Since the beginning of the eighteenth century, authors in England have had the exclusive right to their own intangible works (Bernitz, Gleisner, n.d.). However this only occurred at a primitive level with the act called Statue of Anna, and exclusive rights were only granted to a small range of people and types of works (“Copyright Timeline[…]”, n.d.). Since these first copyright laws were written, they have changed a lot and become more restrictive, covering a wider range of works and with worldwide use. However, these restrictions have resulted in some negative side effects. One of them is the fact that in our digitalized world it becomes very difficult to use works where the author is not known as it is necessary to contact the author and ask if it is allowed to use his work. It is in these situations that Creative Commons licenses will be significant. Creative Commons, abbreviated CC, is a licensing system developed by the nonprofit organization of the same name; Creative Commons. The organization was founded in California, USA, by lawyer Lawrence Lessig, publicist Eric Eldred and Hal Abelson, professor of computer science at MIT (Af Schmidt, Klang, n.d.). Together, and with all the people who work with Creative Commons today, they have a common vision that states that “Our vision is nothing less than to realize the full potential of the Internet – universal access to research and education, full participation in culture – to promote a new era of development, growth and productivity”. (“Information,” Creativecommons.org, n.d.). It all started in 2001 when Lawrence Lessig realized something. It was when he worked on a court case about copyright and its disadvantages. He realized that he and his client were... middle of paper... Pyrights. The Creative Commons organization was founded in 2001 and the first version of the licenses were published in 2002. Furthermore, the organization has expanded significantly since its inception and today has affiliates in more than 70 countries around the world ("CC Affiliate Network,” Creativecommons .org, n.d.). Sources Works Cited"Information" Creativecommons.org. Creative Commons and Web. November 3, 2013Af Schmidt, Klang. ”Upphovsrätt” Ne.se. Nationalencyklopedin, nd Web. November 6, 2013 "CC Affiliate Network" Creativecommons.org. Creative Commons and the Web. November 8, 2013 "Copyright History: A History of Copyright in the United States" arl.org. Association of Research Libraries, n.d. Web. November 6, 2013 “History of Creative Commons” Youtube.com. Youtube, 3 May 2010. Web. 6 November 2013"History" Creativecommons.se. Creative Commons Switzerland and the Web. 6 November 2013