Creative Commons: What is Creative Commons

Copyright is applied to any work, as soon as it is created. You don't have to request for copyright, it works as soon as you have fixed your creation in a medium. The article you write on your PC is already copyrighted to you (and your co-authors), when you save it in your filing system.
Copyright protects the intellectual property of your work, but it also locks your work up for a very long time. In Denmark copyright lasts until 70 years after a creators/authors death. But this doesn't apply to your research article. When you make a publishing agreement with a Publisher, the most common scenario is, that you waiwer all your rights to the article, forever. The Publisher now holds the copyright to the article.

Creative Commons licenses are a part of the solution to this challenge. They work as a layer on top of copyright, and function for as long as the underlying copyright lasts as mentioned above. Central to Creative Commons licenses are that they not meant to restrict works or uses of works, but helps opening copyright restricted works up.
They do that by letting the copyrights statement of "all rights reserved," soften up to be "some rights reserved."

If you choose to publish in other venues than the ones offered by the big publishers, you might be able to both retain copyright to your work and apply a CC-license to open up your work.
If you publish with a large Publishing house, often you retain the right to deposit a manuscript as Green Open Access and here the Creative Commons licenses often apply. Read more about publishes and the use of CC in the tab 'CC and Open Access'.

Creative Commons (CC) is (not only - but what it is most often associated with) a set of copyright licenses that unique creators of a work can use. When a work is assigned a CC license, it clarifies how others may use the work without them having to contact anyone to get permission to use it. The fact that it is non-exclusive means that the creator/copyright holder still can enter into other agreements regarding the work. The licenses allows to communicate which rights they reserve, and which rights they waive for the benefit of recipients or other creators. Each of their licenses is represented with a symbol that explains all the rights associated with the resource.

This guide will take you though the CC-licenses, but if you are interested in learning more about what Creative Commons also is, and learn how to get involved, please visit the 'How to get involved in Creative Commons' tab in this guide.

Creative Commons was founded in 2001 by Lawrence Lessig, a legal scholar, and a group of like-minded individuals who aimed to address the restrictions of traditional copyright and promote a more flexible system for sharing creative works.

The three most important timelines in the organizations work are:

• (2002-2004) Development of the Creative Commons Licenses:
  In the initial years, Creative Commons focused on developing a set of licenses that would provide creators with a way to share their work more flexibly than traditional copyright allowed. They were designed to be easy to use and understand, providing a standardized way for creators to grant permissions for the use of their works.

• (2004-2008) Global Adoption and Expansion:
  Creative Commons gained widespread international adoption, with individuals, organizations, and governments embracing the licenses as a means to encourage collaboration and sharing.

• (2013 Onward) Integration with Open Access and Open Educational Resources (OER):
  Creative Commons became closely associated with the Open Access and Open Educational Resources movements. Many academic institutions and repositories adopted Creative Commons licenses for scholarly and educational materials.

CC red heart logo reproduced from the Creative Commons website, link, reuse policy.

Throughout its history, Creative Commons has played a crucial role in fostering a culture of sharing, collaboration, and open access to knowledge and creativity. The licenses provided by Creative Commons have become integral to the open content movement, enabling creators to share their works while maintaining certain rights and permissions.

Creative Commons has among many other things accomplished to:

• Develop a set of easy-to-use, legally robust licenses that provide a flexible alternative to traditional copyright.
• Make Creative Commons licenses adopted worldwide, on texts images and music. Publishers use CC licenses for scholarly articles, textbooks, and other educational materials, making knowledge more accessible and affordable.
• Contributed to a cultural shift in how people think about copyright.