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Opay Beer, originally known as Vores øl - An
open source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...
beer (English: ''Our Beer''), is a brand of beer and the first with an "
open Open or OPEN may refer to: Music * Open (band), Australian pop/rock band * The Open (band), English indie rock band * ''Open'' (Blues Image album), 1969 * ''Open'' (Gotthard album), 1999 * ''Open'' (Cowboy Junkies album), 2001 * ''Open'' (YF ...
"/"free"
brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...
and
recipe A recipe is a set of instructions that describes how to prepare or make something, especially a dish of prepared food. A sub-recipe or subrecipe is a recipe for an ingredient that will be called for in the instructions for the main recipe. Hist ...
. The recipe and
trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from others ...
elements are published under the
Creative Commons Creative Commons (CC) is an American non-profit organization and international network devoted to educational access and expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has releas ...
CC BY-SA A Creative Commons (CC) license is one of several public copyright licenses that enable the free distribution of an otherwise copyrighted "work".A "work" is any creative material made by a person. A painting, a graphic, a book, a song/lyri ...
license A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...
.FAQ
''"How can a beer be “free”? The recipe and the FREE BEER brand is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license"'' on freebeer.org
The beer was created in 2004 by students at the IT University in Copenhagen together with
artist collective An artist collective is an initiative that is the result of a group of artists working together, usually under their own management, towards shared aims. The aims of an artist collective can include almost anything that is relevant to the needs ...
Superflex, to illustrate how concepts of the
FOSS Fos or FOSS may refer to: Companies *Foss A/S, a Danish analytical instrument company * Foss Brewery, a former brewery in Oslo, Norway *Foss Maritime, a tugboat and shipping company Historic houses * Foss House (New Brighton, Minnesota), United ...
movement might be applied outside the digital world. The "Free Beer" concept illustrates also the connection between the long tradition of freely sharing cooking recipes with the
FOSS Fos or FOSS may refer to: Companies *Foss A/S, a Danish analytical instrument company * Foss Brewery, a former brewery in Oslo, Norway *Foss Maritime, a tugboat and shipping company Historic houses * Foss House (New Brighton, Minnesota), United ...
movement, which tries to establish this sharing tradition also for the "recipes" of software, the
source code In computing, source code, or simply code, is any collection of code, with or without comments, written using a human-readable programming language, usually as plain text. The source code of a program is specially designed to facilitate the w ...
. The "Free beer" concept received an overall positive reception from international press and media for the political message,'Free' Danish beer makes a splash
on
BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
News
Pass Over a Frosty Mug of Home Brew Version 1.0
in
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
(2005)
"Free Beer for Geeks"
on
Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fran ...
News by David Cohn
Kopenhagen: Studenten brauen Open-Source-Bier
in
Spiegel Online ''Der Spiegel (online)'' is a German news website. Before the renaming in January 2020, the website's name was ''Spiegel Online'' (short ''SPON''). It was founded in 1994 as the online offshoot of the German news magazine, ''Der Spiegel'', wit ...
(in German)
was presented on many
exhibition An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibition ...
s and
conference A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main p ...
s, and inspired many breweries in adopting the concept.


