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The story of Creative Commons "A commons arises whenever a given community decides it wishes to manage a resource in a collective manner, with special regard for equitable access, use and sustainability." - David Bollier

The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) defines copyright as "a legal term used to describe the rights that creators have over their literary and artistic works. Works covered by copyright range from books, music, paintings, sculpture, and films, to computer programs, databases, advertisements, maps, and technical drawings."

While copyright defends the author/creator's economic and moral rights, the internet and digital technologies have made creating, duplicating, adapting and sharing digital content easy. This mismatch between what technology enables and copyright restricts leads to the start of the Creative Commons story.

In 1998 the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act was enacted in the United States. It was also known as the Mickey Mouse Protection Act, since it happened just before the original Mickey Mouse cartoon would have come into the public domain. The CTEA added 20 years to the protection provided by copyright, and applied retroactively for works created from 1 January 1978 (thereby including the Mickey Mouse cartoon and a number of other works from entering the public domain).

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Lawrence Lessig, a professor of law at Harvard Law School, represented Eric Eldred, a web publisher making a living from public domain works, in challenging the constitutionality of the CTEA. First filed in 1999 in the district court, it went through the Court of Appeals after losing in 2000, and the CTEA was eventually held constitutional by the Supreme Court in 2003.

Lessig went on to create the non-profit organisation Creative Commons, and a set of free public licenses that could be used by creators to share their work with less restrictions than copyright (all rights reserved). Copyright is automatic, but sometimes a creator might want to encourage the use of their work for the public good. The CC licenses allows them to do just that. It gives them a standardised way to grant permissions to others within the boundaries of copyright law, including copying, distributing, editing, remixing, and building upon their work.

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Creative Commons is also part of the wider Open Movement. Joining communities such as the CC Global Network and other communities working towards openness (for example in educational resources) enables a growing network of people, organisations and countries supporting the value of sharing, openness and human collaboration.

...Everyone has something to contribute...

- Creative Commons certificate course (What is Creative Commons?)

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References

“What is Creative Commons?” (https://certificates.creativecommons.org/cccertedu/chapter/1-1-the-story-of-creative-commons/) by Creative Commons. CC BY 4.0.

Copyright. (n.d.). World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). Retrieved June 13, 2021, from https://www.wipo.int/copyright/en/

Chalmers, R. (2012, October 29). Explainer: what is the open movement? The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-the-open-movement-10308 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons CC BY license.