Museum of Modern Art – CC0
Creative Commons logos are on display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York city. They are in a show of marks that have become ubiquitous in out modern culture. We all recognize these symbols, some more easily than others. The recycling symbol on many of the products we buy. The “at” symbol in email addresses. The “on-off” symbol next to the power button on our computers and other devices. And now the (cc) symbol being attached to much of our cultural media. MOMA has put on an exhibit of these marks, and announced that the Creative Commons logos are to be part of their permanent collection.
Creative Commons has posted an article on Medium.com, complete with pictures and a video, with nice detail about the organization, and about the creation and evolution of the logos.
Quote from article:
“The Creative Commons logos are special and powerful symbols that speak to the origin and roots of the organization that created them. Creative Commons was founded in 2001 by Larry Lessig, Hal Abelson, and Eric Eldred to address a problem created by antiquated copyright laws in the U.S. and around the world. In an era where it was becoming easier to share works via the Internet, copyright law seemed to be moving in the other direction by increasing term limits and restrictions on reuse. Amidst this tension, how could artists, researchers, and other creators share their works widely and freely online without infringing on each other’s copyright? At the time, there was no way for a creator to grant blanket permissions for reuse, other than to hire their own lawyer to write custom copyright terms.”
Larry Lessig on the double-c:
“the multiple meanings of (c) doubled was important. If you create a question, you create a reason for people to try to listen.â€
Go have a look, and see why I chose CC-BY-SA for Green Comet.
rjb
