Remix
The goal of Creative Commons is to kindle creativity through the legal sharing of works (educational, artistic, and more). It aims to preserve the original notion of patents and copyrights which balances the rights of the auteur and public. How? It creates a standardized method for auteurs to state what permissions they grant the public. It is about bringing people and their collective creativity together, instead of letting the archaic reading of Copyright and Patent Laws act as barriers between them. Creative Commons wants to be the utensil that people turn to when they want to share their work with the world and protect the connection between themselves and their work.
"Giving [people] an easy way to say 'here's the work that you can make accessible'." - Creative Commons Co-Founder Lawrence Lessig
Creative Commons is a licensing tool that anyone can use FOR FREE to quickly, easily, and efficiently put a license on a work of art. The licenses are written in simple terms instead of legal jargon that requires a lawyer to understand.
What is Creative Commons?
The search function on the Creative Commons is an invaluable tool for finding CC licensed works (music, videos, photos, etc.) that are free from legal ties and can be used without charge. Check out it out here. Below is an example picture when you search Flickr for "Landscape."
What is Creative Commons trying to do?
What exactly does a CC License look like?
There are four components of a CC License which are listed above. You choose your license and which components you want in it. Attribution is the first component, and all it states is that the original author is to be given credit if the work is used or remixed. You can allow or not allow derivatives as well as restrict use to only Noncommercial so no one is making money off your creativity! The ShareAlike component is the final option in a license. It ensures that all derivatives are given the same CC license as the original work; this is a way to promote a remix culture.
Creative Commons Twitter
@creativecommons
Above is a short clip I composed using only work that I was free to use because it was Creative Commons licensed. As I cited the works I pulled from to create it, I realized that the song and music video used in the video were falsely placed under a Creative Commons license. This is a serious problem that composers using Creative Commons work need to be aware of. Don't trust the Internet! Anyone can give anything a Creative Commons license, even if they have no right to the object they are claiming. The music video and music of this clip is a perfect example. Ultimately, always double check the places you pull works from actually have the right to share with you the different works they claim.