The search engine giant Yahoo Inc. (www.yahoo.com) announced on March 25 the launch of its new Creative Commons Search Beta (http://search.yahoo.com/cc) where users can find content they can "use for commercial purposes" or content that they can "modify, adapt, or build upon". According to Yahoo, this search will help people find content on the Web – text, books, educational material, etc. – that is free to share or build upon, as well as content that users can use to build a website with. If a user is searching for a specific artist or subject, the results will be limited to relevant information on the appropriate license as well as specific usage rights and conditions. The resulting information can then be used, mixed, or repurposed by students, musicians, writers, educators and other content creators to ultimately create new content.
Larry Lessig, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Creative Commons (http://creativecommons.org), said that Creative Commons is a nonprofit that offers a flexible copyright for creative work, that Yahoo has defined itself as the thin layer of the net that will make the net's community come alive, that now Yahoo will give the net tools to make its community come alive, and that by giving users an easy way to find content based on the freedoms the author intends, Yahoo is encouraging the use and spread of technology that will enable creators to build upon the creativity of others, legally.
David Mandelbrot, vice president of search content at Yahoo, said that Yahoo! Search is focused on providing innovative, useful technologies that enable people to find, use, share, and expand human knowledge, that Yahoo is excited to be working with Creative Commons to enable millions of Yahoo! Search users to easily find and use Creative Commons content, and that Yahoo looks forward to helping enable a new generation of creative works based on this new medium.
