Intellectual Property Rights were efficient in a world where their enforcement was possible. Copying and sharing through P2P networks, by increasing its enforcement costs, has already put an end to ‘copyright’ as we knew it. Copyright – ‘all rights reserved’ – is a think of the past. That does not mean though that IP Rights are totally useless, nor that Public Domain is the only left viable option.
‘Creative Commons is a non-profit corporation founded on the notion that some people may not want to exercise all of the intellectual property rights the law affords them.’ (from the FAQ of the CC website).
This new system, Creative Commons, built within current copyright law, tries to find a common ground between the ‘all rights reserved’ and the ‘no rights reserved’ extremes. By offering more inclusive and flexible licenses, they implement a middle-of-the-road - ‘some rights reserved’ solution.
Creative Commons is chaired by Prof. Lawrence Lessig.

For more information visit:
- the Creative Commons website
- Prof. Lawrence Lessig’s personal website
- Wired 12.11 (November 2004): Sample the Future (a Wired article about Creative Commons, including mp3 files of a collection of songs under the Creative Commons License).