The RIAA has a beef with copyright infringement. Anyone who reads the paper and sees the headlines knows no one is safe from the RIAA’s wrath; not your average college co-ed, not even your own grandmother. So before you download some of your favorite tunes on the sly, think about what copyright means. With a copyright, all rights are reserved for the copyright holder because the copyright protects the creator’s exclusive right to reproduce, distribute, publish, perform, sell and adapt their work for a certain period of time. So, the college co-ed who makes a copy of a Metallica CD without Metallica’s permission is violating the band’s copyright. And your grandmother, who retired from teaching to write Harry Potter fan fiction, is violating J.K Rowling’s copyright.

Now consider what happens if the copyright holder doesn’t mind, or even encourages, the reproduction, distribution or adaption their work? What if an artist finds copyright protection too restrictive? What if they only want some rights reserved? This is where Creative Commons steps in.

Founded in 2001, Creative Commons provides free, downloadable licenses for creative works that allow copyright holders to give up some of their exclusive rights to the public. These licenses also make clear to potential users what these works can and cannot be used for and under what conditions they can be used. This video from the Creative Commons Website gives a great overview of why Creative Commons was founded, and the benefits of creating and using works with Creative Commons licenses.

Courtesy of creativecommons.org

Creative Commons offers six standard licenses to choose from:

Attribution – This license allows users to share, adapt or remix any work in any way — commercially or non-commercially — as long as they credit the creator.

Attribution Share Alike – Like “Attribution,” this license allows users to adapt and remix any work. However, in addition to crediting the creator, future users of the work must also license any new creations based on the original under the same license used by the creator.

Attribution No Derivatives – This license allows for commercial and non-commercial distribution of any work, as long as no further changes are made to the work and the creator gets credit.

Attribution Non-Commercial – A license allowing users to remix and build upon any non-commercial work. Any works based on the original must also be non- commercial and acknowledge the creator.

Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike – Similar to “Attribution Share Alike, ” this license allows users to remix, download, redistribute and build any non-commercial work. Users must credit the creator, and any new works based on the original must be licensed in the same way.

Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives – This license allows users to download and share any work. They must credit the creator and agree not to alter the work in any way or use the work for commercial purposes.

Licensing music through Creative Commons is a great way to engage current fans and create new ones. Fans no longer have to worry about ending up in court over sharing their favorite artist’s music: the Creative Commons Attribution license tells them that the artist permits and encourages sharing.  Music buffs can also get involved in the creative process by creating remixes and getting feedback from other listeners and, sometimes, the original artists themselves. The most high profile artist so far to use Creative Commons licensing to this affect is Trent Reznor. In 2008, Reznor released the Nine Inch Nails album Ghosts I-IV under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike license, allowing his fans to download the full multi-track recording of the album and to post their remixes in the online community remix.nin.com. With a traditional copyright license, the thousands of fans who participate in the remix community would need to contact Reznor individually to get his permission for each remix they intend to make.  In addition, each remixer would also need to get Reznor’s permission to post their remixes online for download.  The Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike license lets NIN fans know they already have Reznor’s permission to share his music with their friends, to create new works based on his music and to share those as well.

Copyright infrignment is like stealing. But why steal when you can share? Over 150 million works have been licensed through Creative Commons since the organization’s creation.  A Creative Commons license makes it easy to collaborate and share your ideas with people from all over the world, all on your own terms.

For more info about Creative Commons licensing, click here.
For music, photos, books and other works licensed under Creative Commons licenses, click here.