The Internet, Copyright and Creative Commons.
Human beings have been engaging in creative and scholarly work across the globe for thousands of years. In recent centuries, copyright laws have been enacted to provide the creator of individual works certain protections. Although the laws have varied from one time period to another, and from one country to the next, they all emphasize the rights of the original creator and how that work can be copied or shared by others.
The advent of the internet, worldwide web, and subsequent digital technologies have resulted in an information explosion allowing people to share information rapidly and with others across the globe. This proliferation of information creation and sharing has revealed significant tension between the digital age and existing copyright laws around the world.
Amidst this backdrop, and a piece of legislation involving...none other than, Mickey Mouse...the Creative Commons was birthed.
Nukamari, "Duel in the Sun" CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
The Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA) of 1998
Sonny Bono, famous for not only a musical and political career, but also a high profile marriage to Cher, helped sponsor a bill regarding extending the term for copyright in the United States by an additional 20 years, which would reform copyright law to include the life of the creator plus 70 years. Nicknamed the Mickey Mouse Protection Act, because had the bill not passed, the original Mickey Mouse cartoon would have entered the public domain. Lawrence Lessig, then of Stanford Law School (currently at Harvard) questioned the constitutionality of the law, setting in motion the formation of the Creative Commons.
Wong, "Mickey Mouse" CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Eldred v. Ashcroft (2003)
Lawrence Lessig represented a web publisher named Eric Eldred, whose profession involved sharing copyright free materials via the worldwide web. Their lawsuit challenged the constitutionality of the Mickey Mouse Protection Act, eventually reaching the Supreme Court for a final verdict, in which Eldred lost. This suit spurred Lessig to action, and even before the Supreme Court came to a decision, Lessig and a small group of people created a non-profit group called the Creative Commons.
Creative Commons, "Where it all began" CC BY 2.0
