Luxembourg 40th Jurisdiction to Offer Ported Creative Commons Licenses

Michelle Thorne, October 14th, 2007

October 15, 2007 — San Francisco, CA, USA and Luxembourg, Luxembourg

The launch of the Creative Commons licensing suite today in Luxembourg marks the 40th jurisdiction worldwide to offer Creative Commons licenses adapted to national law. Creative Commons worked in collaboration with Luxcommons ASBL, a local non-profit for researching and developing Open Content headed by Patrick Peiffer, to linguistically and legally port the licenses to Luxembourgish law.

An event to commemorate the launch will be held today at the Public Research Center Henri Tudor (CRP) in Luxembourg, featuring speeches by John Buckman, founder and CEO of Magnatune.com and Board Member of Creative Commons, and Paul Keller, Project Lead for Creative Commons Netherlands.

The ceremony will also include a presentation by Laurent Kratz, founder Luxembourg’s Jamendo, one of the largest music portals offering Creative Commons-licensed works, and Lionel Maurel, scientific coordinator from the National Library of France.

The Creative Commons licenses were “the first instrument of choice” in Luxcommons’ efforts to lead innovation in intellectual property and promote Open Content in their region and around the world. The licenses, available free of charge at http://creativecommons.org, allow authors and artists to mark their works as free to copy or transform under certain conditions, and thereby enable others to access a growing pool of raw materials without legal friction.

About Luxcommons

The non-profit Luxcommons was founded in 2005 with the goals of promoting, researching, and developing of Open Content. Thanks to funding from “2007, Luxembourg and Greater Region, Cultural Capital of Europe,” the National Cultural Fund and with the Support of the Technoport Incubator (an initiative of the Henri Tudor Research Center), Luxcommons was able to start transposing the CC 3.0 License to the Luxembourg jurisdiction. For the future, a stronger linking of similar initiatives in the Greater Region and stronger tie-ins with institutional partners is sought to keep the Luxembourgish CC project on stable footing. For more information about Luxcommons, please visit their website http://www.luxcommons.lu/.

About Creative Commons

Creative Commons is a not-for-profit organization, founded in 2001, that promotes the creative re-use of intellectual and artistic works, whether owned or in the public domain. Through its free copyright licenses, Creative Commons offers authors, artists, scientists, and educators the choice of a flexible range of protections and freedoms that build upon the “all rights reserved” concept of traditional copyright to enable a voluntary “some rights reserved” approach. Creative Commons is sustained by the generous support of organizations including the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Omidyar Network, the Hewlett Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation, as well as members of the public. For more information about Creative Commons, visit http://creativecommons.org.

Contact

Dr. Catharina Maracke
International Coordinator
Creative Commons International, Creative Commons
catharina AT creativecommons DOT org

Press Kit
http://creativecommons.org/presskit
http://creativecommons.org/international/lu/

Creative Commons Licenses Launch in Greece

Michelle Thorne, October 12th, 2007

October 13, 2007 — San Francisco, CA, USA and Berlin, Germany

Creative Commons, a nonprofit organization dedicated to building a body of creative work that is free and legal to share and build upon, unveiled today a localized version of its innovative licensing system in Greece.

With the Creative Commons’ project in Greece joining the effort, Creative Commons licenses are now being offered in localized versions in a total of 39 countries around the world.

Staff at Creative Commons’ offices in San Francisco and Berlin worked with project leads Marinos Papadopoulos, Theodoros Karounos, and Prodromos Tsiavos to adapt the standardized copyright licenses to Greek law.

Today the Greek version of Creative Commons will be launched in Athens, at an event in the Ceremonies Hall at the University of Athens. Lawrence Lessig, founder and CEO of Creative Commons, will give the keynote address at the ceremony, which will be hosted by Greek Research and Technology Network (GRNET).

“The real value of the Creative Commons licenses,” says Marinos Papadopoulos, “comes in clarifying what is useful to both creators and users of intellectual property, while also providing them with the tools to share creations in a mutually acceptable legal environment. By helping both creators and users determine the value of intellectual property sharing, Creative Commons in Greece is helping an explosive growth in creativity.”

About GRNET

The Greek Research and Technology Network (GRNET) supports the research and development of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) within Greece and internationally, through the provision of its high-capacity networking and grid computing infrastructure, the strengthening of e-Learning & e-Business practices, as well as the participation in international research and education efforts. GRNET operates under the auspices of the Ministry of Development and is supervised by the General Secretariat for Research and Development.

About Creative Commons

Creative Commons is a not-for-profit organization, founded in 2001, that promotes the creative re-use of intellectual and artistic works, whether owned or in the public domain. Through its free copyright licenses, Creative Commons offers authors, artists, scientists, and educators the choice of a flexible range of protections and freedoms that build upon the “all rights reserved” concept of traditional copyright to enable a voluntary “some rights reserved” approach. Creative Commons is sustained by the generous support of organizations including the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Omidyar Network, the Hewlett Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation, as well as members of the public. For more information about Creative Commons, visit http://creativecommons.org.

Contact

Dr. Catharina Maracke
International Coordinator
Creative Commons International, Creative Commons
catharina@creativecommons.org

Press Kit

http://creativecommons.org/presskit
http://creativecommons.org/international/gr/

Creative Commons Launches Third Annual Fundraising Campaign

Melissa Reeder, October 1st, 2007

Creative Commons Launches Third Annual Fundraising Campaign

San Francisco, CA USA — October 1, 2007

Today, Creative Commons officially launched its third annual fundraising campaign. The past two fundraising campaigns generated vital financial support for Creative Commons. This year, the organization is asking its community for help in raising funds before January 1, 2008.

