‘Alternative to copyright’ promises no lawyers required for safe distribution

The Creative Commons rights licence, touted as an alternative to copyright, will be launched at the end of this month. Developed in large part by the students and faculty of the law and technology program at the University of Ottawa, the licence is a modification of the American version that has been used on more than three million digital works since being introduced in late 2002. The licence, which is a do-it-yourself approach to putting works into the public sphere while retaining copyright rights for later exploitation, offers legally binding language to protect creator rights without the need to hire a lawyer.Marcus Bornfreund, manager of the law and technology program at the school, says the licence will help put more material into what he calls the "commons." He says the current copyright regime discourages the free dissemination of works among artists and users since artists may not have the legal background necessary to create binding language around rights retention. "Artists are conscious that they might want to share, that they have legal rights, but are at a loss from there. Society has a problem at that point because the artists want to release their works into the commons. They want to contribute to culture, provide the resources for culture to propagate itself, but they don’t have the vehicle, or the mechanism or instrument. Creative Commons is an initiative to provide artists, digital artists, creators - whether its music, multimedia, web site templates, the list goes on (with a solution)."The Creative Commons licence works by using a web site that automatically generates legally binding licence agreements on the basis of choices made by the creator. For example, the site will guide and explain the various copyright rights a creator starts with as a default position, then generate licence agreements based on which rights the artist chooses to waive and which to hold on to. A creator may choose, for example, to allow users to freely share the work, but only for non-commercial purposes, only if attributed, but allowing for modifications to the original. The choice of permutations is then compiled into two documents. The first is a plain-language "deed" that can be digitally attached to the work, that explains in simple words and icons the uses that can be made of it. On the back-end, a link attached to the work brings users to the more sophisticated legal language that makes the agreement binding within the existing copyright framework. "It’s an alternative approach to copyright…It’s another choice, and choice is good. For that, I think it’s an extremely valuable contribution. You don’t need to revolutionize the regime to implement technology into the law. Creative Commons is a creative solution to an existing problem, which is that people were concerned about their rights, and wanted to participate in this open source movement, this peer-production movement and didn’t know how and didn’t want to give up their rights, and couldn’t afford lawyers. And that’s why the big tag line for Creative Commons is ‘no lawyers required,’" says Bornfreund. Bornefreund says the initiative has enjoyed support from both Industry Canada and Canadian Heritage, and that both departments have asked to be kept up to date on developments. He is also speaking to librarians and creator groups to raise the profile of the licence in Canada. The Creative Commons licence will be launched into a highly-charged environment surrounding copyright law. Many of the initiative’s proponents are identified with the open source movement, which has been openly hostile to the interests of large copyright holders such as record labels and broadcasters. Bornfreund says, however, that to interpret the project as being political would be a mistake. "Everything has a political component, so I’m not going to say it’s not political, but I don’t think it’s threatening. I think it’s complementary…The values and benefit are not commercially-oriented. It’s really a feel-good initiative. Political? Maybe, by accident. But if you step away from the rhetoric, all it really is is a tool," he says.

‘Alternative to copyright’ promises no lawyers required for safe distribution

News | 09/17/2004 4:00 am EDT

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