1.
Creative Commons
An introduction
Gwen Franck, Regional Coordinator Europe @ CC
June 30, 2016
"Creative Commons. An introduction" by Gwen Franck is
licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, except otherwise noted.

2.
Who are we?
“Creative Commons is a global charity, with a
powerful affiliate network of researchers, activists,
legal, education and policy advocates, and volunteers
who serve as CC representatives in over 85 countries”
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https://stateof.creativecommons.org/2015/

3.
What do we do?
• develop and curate 6 licenses + 2 public domain
tools
• inform about the licenses, copyright reform, open
education, open science, open policy, open
business models, ...
• advocate for a vibrant 'commons'
• develop technical tools to facilitate use and
discovery of CC-licensed materials
...
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4.
Over 1 billion CC licensed works worldwide
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5.
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• Existing copyright regulations:
• Not adapted to the reality in 2016
• Trend to increase duration and scope: serves only a very
limited amount of stakeholders – but involuntarily limits
access to a large amount of works
• Rights & Permissions are confusing: interpretation is
difficult (even when no infringement is intended)
• Fragmented!

6.
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Using a Creative Commons license makes it easy for
creators to determine what can be done with their work and
provides clarity and legal certainty for users - in one click

7.
“Some Rights Reserved”
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8.
4 building blocks ...
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BY : ‘attribution’
NC: ‘(non)-
commercial
SA: ‘share alike’
ND: ‘no derivatives’

9.
... can be combined into 6 licenses
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10.
How does it work?
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11.
• Creative Commons licenses are a tool, not silver
bullets: It builds on existing copyright
• Incorrect citation and use of CC licensed materials
is not only bad practice, it is a copyright
infringement
• If you license your own work with CC - you have a
legal basis to demand that you are cited correctly
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12.
Public Domain
- (c) have expired
- (c) were never applicable
- (c) have been forfeited
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13.
Public Domain
- Can vary per jurisdiction
- Huge amount of works: ‘uncertain’
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14.
Creative Commons offers 2 PD ‘tools’
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- Public Domain ‘dedication’
- Action by rightsholder
- Works known to be in the PD

15.
@g_fra
gwen@creativecommons.org
www.creativecommons.org
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