Creative Commons Timeline
- 1998 - The Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA) was passed. The CTEA increased the length of copyright protection for individual authors to the life of the author + 70 years and for corporate authors to 90 years
- 1999 - 2003 - Lawrence Lessig representing Eric Eldred challenged the constitutionality of the act in a series of court cases (Eldred v. Ashcroft). The first case was heard on January 11, 1999, Eldred lost. An appeal was filled on May 22, 2000, the case was heard on October 5, 2020, and on February 11, 2001 the appeals court upheld the decision of the district court. On October 11, 2001, Eldred and Lessing filed a petition to the Supreme Court and October 9, 2002 the Supreme Court heard the case. On January 15, 2003, the Supreme Court found the CTEA constitutional in a 7-2 decision.
- 2001 - 2002 - The Creative Commons non-profit organization was formed in the basement of Stanford Law School and in December of 2002 the Creative Commons Licenses were published.
- 2004 - Creative Commons Licenses version 2.0 released
- 2005 - Creative Commons Licenses version 2.5 released
- 2007 - Creative Commons Licenses version 3.0 released
- 2013 - Creative Commons Licenses version 4.0 released - this is the current version of the CC licenses.
- 2016 - Creative Commons reorganized with a new strategy designed to build and sustain a vibrant and usable commons that is powered by a spirit of collaboration and gratitude. Work in the Creative Commons focuses on the Creative Commons Licenses, the public domain tools, and the technology needed to find and use content in the digital commons as well as on helping people working within open movements to engage in collaboration and work toward similar goals.
- 2017 - The first Creative Commons Certificate Course was held with 50 librarians and educators selected from over 400 applicants
Information modified from creativecommons.org and materials from the Creative Commons Certificate Program.