History


Vores Øl

In December 2004, a group of
IT University of Copenhagen The IT University of Copenhagen (Danish: ''IT-Universitetet i København'', abbreviated ITU) is a public university and research institution in Copenhagen, Denmark. It is specialized in the multidisciplinary study of information technology withi ...
students and Superflex brewed a 100-litre batch of dark heavy beer in their school's
cafeteria A cafeteria, sometimes called a canteen outside the U.S., is a type of food service location in which there is little or no waiting staff table service, whether a restaurant or within an institution such as a large office building or school ...
. The group labelled the beer ''Vores øl'' (
Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...
for ''Our Beer'') after a 1994
Carlsberg Carlsberg may refer to: Places * Carlsberg (district), a district in Copenhagen, Denmark ** Carlsberg station, its train station * Carlsberg, Germany, a municipality in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany * Carlsberg Fjord, Greenland Other uses * Carl ...
beer advertisement slogan. A website was created to promote the project, and the beer's recipe and label designs were published under an
open-source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...
Creative Commons Creative Commons (CC) is an American non-profit organization and international network devoted to educational access and expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has releas ...
license A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...
, specifically the CC-BY-SA 2.5 license. Unlike software, cooking recipes aren't copyrightable, so the
share-alike Share-alike (🄎) is a copyright licensing term, originally used by the Creative Commons project, to describe works or licenses that require copies or adaptations of the work to be released under the same or similar license as the original. Copy ...
/
copyleft Copyleft is the legal technique of granting certain freedoms over copies of copyrighted works with the requirement that the same rights be preserved in derivative works. In this sense, ''freedoms'' refers to the use of the work for any purpose, ...
licensing approach is legally questionable and untested in court. After its publication, the project received an overall positive reception from the international press and media for the political message.


Concept extension "Free Beer"

The developers of the beer stated that the beer was primarily a medium for the message of ''"dogmatic notions of copyright and
intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, c ...
that are dominating our culture"'', and admitted that the group had only limited experience in beer production and was not made up of beer gurus. The addition of the non-traditional beer ingredient
Guaraná Guaraná ( from the Portuguese ''guaraná'' ), ''Paullinia cupana'', syns. ''P. crysan, P. sorbilis'') is a climbing plant in the family Sapindaceae, native to the Amazon basin and especially common in Brazil. Guaraná has large leaves and clu ...
was also partly inspired politically by a previously 2003 initiated Superflex project, "Guaraná Power", which focused on the support of Brazilian guaraná farmers with
Fair trade Fair trade is an arrangement designed to help producers in developing countries achieve sustainable and equitable trade relationships. The fair trade movement combines the payment of higher prices to exporters with improved social and enviro ...
. After the first "Vores Øl" brewing of the open-source beer concept, Superflex continued to develop the concept under the name "Free Beer". A new colorful, unusual "Free Beer" artwork should create associations with the ''"60's rtisticliberation"'' and underline the freedom aspect of the concept. The later name "Free Beer" is a play on
Richard Stallman Richard Matthew Stallman (; born March 16, 1953), also known by his initials, rms, is an American free software movement activist and programmer. He campaigns for software to be distributed in such a manner that its users have the freedom to ...
's common remark that free software is " free as in speech, not free as in beer", who also suggested the creation of "
Free software Free software or libre software is computer software distributed under terms that allow users to run the software for any purpose as well as to study, change, and distribute it and any adapted versions. Free software is a matter of liberty, no ...
beer" instead of an "
open source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...
beer".Richard Stallman on free beer
on superflex.net „''HM: Now, in the same email, you also suggest that we call the beer a free software beer instead of an open source beer- RMS: Yes, I founded the free software movement ..HM: - so if you could pretend that you were reviewing the idea of a free beer? RMS: I love the idea as long as I don’t have to drink it''“ (2005)


