Basics of Creative Commons

Basics of Creative Commons

How it began, what it is and how to get involved

Attribution

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The Basics of Creative Commons by Krista Jacobson is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International.

The First Act

The original intent of copyright, or the intellectual property clause of the Copyright Act of 1790, was to promote the creation of “science and useful arts” by allotting exclusive rights to authors for fourteen years with the option of a renewal for fourteen more years.

An unlikely duo

However, in the centuries since, creators, like Sonny Bono, and corporations, such as Disney, have lobbied Congress for extensions of copyright protection. The most recent extension came with the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act which provides creators with protection for their lives plus 70 years, purportedly to align it with protections offered in Europe. Or, for items produced by anonymous or pseudonymous authors or produced under work-for-hire, 95 years since publication or 120 years from creation, whichever is shorter.

The Supremes Got You Babe

Not everyone agreed with the extension and felt the initial intent of the intellectual property clause was to encourage creation but not undermine public interest. One of those was Eric Eldred who published online works that entered the public domain. He felt the new law was unconstitutional and sued the United States government (represented by Janet Reno and later John Ashcroft). In a 7-2 decision on Eldred vs. Ashcroft, the Supreme Court found in favor of the US Government. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, writing for the majority, found the CTEA was within the rights of Congress as long as the term remained “limited” and that the act didn’t restrict First Amendment rights.

Let's Share Anyway

While Eldred lost, he and his lawyer, Lawrence Lessig, recognized the fundamental tension between the restrictive copyright laws and the burgeoning openness of the internet was not going to go away. Creators of blog and online content were not always opposed to sharing with others. Lessig and Eldred wanted to provide a simple method for creators to do so while maintaining copyright.

The Licenses

In 2001,Lessig and Eldred created the Creative Commons with Hal Abelson, a professor at MIT. Creative Commons is a non-profit organization that develops accessible licenses that creators can use to share their content globally. In 2002, the first of these licenses were published.

In the past 22 years, what is created and shared on the internet has exploded in number and in medium as internet speeds get faster. Currently, there are 2.5 billion works with creative commons licenses. Today, there are numerous ways to get involved with the Copyright Clearance movement. The easiest and most ubiquitous option is by creating and applying the creative commons license to works. For those looking to take a more active role, advocates can participate in the Creative Commons Global Network by joining one of the 45 chapters around the world. But even if one isn’t formally part of a group, advocating for open sharing can be an informal way to push the Creative Commons movement forward.

CLICK HERE TO GET INVOLVED WITH THE MOVEMENT