13 The Creation of Creative Commons
In the Beginning…There was Copyright |
The birth of Creative Commons emerged from a fundamental desire to share a love for literature. In 1995, Eric Eldred, a retired computer programmer living in New Hampshire, decided to share his love for the literature of Hawthorne on the Web. Eric Eldred was frustrated his daughters did not share the same love for Hawthorne and thought an electronic version of the author’s work, with links to photos and explanatory text, his daughters might reach the same level of appreciation.
Although the venture did not convert his daughters, it did spark a new hobby for Eldred. He would soon build an entire library of free and accessible, public domain works published on the Web.
However, Eldred’s library was not as simple as publishing public domain works, he was ultimately, either knowingly or not, publishing a derivative of the works. In other words, although these works were a part of the public domain, by publishing the works digitally, the original format had been altered and therefore considered a “new” work. This was perfectly acceptable, just as Disney altered public domain works for a new 21st century audience or Dover Press republishing public domain works into a new commercially viable printed edition.
Eldred’s troubles began with an attempt to publish works that were thought to be public domain…just not quite yet.
“Free Culture” Chapter 13:Eldred by Lawrence Lessig Creative Commons CC BY 4.0
Walter Crane – Library of Congress[2], Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7397327