Klang, Mathias,"The Digital Commons: Using Licenses to Promote Creativity."

            The paper beings with the concept of property as "mine", which at an early age is always contrasted with the concept of sharing. The new digital age tests out currently property regulation, since things are now copied with ease. Importantly, "that which is owned is no longer simply the item itself but the privileges which it provides to the owner". How, then, do we reconcile property rights and the public domain (the commons)? Property law in Western civilization tends to bestow all rights onto a single person. He defines ownership as a "collection of rights which complement each other and grant to the owner the authority to legitimately enforce conditions". The focus on possesion complicates the property law when dealing with intagible objects.

             Klang offers the differing views people have of the commons, citing sources as far back as Aristotle and as recent as Lessig. The first, and considerably widespread, is the belief in the "tragedy of the commons". The second argues that the idea of the tragedy is false since it does not consider the environment in which the commons exists. The commons itself is a considerably vague term (consisting only of notions of property and sharing), and the public doman is defined only as what it is not (it is not legally protected intellectual property). According to Klang, what the public domain is "is our collective culture". He continues to explain the basics of the current copyright law and how owning the content of something limits the creativity of others. Creative Commons was developed to help ensure an ease of sharing and the creativity that the commons encourages. He explains, as most do, the basics to how Creative Commons licenses work, concluding that though copyright is a tricky game, "we can also be certain that we will always need a commons or a public domain from which we can create and recombine into new culture for us to enjoy".

             This article provides a great overview of the debate that currently surrounds copyright and Creative Commons, extending into the idea of the commons itself. As we saw, there are those who believe that the commons is nothing but a vast wasteland or an "overgrazed pasture", which my project hopes to discredit by emphasizes the good things that have come out of the commons. There are others who believe in the benefit of the commons, taking into consideration the situation in which they exist and the fact that the web allows for social cohesion and trust among those involved. It is this view that conforms to the models that I expand on, showing the many different ways that online communities have been affected by the commons and vice versa. Importantly, this article explain Creative Commons licenses as well and helps to illuminate the debate about property by offering definitions of terms that are really, less than clear in the law today. It really is the basis for this project.

 

This project aims to show the value of the digital domain, or the commons, by examining different case studies of online communities, focusing on art and other creative works. Creative Commons has increasingly played an important role in shaping the commons and will therefore be looked at more extensively than the other models. However, other models serve to illustrate how online communities have created their own standard practices when dealing with copyright issues and the commons as well.

Carroll, Michael W.,Creative Commons and the New Intermediaries. Michigan State Law Review, Vol. 45, 2006; Villanova Law/Public Policy Research Paper No. 2005-13.

        Carroll argues that Creative Commons licenses play both disintermediating and intermediating roles on the Web. He first points out that there is currently a proliferation of them on the web, a development that was quickly followed by search engines designed to look for works with CC licenses. In this way, they have become disintermediaries by enabling end-to-end transactions and become reintermediatiares by allowing new services to be preformed and new online communities to form.

       Carroll explains how CC licenses work, stating that "as of this writing, there are 16,000,000 digital objects accessible over the internet linked to CC licenses". Creative Commons not only acts as an intermediary, but enables other intermediaries as well. These include search engines, archives and libraries, producers and publishers ("which facilitates amateur-to-amateur communication"), and CC communities, offering examples of each and how they function. Under CC communities, he describes places that are dedicated to music, visual art, photographs, blogs, and education. This revolution in copyright has helped to spur Berner's-Lee and his colleagues to create a new Semantic Web, which will offer a higher degree of interoperability.           

        What is most important to the discussion of Creative Commons and online communities in Carroll's article is the vast list of examples he provides. This is an amazing list of the different ways that CC has facilitated different models of online communities. He cites Flickr for photography, which is the largest site for both commercial and noncommercial uses of photographs licenses under CC. It's only one model though and there are many, many more. CC has facilitated new business models as well, which Flickr is not. Magantune is a music site that has created a business in which users can listen to the works for free and then download CC licenses music at the price of their choosing. CC has, as Carroll shows, made a large impact on internet community's, and been used in different models, some nonprofit, some for profit, all based on the communities needs.

Goldstein, Jim. "Creative Commons." Digital Photo Pro.

      Goldstein begins by pointing out that "digital photography has fueled a revolution in online media consumption". Photographers need to be aware of copyright laws. Of course, there is always the problem that copyright can't keep up with the digital world- enter Creative Common's licenses, which Lessig designed to adapt to the 21st century and allow authors to provide freedoms on their work that will help enrich online culture. Goldstein explains the three layers of CC licenses: machine-readable expression, commons deed, and legally enforceable terms. Th question he then raises is whether or not CC is right for professional photographers. He believes that it is important to realize that "image availability is now taken for granted" and is therefore seen not as intellectual property but free content.

