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[Glenn Otis Brown <glenn AT creativecommons.org>]

Press Release
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CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSES LAUNCHED IN AUSTRIA

Creative Commons introduces its innovative licensing system for 
copyrighted digital material to Austria; announcement coincides with 
the organization's honor at the Ars Electronica Festival

San Francisco, CA and Linz, Austria - Sep. 11, 2004 - Creative Commons, 
a nonprofit organization seeking to promote the sharing of high-quality 
content, introduced its innovative copyright licensing system to 
Austria this week. The Creative Commons licenses, already in widespread 
use in a number of nations, help authors and artists share their work 
online, on certain terms. Building on the "all rights reserved" of 
traditional copyright, Creative Commons licenses create a voluntary 
system of "some rights reserved" creativity.

A team of professional lawyers and legal academics in Austria, led by 
Julia Kueng of the University of Innsbruck's law faculty and Georg 
Pleger of the Austrian Computer Society (OCG), adapted the licenses to 
Austria law. Creative Commons permanent staff, based in San Francisco 
and Berlin, coordinated the project.

The license launch coincided with the Ars Electronica Festival in Linz, 
Austria, where Creative Commons was awarded the Golden Nica in the 2004 
Prix Ars Electronica's Net Vision category.

"We are honored and humbled to accept this award, and delighted to do 
so at the same time as our Austrian debut," said Lawrence Lessig, 
chairman of Creative Commons and professor at Stanford University Law 
School, who delivered a talk at the Ars Electronica Festival in Linz on 
September 6. "We have our worldwide network of superb volunteers, like 
those here in Austria, to thank for this honor today."

For 25 years, Ars Electronica has been tracking and nurturing the 
digital revolution, analyzing the social and cultural effects of 
digital media and communications technologies from critical as well as 
utopian, artistic and scientific perspectives.

Austria is the seventh jurisdiction to adapt and adopt the Creative 
Commons licensed, following Brazil, Finland, Germany, Japan, the 
Netherlands, and Taiwan.

Internationalizing the Creative Commons project is one of the main 
priorities for the San Francisco-based organization this year. "We look 
forward to being able to add more countries to the list this fall," 
says Christiane Asschenfeldt, the iCommons Coordinator, based in 
Berlin. "Thanks are due to the friends of Creative Commons around the 
world."


About Creative Commons

A nonprofit corporation founded in 2001, Creative Commons promotes the 
creative re-use of intellectual and artistic works-whether owned or in 
the public domain-by empowering authors and audiences. It is sustained 
by the generous support of the Center for the Public Domain, the John 
D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Omidyar Network Fund, and 
the Hewlett Foundation.

For general information, visit <http://creativecommons.org>.


Contact

Christiane Asschenfeldt (Berlin)
iCommons Coordinator, Creative Commons
christiane AT creativecommons.org

Glenn Otis Brown (San Francisco)
Executive Director, Creative Commons
glenn AT creativecommons.org


Press Kit

http://creativecommons.org/presskit/




http://creativecommons.org



Press Release

Attachment: CC_Austria_Press.pdf
Description: Adobe PDF document

Glenn Otis Brown
Executive Director
Creative Commons
glenn AT creativecommons.org
+1.415.946.3065 (telephone)
+1.415.336.1433 (mobile)
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