Recipe development

While the first "Vores øl" recipe drew some technical criticism, the recipe was continuously updated and identified shortcomings were fixed. Originally, the
homebrewing Homebrewing is the brewing of beer or other alcoholic beverages on a small scale for personal, non-commercial purposes. Supplies, such as kits and fermentation tanks, can be purchased locally at specialty stores or online. Beer was brewed d ...
community complained about the quality of the process and ingredient description. Remarks were that it was not stated how much water to use in the mash, what type of
yeast Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are estimated to constitut ...
was to be used, the style of beer being produced (other than being dark and heavy), whether or not any hops were being added for aroma,
fermentation Fermentation is a metabolic process that produces chemical changes in organic substrates through the action of enzymes. In biochemistry, it is narrowly defined as the extraction of energy from carbohydrates in the absence of oxygen. In food ...
temperature, or how the beer was supposed to taste. Making reference to the technical problems of when software instructions ("
source code In computing, source code, or simply code, is any collection of code, with or without comments, written using a human-readable programming language, usually as plain text. The source code of a program is specially designed to facilitate the w ...
") cannot be made into a functioning program, it was mentioned that if this recipe were source code, it would not
compile In computing, a compiler is a computer program that translates computer code written in one programming language (the ''source'' language) into another language (the ''target'' language). The name "compiler" is primarily used for programs th ...
. Because of the underlying theme of the group's message, the correction and development of this recipe is actively encouraged (in software terminology " bug fixing and patches"). Due to the availability of the recipe and the many Free Beer brewings of breweries and individuals worldwide over the course of years, the recipe was updated several times. Later major Free Beer recipe iterations (v3.0 and 4.0) were also developed in collaboration with a local Danish and experienced
brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of be ...
, Skands in Brøndby. As previous recipe shortcomings were corrected, for instance the amount of sugar was decreased by 90%, the quality of the beer improved significantly. The recipe's version, which has now reached 6.0 in 2017, illustrates the community's continuous collaborative improvement progress, made possible by the "open source" nature of Free Beer.


Derived beers

Under its free license, this free beer encourages others to tweak the recipe and redistribute it. Commercial or amateur brewers are able to reuse the recipe. Known derivatives include: * Switzerland/ Lausanne: ''Le Baiser de la Princesse'' (French for: "The Kiss of the Princess"), in 2008. * France/
Schiltigheim Schiltigheim (, , and sometimes by non-local speakers of French; Alsatian: ''Schelige'' ; ) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. The inhabitants are called ''Schilikois'' in French and ''Scheligemer'' ...
: ''Affichage Libre'', brewed specially for the 2011 edition of the ''Rencontres Mondiales du Logiciel Libre'' ( free software meeting) in
Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label= Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...
."RMLL has free beer as in speech" blog article
/ref> Others took the political idea of an "open/free beer" (not the "Free Beer" recipe and label), opened their own beer recipes and/or artwork, often under free licenses: * United States/ Frederick: Flying Dog Brewery created in July 2007 an open source beer called "Collaborator
Doppelbock Bock is a strong beer in Germany, usually a dark lager. Several substyles exist, including: *Doppelbock (''Double Bock''), a stronger and maltier version *Eisbock (''Ice Bock''), a much stronger version made by partially freezing the beer an ...
" (while without specified license). * Switzerland/
Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...
: In 2008, project 21's "FreeBeer" brewed by "Wädi-Brau-Huus" in
Wädenswil Wädenswil, locally often called ''Wädi'' or ''Wädischwil,'' is a municipality located in the district of Horgen in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland. The population, , was about 21,000. On 1 January 2019 the former municipalities of Hü ...
with own recipe and label. * Germany/
Hannover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
: In March 2009 a free Red Beer was brewed for a local Wikipedia group meeting in context of
