Microsoft has announced that they will release a tool for Microsoft Office applications that allows for people to easily publish things they create using a creative commons license. This is a great step for the CC movement, something that ThingsAreGood is part of.
“The goal of Creative Commons is to provide authors and artists with simple tools to mark their creative work with the freedom they intend it to carry,†said Lawrence Lessig, professor of law at Stanford Law School and founder of Creative Commons. “We’re incredibly excited to work with Microsoft to make that ability easily available to the hundreds of millions of users of Microsoft Office.â€
“It’s thrilling to see big companies like Microsoft working with nonprofits to make it easier for artists and creators to distribute their works,†said Gilberto Gil, cultural minister of Brazil, host nation for the Creative Commons iSummit in Rio de Janeiro June 23 through 25, where the copyright licensing tool will be featured. Gil, who will keynote at the iSummit, has released one of the first documents using the Creative Commons add-in for Microsoft Office.