May 1, 2001

Dear Colleagues:

Welcome to the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School. We are delighted to host the Inaugural Meeting of the Creative Commons. It has already provided us with an uncommon opportunity to research new issues in Internet and IP, joining with new and old friends to launch an open and exciting venture. Prepare for take off.

When I started at the Berkman Center this fall, the concept of an intellectual property conservancy was already on the table -- a “what if” idea shared by Hal Abelson and Larry Lessig. A small group at Berkman became intrigued with understanding the questions and problems the idea presented.

Just as for child with a hammer, for whom everything is a nail, our group of lawyers and law students started with legal questions. We first pounded the promise of tax deductions as a motivation for donors of intellectual property. When it became clear that the tax code wouldn’t produce an endless river of tax deductions to power the site, we moved to another legal matter, the liability of our new IP conservancy for ownership and use of the material placed or hosted on the site.

Along the way, we picked up a new name: Creative Commons. Inevitably and appropriately, common sense, not legal questions, started intruding on our new Commons. Under what circumstances would people give creative work away? How would the Creative Commons sustain itself financially? What limitations, if any, should be put on the use of the work? What is the demand and who is our market? All these questions were outside our “comfort zone.” Nevertheless, answering them is key to making this groundbreaking venture not just a good idea, but something truly successful.

I urge all of you to read all of our Briefing Book, including the comprehensive memorandum “Potential Copyright Liability and DMCA Safe Harbor Relief for Creative Commons,” generously written for us by Michael W. Carroll of Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering. Familiarity with these materials will ensure that we can we can begin our May 7th meeting with a running start.

On May 7th we plan to present our ideas about the Creative Commons along the outline in your briefing materials. We hope to engage your thinking and creativity, and to move forward with as many decisions as we can. Our goal for the meeting is to finish the day with a sound design and strong foundation so that the first board and staff members of the Creative Commons will be ready to start building.

Sincerely,

Eric F. Saltzman
Executive Director