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Archive for the Category »creativecommons «
Category: blip.tv, copyright, creativecommons, lawrencelessig, video
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Category: copyright, corydoctorow, creativecommons, libraries, video, youtube
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I’m listening to the audio version of this right now and it’s brilliant. Here’s the video for your viewing pleasure.
In his new book The Public Domain, Professor James Boyle describes how our culture, science and economic welfare all depend on the delicate balance between those ideas that are controlled and those that are free, between intellectual property and the public domain —the realm of material that everyone is free to use and share without permission or fee
Intellectual property laws have a significant impact on many important areas of human endeavour, including scientific innovation, digital creativity, cultural access and free speech. And so Boyle argues that, just as every informed citizen needs to know at least something about the environment or civil rights, every citizen in the information age should also have an understanding of intellectual property law.
Is the public domain as vital to knowledge, innovation and culture as the realm of material protected by intellectual property rights? James Boyle thinks so and visits the RSA to call for a new movement to preserve it. If we continue to enclose the “commons of the mind”, Boyle argues, we will all be the poorer.
Category: copyright, creativecommons
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For a while now, photos posted on flickr by the White House have been licensed under a CC-BY license. While this was the most lenient of the CC licensing options it wasn’t exactly appropriate as these photos were technically in the public domain. Because of this, the attribution requirement of the CC license, although a great suggestion that everyone should follow, was technically adding a requirement that wasn’t allowed by law.
The only other option previously available was that of the Flickr Commons project “no known copyright restrictions”. Again, not appropriate as in this case we know that there can’t possibly be even the potential of a copyright claim by anyone. Again, close but technically not appropriately.
So, the folks at flickr have come up with a new designation: “United States Government Works”.
What does this mean? Well, if you click on the link you’ll be taken to the relevant page of copyright law giving you the relevant information. At that point you’re on your own. Thanks, I think.
Why doesn’t flickr just have a “public domain” option? That’s a completely different discussion which I’m not going to have here. Check out the flickr discussion and flickr’s official opinion on the matter if you’re interested.
Category: copyright, creativecommons, flickr, government
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Imagining a Smithsonian Commons
03
Apr 2009
I’m back from Computers in Libraries 2009 and I’ve got a lot to share. The first is Wednesday’s keynote talk from Michael Edson, Director of Web and New Media Strategy at the Smithsonian Institution. It was streamed live online (a first for CIL) and was recorded. Listen to him and then go read all the books he mentions in his talk. (I’ve read all but one of them and I’m on the list at LCL for it now.)
He also put up a text version of his presentation in SlideShare. I’ve embedded it here for you.
He also put up a text version of his presentation in SlideShare. I’ve embedded it here for you.
Category: cil2009, conference, creativecommons, ustream, video
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Category: blip.tv, creativecommons, video
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Change.gov changes to a CC license
02
Dec 2008
I just want to officially state how happy I am that the content of Change.gov has been officially licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license. I also have a response and a concern.
The response is to those that ask "but aren’t creations of the federal government automatically in the public domain?" Well, yes, but the content of Change.gov is coming out of the "office of the president-elect" which isn’t officially part of the federal government. Additionally, Obama has given up his Senate seat so he’s no longer part of the federal government either. That is, not until January 20th. Then, he gets control of Whitehouse.gov and that’s in the public domain.
The concern is about the page on Change.gov that has the license: http://change.gov/about/copyright_policy. The CC license is listed under the heading of "Copyright Notice". Trouble is, CC isn’t Copyright. Copyright is a law, Creative Commons is a license. A picky detail I’m sure, but an important one.
Category: copyright, creativecommons, obama
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OCLC and CC
21
Nov 2008
Almost every time I hear someone from OCLC speak in defense on their forthcoming Policy for Use and Transfer of WorldCat® Records they mention Creative Commons. Granted they insist that CC was something that "inspired" their license but they keep repeating the the new OCLC license is very similar to a CC BY-NC-SA license. On it’s face, this is true, but something has been bugging me about this comparison. Yesterday I thought I’d finally figured out what my problem was. Today this line of thought hasn’t changed so I share it with you now.
