What problem does the Creative Commons (CC) Licenses intend to solve?
Founded by Stanford Law Professor Lawrence Lessig in 2001, Creative Commons is best known for a set of six copyright licenses. The goal of these licenses is to provide a “middle ground” that did not previously exist in most copyright regimes. On one side is the traditional “all rights reserved.” At the other extreme is “public domain” – viewed by many as an anarchic free-for-all in which creators have no control over the use of their work. Creative Commons enables creators to opt for “some rights reserved.” Creative Commons licenses are not intended to replace traditional copyright licenses. Many creators will always choose to retain all rights to their works. However many others prefer to release their works under a more permissive license so that their works can be re-used, republished, remixed, or shared freely and broadly by a wider public. The CC license provides an internationally-recognized vehicle through which to do so.
