News:Microsoft, Lessig Launch New Creative Commons Copyright Tool

22 June 2006, XML Daily News. Microsoft, Lessig Launch New Creative Commons Copyright Tool by Elizabeth Montalbano,

The coupling of Microsoft and Lawrence Lessig, an outspoken proponent of loosening restrictions on copyrights for digital content, may seem an unlikely one. But the software company and Lessig's Creative Commons organization will announce Wednesday that they've teamed up to develop a tool that lets Microsoft Office users create Creative Commons licenses from within Microsoft Office documents. Creative Commons licenses allow an author of published material to decide how he or she wants to allow others to republish or reuse that work. The new copyright licensing tool will enable people creating documents in Office, PowerPoint, or Excel to immediately attach a Creative Commons license to the document through an option in the applications' "File" command. The partnership has positive implications for both sides, [Rob Enderle] said. Lessig wins a significant partner in his push for removing some of the restrictions from copyrights, and Microsoft offers a useful tool that will make current and potential Office users happy. Lessig founded Creative Commons in December 2002, and today there are about 140 million published works -- which include audio and video files, as well as documents and other printed materials -- that use a Creative Commons license.

http://www.infoworld.com/article/06/06/21/79483_HNcopyrighttool_1.html

See also the announcement: http://xml.coverpages.org/creativeCommons.html#msAnnounce