CeBIT CeBIT was the largest and most internationally representative computer expo. The trade fair was held each year on the Hanover fairground, the world's largest fairground, in Hanover, Germany. In its day, it was considered a barometer of c ...
under the name "HannoverWikiRed" * Italy/
Farigliano Farigliano is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about southeast of Turin and about northeast of Cuneo. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,766 and an area of .All demographi ...
: In 2008 the Baladin craft-brewery released "open-source" beer and made the recipes public. * United States/ Rockville: ''"Our Nation's Attic - American Pale Ale"'', beer recipe and label under
CC0 A Creative Commons (CC) license is one of several public copyright licenses that enable the free distribution of an otherwise copyrighted "work".A "work" is any creative material made by a person. A painting, a graphic, a book, a song/lyric ...
, an American pale ale brewed by "Living Proof Brewery" in 2011. * New Zealand/
Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
Yeastie Boys' ''Digital IPA'' was released in late 2011 and won in 2012 a ''Gold'' Award of the Brewers Guild of New Zealand. The Digital IPA's recipe has been made widely available under a CC-SA-BY 3.0 license to enable home brewers to brew their own versions. * Germany/ Berlin: In 2012 Metamate created a
mate Mate may refer to: Science * Mate, one of a pair of animals involved in: ** Mate choice, intersexual selection ** Mating * Multi-antimicrobial extrusion protein, or MATE, an efflux transporter family of proteins Person or title * Friendship ...
infused beer named "Mier" under the
CC-BY-NC-SA A Creative Commons (CC) license is one of several public copyright licenses that enable the free distribution of an otherwise copyrighted "work".A "work" is any creative material made by a person. A painting, a graphic, a book, a song/lyrics ...
license, which was served for instance on the ''"EHSM - the frontiers of open source and
DIY "Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and sem ...
"'' meeting on
DESY The Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (English ''German Electron Synchrotron''), commonly referred to by the abbreviation DESY, is a national research center in Germany. It operates particle accelerators used to investigate the structure of mat ...
in 2014. The commercial production for the German market failed mostly due to the
Reinheitsgebot The ''Reinheitsgebot'' (, literally "purity order") is a series of regulations limiting the ingredients in beer in Germany and the states of the former Holy Roman Empire. The best known version of the law was adopted in Bavaria in 1516 (by Wil ...
which forbids additions like Mate, while the Mier recipe was adapted successfully for the
Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech ...
market. * United States/
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...
: In August 2012 a petition on "
We the people The Preamble to the United States Constitution, beginning with the words We the People, is a brief introductory statement of the Constitution's fundamental purposes and guiding principles. Courts have referred to it as reliable evidence o ...
" was successful and the
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, administ ...
released the recipe of a
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800 ...
brewed Honey Ale to the public (
public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired, ...
). *
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
/
Paraná, Entre Ríos Paraná () is the capital city of the Argentine province Entre Ríos, located on the eastern shore of the Paraná River, opposite the city of Santa Fe, capital of the neighbouring Santa Fe Province. The city has a population of 247,863 (). Hist ...
: During the
Hackathon A hackathon (also known as a hack day, hackfest, datathon or codefest; a portmanteau of hacking and marathon) is an event where people engage in rapid and collaborative engineering over a relatively short period of time such as 24 or 48 hours. The ...
Litoral 2015, a group of brewers created a fork of the Yeastie Boys Digital IPA with malt and hop of Argentina, recipe and artwork were released under CC. * Scotland/
Ellon, Aberdeenshire Ellon ( gd, Eilean) is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, approximately north of Aberdeen, lying on the River Ythan, which has one of the few undeveloped river estuaries on the eastern coast of Scotland. It is in the ancient region of Formartin ...
: In February 2016
BrewDog BrewDog is a multinational brewery and pub chain based in Ellon, Scotland. With production of over 800,000 hectolitres, BrewDog claims to be the "#1 Craft Brewer in Europe". It was founded in 2007 by James Watt and Martin Dickie, who together ...
" open-sourced” its beer recipes to the public, making them a form of Free Beer.


