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[Mia Garlick <mia AT creativecommons.org>]

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Attachment: PressReleaseIsrael.pdf
Description: Adobe PDF document

CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSES OFFERED IN ISRAEL

Silicon-Valley-based NGO reinforces its activities around the globe  
and introduces its innovative copyright licenses in Israel
San Francisco, CA, USA and Berlin, GERMANY — June 9, 2005 — Creative  
Commons, a nonprofit organization that provides an alternative to  
full copyright, today unveils a localized version of its innovative  
licensing system in Israel.

Creative Commons’ copyright licenses, which are available free of  
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.

With Israel introducing a Creative Commons license tailored for the  
specifics of the legal system in Israel, the number of countries  
where Creative Commons' tools and licenses are available rises to a  
total of 19. The organization already provides copyright licenses  
specific to Australian, Austrian, Brazilian, Belgian, Canadian,  
Croatian, Dutch, English & Welsh, Finnish, French, German, Italian,  
Japanese, Polish, U.S., Taiwanese and Spanish law, thanks to a global  
network of artists, lawyers, and technologists.

Staff at Creative Commons´offices in San Francisco and Berlin worked  
with Dr. Michael Birnhack, co-director of the Haifa Center of Law &  
Technology (HCTL) and Project Leads Elad Wieder and Ohad Mayblum of  
the HCTL to adapt the standardized licenses for use in Israel.

Today the licenses will be launched during a ceremony at the HCLT in  
the Faculty of Law, University of Haifa. As part of the event at the  
Hecht Auditorium, Professor Lawrence Lessig, Chairman & CEO of  
Creative Commons will give a live video-conference lecture. In  
addition, a variety of works by Israeli artists that are using  
Creative Commons licenses will be exhibited - a body of creative work  
free to share and build upon. “ We are very honored and excited to be  
collaborating with the Haifa Center of Law & Technology. Being able  
to offer our licenses in Israel, a country of great creativity and  
dynamism means a lot to our organization” said Professor Lawrence  
Lessig.

About The Haifa Center of Law & Technology

The Haifa Center of Law & Technology (HCLT) is a research center  
based at the Faculty of Law, University of Haifa, Israel. The HCLT  
promotes research in fields of Law & Technology, Intellectual  
Property, Information Law and related areas. The HCLT's activities  
date back to 1999, and in 2003 it was approved as a University Center  
by the Haifa University authorities. HCLT conducts workshops and  
conferences, awards fellowships and holds writing competitions for  
students. HCLT cooperates with several leading institutions in Israel  
and elsewhere, including George Washington University Law School,  
WIPO, The Center of the Study of the Information Society and other  
institutions.

For general information, visit  http://techlaw.haifa.ac.il/eng
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

Elad Wieder (Haifa)
Coordinator, Haifa Center of Law & Technology
ewieder AT creativecommons.org.il

Neeru Paharia (San Francisco)
Executive Director, Creative Commons
neeru AT creativecommons.org
Christiane Asschenfeldt (Berlin)

Executive Director, iCommons

christiane AT creativecommons.org

Press Kit

http://creativecommons.org/presskit/