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Google co-founder, wife give $500K to Creative Commons

Sergey Brin and 23andMe co-founder Anne Wojcicki donate $500,000 to the copyright reform group to help build out its science initiative.

Caroline McCarthy Former Staff writer, CNET News
Caroline McCarthy, a CNET News staff writer, is a downtown Manhattanite happily addicted to social-media tools and restaurant blogs. Her pre-CNET resume includes interning at an IT security firm and brewing cappuccinos.
Caroline McCarthy

Copyright reform advocacy group Creative Commons announced on Thursday that it has received a gift from Google co-founder Sergey Brin and his wife, Anne Wojcicki--to the tune of $500,000.

"This gift--made in addition to the financial support that Google offers CC annually--will be used to support Creative Commons generally," a blog post from Creative Commons read, "with a focus on developing our Science Commons project, which Wojcicki and Brin are particularly excited about."

Wojcicki is the co-founder of genetics start-up 23andMe.

Creative Commons founder Lawrence Lessig stepped down from the organization last year in order to focus on a new initiative, Change Congress. But at the same time that it announced Lessig's departure, the organization also announced a $4 million grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

Creative Commons unveiled the Science Commons project in 2004, aiming to steer the nonprofit's efforts into the world of patents and scientific research.