Creative Common Fact Sheet

A new buzz word is floating around the industry at present that looks at alternative ways to licence material. ‘Creative Commons’ seems to be drawing a line through the industry camps in relation to the philosophical question of how an artist ought to value and use their copyrighted material.

On one side we have the Creative Commons advocates, who profess that with the availability of Creative Commons Licences along with digital communications and personal computing will enable a new explosion of collaborative creative activity.

Creative Commons is a Not For Profit Corporation, whose movement began in the United States and currently based in Stranford Law School, with 43 Countries world wide to have taken up the project including Australia. http://creativecommons.org.au

The Creative Commons Project has created a number of licences that enables copyright owners to make their material available free for copying and use by others.
In total there are 7 Creative Commons Licences to choose from starting with Attribution which allows others to copy, distribute, display, and perform your copyrighted work — and derivative works based upon it — but only if they give credit the way you request. The other six license categories allows artists to dictate if the user can copy, distribute, perform, alter and make money from using your material. For information on each specific categories go to http://creativecommons.org/about/licenses

The licenses apply world wide, they last for the duration of the works copyright and are NOT revocable.

On the other side we have the copyright advocates, who believe that artists through the control of their copyright ought to be able to make income through the use of their music. They see Creative Commons as removing this method of income stream development and have greater concerns regarding the Creative Commons terms, which in effect means that the artists sign their rights away to the world, irrevocably, in perpetuity for free. http://www.artslaw.com.au/artlaw/archive/06IntroducingCreativeCommons.asp
Copyright advocates naturally encourage any artists considering Creative Commons to seek legal advice before signing and to consider current licensing arrangements that may be already in place that would be in conflict with a Creative Commons License. http://www.amcos.com.au/writers/forms_and_guidelines/creative_commons.asp

Artists should spend time researching the realities of both models and gather independent legal advice before going down either path.
The dialogue continues on many platforms with advocates and dissenters beginning to talk and possibly developing an alternative model that may address concerns from both sides of the fence.

Further Information:
Arts Law
Phone:02 9356 2566
Email: artslaw@artslaw.com.au

For APRA Enquiries Scot Morris
Director International Relations
phone: 02 9935 7954
email: smorris@apra.com.au
Creative Commons Australia