Reception and impact

Since its first presentation, the "Free Beer" concept was often reported by international printed and online media, and also discussed in specialist books regarding copyright. The "Free Beer" project was also well received by the FOSS and open content movement, for instance by
Richard Stallman Richard Matthew Stallman (; born March 16, 1953), also known by his initials, rms, is an American free software movement activist and programmer. He campaigns for software to be distributed in such a manner that its users have the freedom to ...
,
Cory Doctorow Cory Efram Doctorow (; born July 17, 1971) is a Canadian-British blogger, journalist, and science fiction author who served as co-editor of the blog ''Boing Boing''. He is an activist in favour of liberalising copyright laws and a proponent o ...
,Cory Doctorow with freebeer
on flickr (2007)
and
Lawrence Lessig Lester Lawrence Lessig III (born June 3, 1961) is an American academic, attorney, and political activist. He is the Roy L. Furman Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and the former director of the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvar ...
.lessig&ccwfreebeerSMALL.jpg
by Henrik Moltke
It was presented and sold on several technology conferences and meetings, for instance the "Isummit 2008" and the RMLL 2011, 2012, and 2014. The FSCONS 2008 resulted also in a CC-BY-SA licensed Ebook with the "Free Beer" artwork and title. Free Beer was shown also in the context of several
art exhibition An art exhibition is traditionally the space in which art objects (in the most general sense) meet an audience. The exhibit is universally understood to be for some temporary period unless, as is rarely true, it is stated to be a "permanent exhib ...
s and museums, for instance the
Art Basel Miami Beach Art Basel is a for-profit, privately owned and managed, international art fair staged annually in Basel, Switzerland; Miami Beach; Hong Kong and from 2022, Paris. Art Basel works in collaboration with the host city's local institutions to help ...
2006, the Van Abbemuseum, Netherlands 2007 or the Taipei Biennial 2010 (sponsored by TTL). "Free Beer" was also used in the context of
anti-copyright Criticism of copyright, or anti-copyright sentiment, is a dissenting view of the current state of copyright law or copyright as a concept. Critics often discuss philosophical, economical, or social rationales of such laws and the laws' imple ...
activities and movements, illustrating the advantage of
open knowledge Open knowledge (or free knowledge) is knowledge that is free to use, reuse, and redistribute without legal, social, or technological restriction. Open knowledge organizations and activists have proposed principles and methodologies related to the ...
for the society.


Gallery

Voresol label medium.png, Original ''Free Beer 1.0'' label "Vores øl" (2004) Open Source brew label.jpg, Free Beer label variant ''"Dana & Fred's Open source brew"'' (2006) Free beer bottles.jpg, "Free Beer" bottles based on various recipe and label variants created by breweries since 2005 Freeing the beer 024 with Jimmy Wales.jpg, The brewer (left) with Jimmy Wales (right) and a bottle ''"Dana & Fred's Open source brew"'' (2006) Free Beer Art Basel Miami.jpg,
Art Basel Miami Beach Art Basel is a for-profit, privately owned and managed, international art fair staged annually in Basel, Switzerland; Miami Beach; Hong Kong and from 2022, Paris. Art Basel works in collaboration with the host city's local institutions to help ...
at May 8, 2006.FREE BEER at the Art Basel, Miami
on freebeer.org
FREE BEER version 3.2, St Austell 3.jpg, A mascot dressed as ''"FREE BEER version "St Austell" 3.2"'', demonstrates for the right to share and copy (2007) Freebeer_5litre_can_from_germania_sao_paulo.jpg, Freebeer 5 litre can from Germania Brewery Sao Paulo (2007) Baiser de la princesse.svg, "Le Baiser de la princesse" une Biere libre (2008) Superflex, Free Beer Factory, 2008 ongoing.jpg, Superflex, Free Beer Factory in Taipeh, Taiwan (2010) Our_Nation%27s_Attic_-_American_Pale_Ale.jpg, "Our Nation's Attic - American Pale Ale"
CC0 A Creative Commons (CC) license is one of several public copyright licenses that enable the free distribution of an otherwise copyrighted "work".A "work" is any creative material made by a person. A painting, a graphic, a book, a song/lyric ...
beer for wwlbd.org (2011) Free-beer-schweizer_Etikette_2.0.svg, Swiss "FreeBeer" variant with label 2.0 (2011). Wh beer recipe both-o.svg, White House Honey Ale and Porter, recipes in the public domain (2012)


See also

* OpenCola (drink) * Moonshine


References


External links


voresoel.dk
original official page (archived)
The official website: freebeer.org

freebeer project
of Superflex
FreeBrewers
beer recipes on
github.com GitHub, Inc. () is an Internet hosting service for software development and version control using Git. It provides the distributed version control of Git plus access control, bug tracking, software feature requests, task management, continuou ...
* FreeBeer v1.2 book (2009, PDF)
Recipe and label of the RMLL 2012 "Bière Libre"
(French) {{Danish beer Beer in Denmark Free software Open content projects Products introduced in 2004 Creative Commons-licensed works