The people do their part to reform global information policy
What wonderful news! After months of public discussion and legal debate, Creative Commons launched the ‘developing nations license‘ at the Trans Atlantic Consumer Dialogue’s workshop on “The Future of WIPO,” in Geneva last week.
The ‘developing nations license’ allows copyright holders to invite a wide range of royalty-free uses of their work in developing nations while retaining their full copyright in the developed world.
“The Developing Nations license allows, for the first time, any copyright holder in the world to participate first-hand in reforming global information policy,” said Lessig. “The fact is that most of the world’s population is simply priced out of developed nations’ publishing output. To authors, that means an untapped readership. To economists, it means ‘deadweight loss.’ To human rights advocates and educators, it is a tragedy. The Developing Nations license is designed to address all three concerns.”