We’ve all seen websites that say “(c) 2004, All Rights Reserved” at the bottom. Now you’ll hopefully start seeing the (cc) symbol, which stands for Creative Commons, and means that only SOME rights are reserved.

Creative Commons is a legal concept championed by the intellectual powerhouse amongst copyright lawyers Larry Lessig. Copyright law is decades behind the times and doesn’t adequately address electronic media. Enter Creative Commons, a less restrictive copyright. It’s a significant advance for content authors who want to stimulate a collaborative community-led effort spurred by the content they have created, and one for those who wish to create derivative works or pick up where others have left off. If, for example, you wanted to make a derivative work of the Google Guide for non-profit purposes tailored to an audience of school librarians, you could do so under their Creative Commons license.