source: http://creativecommons.org/extras/copyremix

Abstract: Creative commons is a non profit corporation that offers creative licensing that enables creators to let their creations to be shared, reused and remixed by other people in parts or as a whole in order to generate other innovations still consistent with the rules of copyright.

The creative process is based on the availability, searchability and easy access of innovations so that anybody can reuse, combine and generate other innovations.

The aim is to increase the amount of creativity (cultural, educational, and scientific content) in “the commons”, the body of work that is available to the public for free and legal sharing, use, repurposing, and remixing.

The evolution compared with previous diffusion of knowledge (i.e. scientific publication, patent database, etc) is mainly in the accessibility to innovation and to the network of innovators and in the approach to innovation not as property but as a common to which everybody holds the right to.

In case of Science Commons the same kind of consideration applies to scientific knowledge where the aims to enable tools for faster, more efficient web-enabled scientific research working around legal and Policy barriers and develop technology to make research, data and materials easier to find and use and creation of a network.

Again the idea is based on scientific knowledge as a common for all people.

Driver 

Economic / Industrial

Growing need for new ways of protecting intellectual property without restricting knowledge flow.

New emergence of business models which shift from protecting/hiding creative knowledge to giving it open source: more is to be gained in recombination by other parties than in keeping ownership

Obstacle

Economic / Industrial

Not all knowledge is in creative common and it is not said that the open source principle is

Indication

Uncertain

Creative commons represents a radical shift in creative knowledge management and therefore a potential wild card in innovation process but limits of applicability to certain sectors and specific economical models may reduce the potential change it represents.

Sector specifics / cultural specifics

Specifically developed in the IT/software development sector

Source

Internet

creativecommons.org/ 

Case studies:

wiki.creativecommons.org/Category:Casestudy