COPYCENSE

"Getting rights OK’d can be frustrating for artists, be they authors seeking to quote an essay or documentary filmmakers who’ve got snippets of pop songs playing in the background of key scenes. Artists and scholars who believe the current copyright system unduly stifles creativity are pushing a less restrictive alternative that they call the Creative Commons.

"Driving the movement is the belief that we all benefit when creative minds are free to expand upon others’ work — that public discourse is hurt when too much of it is weighed down by the baggage of commerce.

"’The (Creative) Commons encourages sharing and makes explicit that creativity depends on easy access to raw materials,’ said Siva Vaidhyanathan, a New York University professor critical of current copyright laws. ‘Right now, you have to assume you’re going to get in trouble if you quote from somebody extensively or build upon a previous expression.’"

Anick Jesdanun. Movement Seeks Copyright Alternatives. Yahoo! News. Oct. 10, 2004.