In a story that we missed when it unfolded in February, the Creative Commons Organization has started stamping certain licenses with a logo that says “Approved for Free Cultural Works”. The objective, according to their announcement, is “distinguish among the range of Creative Commons licenses” and support projects as Wikipedia, that only accept free cultural works as part of their efforts.

The logos are only applied to Creative Commons Licenses that provide “freedom to modify without any discrimination against uses or users”. This eliminates any and all licenses with the “noncommercial” and “no derivatives” restriction.

This is the most recent step to differentiate between “more free” and “less free” licenses. The first took place in late 2006 when they changed the color of the more restrictive license deeds to incorporate more yellow, indicating caution.

However, this is the first clear change to the deeds that makes a clear distinction in the level of freedom the license provides. It remains to be seen how users of the more restrictive licenses, the ones that do not qualify for the seal, have reacted.

For more information on the seal and the definition of free cultural works, you can see the wiki page linked to the badge.

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