      This is where Creative Commons comes in. It serves to improve the granting of permission with legal licenses that allow photographers to decide what rights to give away without the hassle of hoping internet users go out of their way to personally ask permission. The licenses are designed to be as clear as possible, so most if not all users can easily disguish what rights are given and what rights are not. CC has already developed a passionate following and even the heavyweight Flickr has adopted these licenses. The CC+ license was designed specifically for photographers; it enables publishers to pursue commercial rights and other services beyond the normal noncommercial CC license. So then, that's the answer to Goldstein's question? He doesn't have one. Instead, he argues that the use of CC is a personal choice for each photographer, but that they should consider the pros and cons of the different licenses.

      While the article doesn't delve to deeply into the choices photographers have to make when deciding whether or not to use a CC license, it gives both a simple and easy to understand overview of Creative Commons and outlines the factors that affect photographers in the digital world. And while he poses more questions than he answers, it does leave readers with food for thought. In a world where content is assumed to be free and especially with photography, where keeping a name attached to an image is difficult, to say the least, what choice do you think you would make? He points out the important things to consider when deciding; perhaps most importantly, once something has a CC license, you can't change it back.

 

Katz also examines the realm of digital sampling, but he does so with a keen detective’s eye, looking at the practice from the outside-in.  He uses three case studies to show the main uses and techniques employed with digital sampling.  First of which is a “song” created by Paul Lansky with recordings of human voices speaking random words entitled “Notjustmoreidlechatter.”  The complicated issue of speech and music is addressed through this first instance of sampling and Katz identifies the specifications and implications of either one.  Secondly, he compares two pop songs, Camille Yarbrough’s “Take Yo’ Praise” and Fatboy Slim’s “Praise You,” which uses bits of the former in its creation of the latter.  Finally, he breaks down the numerous sampled bits in Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power.”  Public Enemy’s strong political message coupled with the nature of his samplings creates one of the most powerful sample-ridden songs of contemporary music. 

Katz only does so after first clarifying with the reader what exactly sampling is.  This definition has been found in the majority of the sources, but none went on to detail the legal issues as well as Katz.  He also goes on to explore the question of originality and immorality in terms of remixing and sampling.  Nevertheless, his case studies have proven most useful in determining the full extensions of digital sampling in music and his insight into its effect on music today.  He also lightly touches on the various effects parodies have upon the original work, if any, and acknowledges the complexities within the industry when it comes to approval for such works.  This book could possibly be the best source found thus far, seeing as it is not overly specific in its subject matter, yet it explores enough topics in a reasonable level of detail to be reliable. 

 

This source happens to be a blog entry written by a visiting professor at Washington College of Law who is also on the board of Creative Commons at the college.  The blog is a response to a Sixth Circuit court interpretation of the Copyright Act in the case of Bridgeport Music vs. Dimension Films which stated that artists must either have a license or abandon their sampling.  Carroll then continues to explain a few stipulations in the Copyright Act and their involvement in this court decision, namely Section 114 and Section 106. 

            Carroll analyzes the courts assessment of de minimus in the Copyright Act and how it was originally interpreted in the local Bridgeport court.  In the appellate court, however, Carroll finds fault with the way the court approached its decision, moving straight to Section 114 instead of focusing on Section 106.  He disagrees with their reading of the Act and consequently, their decision to remove de minimus from the realm of sound recordings, stating that he does not believe there is a “statutory basis for the rule announced by the court in this case.”

            Carroll’s stance in the Creative Commons forum at a prominent law school in the United States, as well as his origins in, and knowledge of, international copyright law once again present the material in a newly-cast light.  The case he references is one of much importance to the focus of this final paper and his commentary on the subject is clear and well-formed.  This source provides a very narrow view into one single court decision that acts as a useful spotlight among other more general sources. 

mozCC is an extension for Mozilla-based browsers, including Mozilla Firefox, Flock, Mozilla and Netscape, which provides a convenient way to examine Creative Commons licenses embedded in web pages. It’s at least twice as good as View Source.

While Creative Commons offers a range of license choices and public domain options direct from its license page, if you have created an application or built a website that allow people to contribute works you may prefer to integrate the license engine directly into your site or application. This guide serves to explain all the steps necessary and options available for integrating Creative Commons into your software. If you are integrating Creative Commons licenses with a non-web application, or would like more control over the user interface, the Creative Commons Web Services may be more appropriate.

