Creative commons

Abstract

This paper written by one of the Creative Commons project leaders for Australia outlines the background and operation of Creative Commons (CC) licensing which has emerged as a new form of copyright management for the Web 2.0 era. It documents examples of how CC licensing is being used including the recent adoption of it by government departments. The paper highlights that CC licensing is a voluntary mechanism and ultimately its use is a matter of choice for the copyright owner. The paper also considers key criticisms of the licence and concludes by cautioning against rejecting this new approach without further investigation.