complete press contact list for creative commons

[Eric Steuer <eric AT creativecommons.org>]

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Attachment: CCMicrosoftPR.pdf
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Microsoft and Creative Commons Release Tool for Copyright Licensing
The organizations announce availability of Microsoft Office add-in  
that enables easy access to Creative Commons copyright licenses.

Redmond, WA, USA; San Francisco, CA, USA – June 20, 2006

Microsoft Corp. and Creative Commons, a nonprofit organization that  
offers flexible copyright licenses for creative works, have teamed up  
to release a copyright licensing tool that enables the easy addition  
of Creative Commons licensing information for works in popular  
Microsoft® Office applications. The copyright licensing tool will be  
available free of charge at Microsoft Office Online, http:// 
office.microsoft.com, and CreativeCommons.org. The tool will enable  
the 400 million users of Microsoft Office Word, Microsoft Office  
Excel® and Microsoft Office PowerPoint® to select one of several  
Creative Commons licenses from within the specific application.

“We’re delighted to work with Creative Commons to bring fresh and  
collaborative thinking on copyright licensing to authors and artists  
of all kinds,” said Craig Mundie, chief research and strategy officer  
at Microsoft. “We are honored that creative thinkers everywhere  
choose to use Microsoft tools to give shape to their ideas. We’re  
committed to removing barriers to the sharing of ideas across borders  
and cultures, and are offering this copyright tool in that spirit.”

“The goal of Creative Commons is to provide authors and artists with  
simple tools to mark their creative work with the freedom they intend  
it to carry,” said Lawrence Lessig, professor of law at Stanford Law  
School and founder of Creative Commons. “We’re incredibly excited to  
work with Microsoft to make that ability easily available to the  
hundreds of millions of users of Microsoft Office.”

“It’s thrilling to see big companies like Microsoft working with  
nonprofits to make it easier for artists and creators to distribute  
their works,” said Gilberto Gil, cultural minister of Brazil, host  
nation for the Creative Commons iSummit in Rio de Janeiro June 23  
through 25, where the copyright licensing tool will be featured. Gil,  
who will keynote at the iSummit, has released one of the first  
documents using the Creative Commons add-in for Microsoft Office.

The goal of the Creative Commons licenses is to give an author a  
clearer ability to express his or her intentions regarding the use of  
the work. The Microsoft Office tool allows users to choose from a  
variety of Creative Commons licenses that enable an author to retain  
copyright ownership, yet permit the work to be copied and distributed  
with certain possible restrictions, such as whether or not the work  
can be used commercially and whether or not modifications can be made  
to the work. The full list of licenses available from Creative  
Commons is available online at http://creativecommons.org/about/ 
licenses/meet-the-licenses. The tool also provides a way for users to  
dedicate a work to the public domain.

“Microsoft’s openness in working with the Creative Commons is a very  
exciting because an author can now easily embed licenses to creative  
works during the process of innovation,” said Ian Angell, professor  
of Information Systems at the London School of Economics (LSE). “This  
is an important step in ensuring that each individual becomes aware  
of his or her own intellectual property rights — and those of others.  
We at the LSE are keen to work with Microsoft toward empowering the  
‘creators of intellectual wealth’ to become more involved in its  
commercial use.” The LSE partners with Creative Commons to drive  
Creative Commons license adoption and awareness in England and Wales.

“Creative Commons licenses are essential for protecting my creative  
work and for sharing it with others. They help with copyright issues,  
which frees me to do my job: making movies. I’m glad Microsoft Office  
users can now so easily use Creative Commons’ tools,” said Davis  
Guggenheim, director of the documentaries “An Inconvenient Truth” and  
“Teach” and member of the board of directors of Creative Commons.

“The collaboration of Microsoft and Creative Commons to bring  
Creative Commons licenses to Microsoft Office applications  
underscores how for-profit companies and nonprofit organizations can  
work together to bring innovative ideas and tools to the public,”  
said Alan Yates, general manager of the Information Worker Division  
at Microsoft.

Microsoft and Creative Commons partnered with 3sharp LLC, a Redmond- 
based independent solution provider to develop and test the copyright  
licensing tool.


About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in  
software, services and solutions that help people and businesses  
realize their full potential.

About Creative Commons
Creative Commons is a not-for-profit organization, founded in 2001,  
that promotes the creative re-use of intellectual and artistic works  
— whether owned or in the public domain. Creative Commons licenses  
provide a flexible range of protections and freedoms for authors,  
artists and educators that build upon the “all rights reserved”  
concept of traditional copyright to offer a voluntary “some rights  
reserved” approach. It is sustained by the generous support of  
various foundations including the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur  
Foundation, the Omidyar Network Fund, the Hewlett Foundation, and the  
Rockefeller Foundation as well as members of the public. For general  
information, visit http://creativecommons.org.


Contact

Jessica Coffman
Waggener Edstrom Worldwide
(425) 638-7000
jessicac AT waggeneredstrom.com

Rapid Response Team
Waggener Edstrom Worldwide
(503) 443-7070
rrt AT waggeneredstrom.com

Eric Steuer
Creative Commons
(415) 946-3039
eric AT creativecommons.org


Creative Commons Press Kit
http://creativecommons.org/presskit

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