Let’s say I create something, a photo for example, and assign a CC BY-NC-SA license, that means that others are free to use my photo as long as they attribute me as the creator, use it non-commercially, and pass my license along on whatever they create using my photo. So far, so good. What this CC license does not allow me to do is to control how my photo is used beyond those three items. As long as they are following those three items, I do not have the right to say that I approve of a certain use and not approve of a different use. This is the right I am waiving by using this, or pretty much any other, CC license.
In fact, at least one of my photos has been used in a way that I wouldn’t necessarily have approved of. You can read the story in a post of mine from 7 November 2006 if you’re interested in the details. Basically, a photo of mine was used to illustrate a point that I completely disagreed with and was the opposite of the point I was trying to make by taking the photo in the first place. This is the risk I take by using a CC license and I have to live with that if I want people to use my work via this method.
OCLC on the other hand wants it both ways. They want to use a license that sounds a lot similar to CC BY-NC-SA but then adds the following:
4. Reasonable Use. Use must not discourage the contribution of bibliographic and holdings data to WorldCat or substantially replicate the function, purpose, and/or size of WorldCat.
So, what OCLC is saying is that you’re welcome to use "their" records (I’m not going to debate here wether these records are theirs or not, that’s a different discussion) as long as you attribute the source, use it non-commercially, pass the license along, and with their approval of your use.
That, my friends, is my problem with them mentioning CC in their defense of the new license. It’s a slap in the face of Creative Commons.
UPDATE 11/24/08:
After thinking about this some more I add the further thought. The new license is more like CC BY-NC-ND. In other words they’re by default, not allowing derivative works. Please OCLC, if you’re going to continue to associate your new license with CC, then associate it with the correct CC license.
Category: creativecommons, oclc
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Thing #9: Compfight
05
Nov 2008
Compfight is an indispensable tool for me, one I use almost daily. I’m constantly looking for a photo to illustrate a point. Wether it’s for a blog post or a presentation, I love using photos to make a point. I’m also generally sure to use only Creative Commons (cc) licensed photos in my work. Not only does this ensure that I’m not going to be sued but it promotes CC and lets me turn my presentations into teaching moments about more than just the direct topic of the talk itself.
But why Compfight instead of the standard flickr search option? Check out these two screenshots showing search results for library:
Flickr 
Compfight 
Srs’ly? Can you no doubt the usefulness of Compfight. Same search, completely different screen full of results. I’m less concerned with the content of the results (though I think Compfight’s better at that too) but more with how those results are presented. Compfight gives you screens full of images that you can look and and choose from. Flickr, you get 25 at a time with a lot of scrolling involved. Clicking on any one of these images takes you to the photo’s page for further details and downloading.
Yea Compfight! My presentations are better because of you.
Category: NELearns2.0, creativecommons, flickr
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ACURIL2008 Update
04
Jun 2008
As to the hotel problem, we checked back last night and they said that the dinners had been cleared from our account. We’ll double-check when we get the bill Saturday morning but it sounds like this problem has been cleared up. I don’t remember if I said this before but as a result of all this we figured out that eating via room service is actually cheaper than the hotel restaurant (the one of the three that are actually open) or the buffet. Go figure.
Yesterday afternoon we went down to the local craft market in Montego Bay and had an interesting experience. It was fun and we were able to pick up some interesting souvenirs but almost every booth (hundreds of tiny ones) mostly all had the same stuff. (I kept expecting to see "made in China" on some of the crafts but was unable to find a single one.) Every seller wanted to make sure you stepped into their booth and bartering was expected. Once we learned to say "no thank you" directly, they would politely back off. Before we left I had a Brown Stew Fish lunch. (I need to find the recipe for Jamaican Brown Sauce). It wasn’t exactly what I expected (photo below) but it was delicious.
Last night’s "cultural event" was a lot of fun. The room and the busses that transported us were very hot but it was worth it for the entertainment. I’m uploading the next batch of 200+ photos now but here’s just a few shots I got from last night’s event.
My presentation on Creative Commons this morning went well. Since I had a lot more time than I did @ CIL, I was able to present the material in a less rushed manner and even had time to show the videos. (Everyone loves the Muppets.) Here’s the presentation slides (sans video) if you’re interested.
Category: acuril2008, conference, creativecommons
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