In this project I will discuss the history and reasoning behind Creative Commons, the importance of its existence and principles (with an emphasis on online photography) and illustrate three relevant cases.

The Future of Ideas was Lawrence Lessig’s precursor to Free Culture.  It is extremely tech-heavy and goes into great detail about the history and infrastructure of the internet, and the principles the internet was built upon.  He describes how these values of freedom and the free interchange of ideas are being corrupted by the extreme of copyright control in our society.  The drastic increase and rapid changes in technology have gotten out of hand, and there is no longer a balance between public and private goals.  Our past traditions can still come into play, and changes in technology do not have to alter our law or culture.  The DMCA is a good example of a flawed law put into place as a response to changing technology.  The juxtaposition of the early internet to what it is now is striking – the extremes of copyright and the lack of works in the public domain have severely stifled creativity.
The three main sections of the book are a discussion of the importance of “the commons” on the internet, how to recapture online creativity and innovation, and how to stop the increasing restrictions on the internet.  The first section details the need for more free resources on the internet, and a realm of works that are owned by everyone, without control to their use or access.  Lessig explains in detail the principles of the GNU/Open Source movement, and how important it is to the innovation commons, moreso because large companies lack the ability to quickly adapt to technology changes.  The second section illustrates how the constraints that stifle creativity on the internet need to be removed, and gives examples of online innovation such as HTML books, mp3s, and online cultural databases.  The need for new models and new ideas is strong.  The third section shows how the law is being manipulated by corporations, and their increasing control over web content.  Copyright and patent laws have been virtually re-written to stifle the creativity of individuals, and increase the control of government-backed media conglomerates. 
The book is as pessimistic as Free Culture, but does offer some ideas as to how to alter this negative process.  Lessig introduces the ideas of Creative Commons and 5-year copyright term renewals, if desired by the copyright owner.  He emphasizes the importance of removing special interests, and finding new ways to spread information for free.  He also encourages individuals to go after large corporations if they provide false claims to copyright.
This book is extremely important because of how it details the internet and online copyright issues.  It very accurately describes the foundation of the internet, and shows just how far away from that beginning things have gone.

A nine minute student documentary of the Free Culture New York Summit held at Columbia University, January 2006. The film explores a new form of student activism, based primarily on and about the Internet. Beginning with the Free Culture demonstration at the Times Square Virgin Megastore, the documentary covers Free Culture members out to educate consumers on alternative forms of music distribution online (archive.org, ccmixter.org, blogs, etc). It continues the discussion with interviews featuring conference participants (Cory Doctorow, Creative Commons, Free Culture students activists). Finally, using cc licenses for distribution and production, the film acts as an example for other young student filmmakers who are interested in alternative copyright licensing.

This project is a systematic study of why and how it makes sense for commercial companies and noncommercial institutions active in culture, education, and media to make certain materials widely available for free, and also how free services are finding new (sometimes commercial) ways of becoming sustainable.

 

Site includes MP3s of lots of the shows. 

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A nine minute student documentary of the Free Culture New York Summit held at Columbia University, January 2006. The film explores a new form of student activism, based primarily on and about the Internet. Beginning with the Free Culture demonstration at the Times Square Virgin Megastore, the documentary covers Free Culture members out to educate consumers on alternative forms of music distribution online (archive.org, ccmixter.org, blogs, etc). It continues the discussion with interviews featuring conference participants (Cory Doctorow, Creative Commons, Free Culture students activists). Finally, using cc licenses for distribution and production, the film acts as an example for other young student filmmakers who are interested in alternative copyright licensing.

In this article for Wired Magazine, Larry Lessig offers an overview of some of the troubles causes by over-protective copyright laws. As an example, Lessig tries to license the song "Happy Birthday" for recording and distribution, in honor of the first “birthday” of the Free Culture Movement. In order to obtain the rights to the song, Lessig must navigate through a web of nonresposive organizations and exorbitant fees. In the end, Lessig does not obtain the ability to record the song at all, revealing the weakness and confusion that are present in the current copyright system.

This site, run by Stanford University, is a clearinghouse for up-to-date information on copyright issues and legislation. Connected with Stanford Law School and Professor Larry Lessig, this site provides links to articles and guides detailing current copyright and fair use issues. Articles from experts commenting on recent court cases is also available. Here, visitors can also download a full version of Lessig’s latest book, Free Culture.