“Our annual campaign measures our success in building a movement and community,” said Lawrence Lessig, CEO of Creative Commons. “It is critical that we meet our goal, and I am confident that we will.”

The goals of the 2007 campaign are to raise at least $500,000 and to highlight the CC community — the people dedicated to expanding the depth, breadth, and impact of free digital culture. “Building and supporting the Creative Commons community is equally as important as fundraising, when it comes to ensuring CC’s future,” said Melissa Reeder, CC’s development coordinator.

To celebrate the launch of the campaign, CC will unveil a redesigned website, which will include a dynamic global map that shows precisely where in the world CC’s support is coming from. Creative Commons will also offer a limited edition t-shirt as a premium for all donations above $75.

Other features of the campaign include the second annual CC Swag Photo Contest, the “Commoner” letter series, and the Corporate Commoner Giving Program. More information about each of these projects is below.

CC Swag Photo Contest:
Last year, Creative Commons instituted the CC Swag Photo Contest, to offer people another way to promote and support Creative Commons during the campaign. For more information on the 2006 contest and to see the entries, please visit http://support.creativecommons.org/contest/.

“Commoner Letters” Series:
Creative Commons will launch its “Commoner Letters” Series. This new series will consist of letters from five prominent CC community members about why they support Creative Commons. The series will be bookended with letters from Creative Commons CEO Lawrence Lessig. If you would like to receive these letters, please subscribe here: http://support.creativecommons.org/letters.

Corporate Commoner Giving Program:
Creative Commons has now launched a giving program specifically for companies. For more information, visit http://support.creativecommons.org/donate/corporate.

As a way to kick off the campaign, Six Apart will deliver a presentation at the CC SF Salon on Oct. 10th. The company will also give a large donation to Creative Commons, which was raised entirely by the LiveJournal community.

About Creative Commons
Creative Commons is a not-for-profit organization, founded in 2001, that promotes the creative re-use of intellectual and artistic works, whether owned or in the public domain. Through its free copyright licenses, Creative Commons offers authors, artists, scientists, and educators the choice of a flexible range of protections and freedoms that build upon the “all rights reserved” concept of traditional copyright to enable a voluntary “some rights reserved” approach. Creative Commons is sustained by the generous support of organizations including the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Omidyar Network, the Hewlett Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation, as well as members of the public. For more information about Creative Commons, visit http://creativecommons.org.

Contact
Melissa Reeder
Development Coordinator, Creative Commons
melissa@creativecommons.org

Press Kit
http://creativecommons.org/presskit

Creative Commons Announces New Vice President and General Counsel

Mike Linksvayer, October 1st, 2007

October 1, 2007 — San Francisco, CA, USA

Virginia Rutledge has been named Vice President and General Counsel of Creative Commons, the organization announced today. In this position, Rutledge will oversee Creative Commons’s legal affairs, lead initiatives focused on the arts, and create partnerships with arts and cultural institutions both in the U.S. and internationally.

“Creative Commons has been very lucky to have had fantastic general counsels,” said Lawrence Lessig, CEO of Creative Commons. “But Virginia brings a breadth of experience and skills that is unmatched. I could not be happier that she has chosen CC as the next stage in her extraordinary career.”

Rutledge comes to Creative Commons from the New York law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, where she was a litigation associate. At Cravath, Rutledge’s areas of practice included intellectual property, art, entertainment, antitrust, securities, and general commercial law. She has represented clients in the media and music industries, including Time Warner Inc., Warner Music Group, Warner Bros., and New Line Cinema, as well as the arts nonprofit organization the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance.

Rutledge has extensive experience in the art world, having worked as an exhibition associate for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and served as a contributing editor for Art Papers magazine. She has presented on art, digital media, and intellectual property law at conferences around the world. Additionally, her writing on art has been published in Art in America and Bookforum.

Rutledge is a member of the New York State Bar, and is the current chair of the Art Law Committee of the New York City Bar Association and a member of the Committee on Intellectual Property of the College Art Association. She holds several academic degrees, including a J.D. from the University of California at Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall), and an M. Phil. in Art History from the City University of New York’s Graduate School and University Center.

News of Rutledge’s appointment has been well received within the legal and arts communities. “I applaud Creative Commons for its inspired choice of Virginia Rutledge as Vice President and General Counsel,” said copyright expert William Patry, Senior Copyright Counsel, Google Inc. “Virginia’s background in academia, the art world, and the white-shoe corporate law firm environment is unique. Her ability to forge consensus, her love of learning and commitment to the public interest will serve Creative Commons and the rest of us exceedingly well.”

“I commend Creative Commons for this excellent choice to help further the worthy purposes of the organization,” said patron of the arts Martin E. Segal. “Virginia’s commitment to the arts and her scholarly and practical background make her a wonderful addition.”

“Creative Commons couldn’t have made a better choice,” said Joel Wachs, President of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. “Virginia has deep knowledge of contemporary art practices and institutions, and the practical experience of working within a highly competitive corporate culture. She will do an excellent job of helping to build relationships between communities that have a common interest in promoting vibrant cultural production and exchange.”

About Creative Commons

Creative Commons is a not-for-profit organization, founded in 2001, that promotes the creative re-use of intellectual and artistic works, whether owned or in the public domain. Through its free copyright licenses, Creative Commons offers authors, artists, scientists, and educators the choice of a flexible range of protections and freedoms that build upon the “all rights reserved” concept of traditional copyright to enable a voluntary “some rights reserved” approach.

Creative Commons is sustained by the generous support of organizations including the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Omidyar Network, the Hewlett Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation, as well as members of the public. For more information about Creative Commons, visit http://creativecommons.org.

Contact
Eric Steuer
Creative Director, Creative Commons
eric@creativecommons.org

Press Kit
http://creativecommons.org/presskit