CC0

Summary

• CC0 is a protocol that enables people to
  • (a) ASSERT that a work has no legal restrictions attached to it, OR
  • (b) WAIVE any rights associated with a work so it has not legal restrictions attached to it, and
  • (c) "SIGN" the assertion or waiver.

• CC0 is similar to what the CC public domain dedication does now. The key addition is that the assertion that content is in the public domain will be vouched for by users, so that there is a platform for reputation systems to develop. People will then be able to judge the reliability of content's copyright status based on who has done the certifying.

• A beta version of the protocol, including the traditional components of the CC architecture -- legalcode, human-readable explanation, machine-readable metadata, and tools, will be released for public discussion on January 15, 2008.

Media

• File:Cc plus cc zero pr.pdf - CCZero Official Press Release (pdf)

Adopters

Once this is fully launched in January, there are already some organizations that will roll this out.

• ProteomeCommons.org Tranche Project (implementation details)
• Internet Archive
• Open Library (project by Internet Archive)
• Talis
• Microformats Community
• Open Knowledge Foundation

There will be others announced. Stay tuned!

How do you get involved?

Jump on over to the CC-Community and/or CC-Licenses email lists for further discussion on CCZero.