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When you share your creativity, you're enabling people everywhere to use it, learn from it, and be inspired by it.
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Take the teacher who shapes young minds with work and wisdom from around the globe.
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And the artist, who builds beauty out of bits and pieces she finds online.
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And the writer, whose stories use ideas and images crafted by people he's never even met.
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These people know that when you share your creative wealth, you can accomplish great things.
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They and millions of other people all around the planet are working together
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to build a richer, better, more vibrant culture, using Creative Commons.
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To understand Creative Commons
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you need to know a little bit about how copyright works.
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Did you know that when you create something, anything,
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from a photograph, to a song, to a drawing, to a film, to a story,
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you automatically own an "All rights reserved" copyright to that creativity.
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It's true! Copyright protects your creativity against uses you don't consent to.
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But sometimes full copyright is too restrictive.
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What about when you want all those millions and millions of people out there to use your work,
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without the hassle of coming to you for permission?
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What if you want your work to be freely shared, reused, and built upon for the rest of the world?
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Luckily there's an answer: Creative Commons.
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We provide free copyright licenses you can use to tell people exactly which parts of your copyright you're happy to give to the public.
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It's easy, it only takes a minute, and it's totally free.
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Just come to our website and answer a few questions like,
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"Will you allow commercial uses of your work?" and "Will you allow your work to be modified?"
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Based on your answers, we'll give you a license that clearly communicates
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what people can and can't do with your creativity.
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You don't give up your copyright, you refine it, so it works better for you.
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Welcome to a new world where collaboration rules.
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It didn't even exist just a few years ago.
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But now there are millions and millions of songs, pictures, videos, and written works,
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available to share, reuse, and remix, all for free.
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Wanna work together?
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Then join the commons. Creative Commons.