San Francisco, USA, and Berlin, Germany – April 7, 2006

Creative Commons, a nonprofit organization that provides flexible copyright licenses for authors and artists, today unveils the localized version of its innovative licensing system in Malta. With Malta offering Creative Commons licenses tailored for the specifics of the local legal system, Creative Commons licenses and tools are now available in 30 jurisdictions worldwide.

Creative Commons copyright licenses are available free of charge from the group’s website. The licenses allow authors and artists to mark their works as free to copy or transform under certain conditions—to declare “some rights reserved,” in contrast to the traditional “all rights reserved”—thereby enabling others to access a growing pool of raw materials without legal friction.

Staff at Creative Commons’ offices in San Francisco and Berlin worked with Project Leads Brian Restall, Daniele Cop and Alex Spiteri Gingell to adapt the standardized licenses to Maltese law. Creative Commons Malta is being supported by Projects in Motion Ltd.

Today the Maltese versions of the Creative Commons licenses will be launched in Malta, at a launch event being held in the Ammon Suite at the Dolmen Hotel. The launch will follow the closing ceremony of the “Globalisation and Harmonisation in Technology Law” conference held by the British & Irish Law, Education Technology Association (BILETA). The event will be hosted by the Law & Information Technology Research Unit of the University of Malta. Professor Lawrence Lessig (Chairman and CEO of Creative Commons) will give the keynote address.

Brian Restall, CEO of Projects in Motion Ltd. Said “The intention behind porting the Creative Commons licenses to Malta was to encourage Maltese artists, students, academics, and researchers to share and distribute their work for free; and help relax the current copyright all-or-nothing proposition. This will permit the local content industry to allow others to copy, distribute, and build on their work so that it can be used in other creative and interesting ways, while still protecting certain parts of their work. This is a very important milestone for the Maltese content industry and provides the legal basis for the free exchange of digital content and a sharing economy in Malta.“

About Project in Motion Ltd. (PiM)

Projects in Motion Ltd (PiM) was set up to provide the leadership and expertise required to boost Malta’s participation in a range of European programmes and initiatives. It addresses the need expressed by local SMEs for more specific information and assistance structures, promoting international cooperation and networking; and offering services related to ICTs, management, research, training and dissemination activities. PiM’s network of experts covers areas like ICT, education, health, law, as well as cultural, scientific, environmental, agricultural and socio-economic disciplines. Through its association with other multipliers, PiM will strive to overcome the existing high fragmentation of resources. It will support the clustering of local players to create knowledge-intensive, multi-stakeholder partnerships possessing the critical mass needed to achieve excellence. PiM therefore aims to facilitate the transformation of local SMEs into learning organisations set to reap the benefits of the knowledge economy. For general information, visit PiM’s website.

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. Creative Commons licences provide a flexible range of protections and freedoms for authors, artists, and educators that build upon the “all rights reserved” concept of traditional copyright to offer a voluntary “some rights reserved” approach. It is sustained by the generous support of various foundations including the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Omidyar Network Fund, the Hewlett Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation as well as members of the public. For general information, visit their site.

Contact

Christiane Henckel von Donnersmarck
Executive Director Creative Commons International, Creative Commons
Email
+49.30.280.93.909

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