Creative Commons Distances Itself From Associated Press Registry

Ben Adida at Creative Commons has a new blog post clarifying its position on the Associated Press news registry plan. Reports about the plan have mentioned the AP using a microformat created by Creative Commons, ccREL, as a means of tracking use. Adida emphasizes that ccREL was never designed for enforcement and is unsure how use of it will help the AP. From the blog post:

When Creative Commons launched in 2002, we were often asked “is Creative Commons a form of DRM?” Our answer: no, we help publishers express their rights, but we don’t dabble in enforcement, because enforcement technologies are unable to respect important, complex, and often subjective concepts like fair use. Thus, ccREL is about expression and notification of rights, not about enforcement.