Copyright law gives creators certain kinds of control over their creative work. If people want to use copyrighted work, they often have to ask for permission from the creator. Creative Commons works in conjunction with traditional copyright law. It allows creators to grant permission to everyone in the world to use their work in some ways.

The Get Creative video explains the origins of Creative Commons licenses, describes how they work in partnership with traditional copyright law, and captures the power of the licenses to facilitate collaboration across the web. http://creativecommons.org/videos/get-creative

Share any questions you have about the video in the discussion.

Special sidebar: A lot of the public conversation about copyright focuses on "unauthorized" use or copying of creative works. People apply the word unauthorized to imply that the use is also illegal. Under fair use, fair dealing, and other protections, there are actually many uses that are simultaneously legal and unauthorized. This course is not going to discuss those uses, but it's important to know they exist. Some resources to learn more about them: