Creative Commons licenses allow creators to retain some control over their work while allowing others to use it, unlike traditional copyright restrictions that inhibit sharing. For example, Flickr's The Commons project houses public domain images with Creative Commons licenses from institutions like the Library of Congress to create an online community. Supporters argue this open licensing model promotes knowledge sharing and cultural/economic growth compared to corporate interests that prioritize profits.

1. Creating the commons: How Creative Commons licensing impacts web design

2. What do traditional licensing agreements do?“Locking down digital images through excessively strict licensing procedures inhibits the free dissemination of knowledge in a democratic society”(Boscenco 2009, Pg. 143). “… traditional copyright restrictions inhibit cultural and economic growth” (Johnson 2009, Pg. 56).

3. How are Creative Commons agreements different?The Creative Commons license allows the creator to retain a certain level of artistic control over his work, while at the same time allowing for its use by additional creators.

4. Give us a practical exampleFlickr’sThe Commonswas developed to create awareness for the “amazing content currently held in the public collections of civic institutions around the world” and to develop information about these collections, based upon the input of online users via tagging (qtd. in Garvin 2009, Pg. 45).The Commons currently houses images collected from the archives of the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institution, Florida State Library and Archives, District of Columbia Public Library and the Brooklyn Museum, to name a few.

5. Creating a community“… open content licensing, through its non-discriminatory operation, transparency of terms, and automated and generic operation, has become the cornerstone of many user generated online communities. Creative Commons licensing provides an archetypal example of copyright licensing being utilised in this way as a tool of community building” (Suzor and Fitzgerald 2007).

6. Fighting enclosureCorporate interests will always look skeptically at intellectual property arrangements that aren’t designed simply to increase profits, but it is up to interested citizens, information professionals and web activists to recognize the many benefits that inhere to the Creative Commons licensing structure and emphasize them to the broader public. Intellectual property discussions are not the most lively of conversations, but they are essential to the creation of a well-functioning digital commons.

7. SourcesBoscenco, M. (2009). Strictly Business: Providing Access to Digital Images. Feliciter, 55(4), 141-143. Retrieved from Professional Development Collection database.Garvin, P. (2009). Photostreams to the People. Searcher, 17(8), 45-49. Retrieved from Professional Development Collection database.Johnson, D. (2009). Creative Commons and Why It Should Be More Commonly Understood. Library Media Connection, 27(6), 56-57. Retrieved from Professional Development Collection database. Suzor, N. and Fitzgerald, B. (2007). The Role of Open Content Licenses in BuildingOpen Content Communities: Creative Commons, GFDL, and Other Licenses. Retrieved from http://eprints.qut.edu.au.