / pages 7-9” by Creative Commons CC BY 4.0

Creative Commons and Commerce.ogv  Creative Commons CC BY 4.0

• Written by Lawrence Lessig
• Music by Lesser
• Narrated by Eric Steuer
• Slides designed by Barbara Occhiogrosso Date: 2007