Creative Commons is not-for-profit organisation established to provide business, organisations and individuals with a legal "tools" which they can employ to grant the use of works for non-commefcial use. These tools take the form of standardised licenses and a way of digitally identifying licenced works.

"Every license helps creators retain copyright while allowing others to copy, distribute, and make some uses of their work — at least non-commercially."

Creative commons does not provide practical advice, or financial or legal help in litigation or copyright registration, it is simply a robust legal way of identifying the copyright status of a work.

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http://creativecommons.org/

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/johanna_blakley_lessons_from_fashion_s_free_culture.html

http://www.ted.com/talks/larry_lessig_says_the_law_is_strangling_creativity.html