Since the beginning of the 18th century, English authors have held exclusive rights to their own immaterial works (Bernitz, Gleisner, nd). However, this was only at a primitive level with the act called the Statue of Anne, and exclusive rights were only granted to a small number of people and types of works ("Copyright Timeline[ …]”, nd). Since these first copyright laws were written, they have been changed a lot and become more restrictive, in addition to a wider range of works and worldwide use. However, these restrictions have had negative side effects. One of them is the fact that it becomes very difficult, in our digitized world, to use works whose author is not known, because you have to contact the author and ask him if you are authorized to use his work. This is where Creative Commons licenses will be important. Creative Commons, abbreviated CC, is a licensing system developed by the non-profit 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, nd). Together, and with everyone working with Creative Commons today, they have a shared vision that states: "Our vision is nothing less than realizing the full potential of the Internet - universal access to research and education, full participation in culture - to lead a new era of development, growth and productivity. (“About,” Creativecommons.org, nd). It all started in 2001 when Lawrence Lessig had a realization. This was when he was working on a court case regarding copyrights and their downsides. He realized that he and his client had...... middle of paper...... copyright. The Creative Commons organization was founded in 2001 and the first version of the licenses was released in 2002. Additionally, the organization has grown significantly since its beginnings and today has affiliates in more than 70 countries across the world (“CC Affiliate Network”, Creativecommons .org, nd). SourcesWorks Cited “About” Creativecommons.org. Creative Commons, and Web. November 3, 2013 Af Schmidt, Klang. "Upphovsrätt" Ne.se. Nationalencyklopedin, nd Web. November 6, 2013 “CC Affiliate Network” Creativecommons.org. Creative Commons, and Web. November 8, 2013 “Copyright Timeline: A History of Copyright in the United States” arl.org. Association of Research Libraries, nd Web. November 6, 2013 “Historian Bakom Creative Commons” Youtube.com. Youtube, May 3, 2010. Web. November 6, 2013 “Historik” Creativecommons.se. Creative Commons Sverige, nd Web. November 6 2013