complete press contact list for creative commons

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

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CREATIVE COMMONS SOUTH AFRICA DRAFTS NOW AVAILABLE

The innovative nonprofit pairs with South African experts to offer 
localized versions of its “some rights reserved” copyright licenses 
soon

SAN FRANCISCO, USA AND JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA --  October 19, 2004 
--  Creative Commons, a nonprofit dedicated to building a body of 
creative work free to share and build upon, announced today that South 
Africa is the latest country to join its international efforts. 
Creative Commons copyright licenses, which are available at no charge 
from the group’s website (http://creativecommons.org), allow authors 
and artists to mark their works as free to copy or transform under 
certain conditions -- to declare “some rights reserved,” in contrast to 
the traditional “all rights reserved” -- thereby enabling others to 
access a growing pool of raw materials without legal friction. South 
Africa joins twelve other nations in the draft phase of adapting the 
Creative Commons licenses; another nine nations already offer localized 
Creative Commons licenses.

Led by the Johannesburg-based LINK Centre, Creative Commons South 
Africa plans to adapt the copyright licenses for use under South 
African law and to build local engagement with and use of Creative 
Commons-licensed content. Andrew Rens, a former lecturer at Wits 
University Law School, is leading the legal aspects of the project 
while Heather Ford, LINK Centre associate, directs the overall South 
African effort.

“South Africa is well-placed to pioneer developments in the field of 
intellectual property law,” said Ford. “Through the Treatment Action 
Campaign we have had huge success in gaining access to cheaper HIV/AIDS 
drugs. More recently South Africa has helped to lead a ‘development 
agenda’ at WIPO which aims to use knowledge as a tool for empowerment, 
rather than to deepen existing divides.”

Rens says that South Africa’s innovative constitution has resulted in 
dramatic changes to many areas of law affecting the transmission of 
ideas including freedom of expression and access to information  a 
development with potentially interesting consequences for the local 
enforcement of copyright laws.

South Africa offers unique opportunities and poses unique challenges 
for the Creative Commons model. Since the demise of apartheid, South 
Africa has emerged from global isolation as a model for democracy 
around the world. With one of the world’s most progressive 
constitutions and a Bill of Rights that stresses individual freedoms, 
it is also a leader in African policy development, and a champion for 
the causes of the developing world. South Africa is, nonetheless, still 
a divided society. A small, wealthy, relatively sophisticated 
population lives side by side with and a large, unskilled informal 
population. Only 4 million of the nation’s 43 million residents are 
online.

To join the discussion on the local ‘porting’ of the Creative Commons 
licenses and help make some real change, go to South African website,: 
<http://za.creativecommons.org>, or view the South African drafts 
<http://creativecommons.org/projects/international/za/>.

More about the LINK Centre at the University of the Witwatersrand

The LINK Centre is the leading information and knowledge hub providing 
training, research and consultancy in the Information and 
Communications Technology (ICT) arena in order to develop public, 
private, NGO and community-based capacity within the Southern African 
region.

The institution focuses on capacity building in the public and private 
sectors and development arenas through quality training, applied 
research and consultancy services necessary to maximize the benefits of 
the Information Society and economy.

For more information, see <http://link.wits.ac.za>.

About Creative Commons

A 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in early 2002, 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

Heather Ford
Creative Commons South Africa
Ford.H AT pdm.wits.ac.za
Phone: +27 11 717 3113
Cell: +27 82 872 7374

Andrew Rens
Creative Commons South Africa
andrewrens AT yahoo.com

Glenn Otis Brown
Executive Director
Creative Commons
glenn AT creativecommons.org
+1.415.336.1433

Press Kit

http://creativecommons.org/presskit/




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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(cc) Some rights reserved.
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