"Creative Commons"

I am doing research for an institutional marketing package. I keep hitting on the concept of "Creative Commons." Have you heard anything positive or negative about this? Some question its integrity and I can think of some selling points/counterpoints for our clinical and practice management publications.

The new president of the MLA is really pushing its use to their members - mainly for educational or research papers. It is defined below in Creative Commons own words:

Creative Commons is a non-profit corporation founded on the notion that some people may not want to exercise all of the intellectual property rights the law affords them. We believe there is an unmet demand for an easy yet reliable way to tell the world "Some rights reserved" or even "No rights reserved." Many people have long since concluded that all-out copyright doesn't help them gain the exposure and widespread distribution they want. Many entrepreneurs and artists have come to prefer relying on innovative business models rather than full-fledged copyright to secure a return on their creative investment. Still others get fulfillment from contributing to and participating in an intellectual commons. For whatever reasons, it is clear that many citizens of the Internet want to share their work -- and the power to reuse, modify, and distribute their work -- with others on generous terms. Creative Commons intends to help people express this preference for sharing by offering the world a set of licenses on our Website, at no charge.

Anything you've heard would be helpful. Thanks!

Renee L. Anthuis
Manager, Intellectual Property
AAFP
11400 Tomahawk Creek Parkway
Leawood, KS 66211-2672
913-906-6093, fax
ranthuis[_at_]aafp.org

P.S. Hope to see you at the 2004 AAFP Scientific Assembly in Orlando - being held in conjunction with the Wonca World Conference. 10/13-17/2004. Visit www.aafp.org/assembly.xml or www.wonca2004.org for details. Received on Tue Nov 04 2003 - 02:10:13 GMT