O’Reilly Licensing Book, Licensed

Mike Linksvayer, January 31st, 2005

I just noticed that Understanding Open Source and Free Software Licensing, published last year by O’Reilly, is now available as a no cost download under a Creative Commons license. The book includes a chapter (PDF) on Creative Commons licenses.

Thanks O’Reilly and Andrew St. Laurent, the book’s author!

Via Slashdot.

World Live (and Licensed) Web

Mike Linksvayer, January 31st, 2005

Kevin Marks mentioned on the cc-metadata list that you can query Technorati for a list of recently syndicated content, grouped by Creative Commons license.

You can also drill down and get a list of recently syndicated content under a specific Creative Commons license.

The results are a bit rough now, but one can easily imagine combining license searches with keyword and other search filters to effect an ongoing search for specific licensed content. For example, tell me whenever a Creative Commons licensed image of horses is syndicated.

Marks, who works at Technorati, indicates this sort of capability is “an important future direction.” Other blog and search outfits take note.

(Glenn found the beautiful horse image linked above via the Creative Commons search engine.)

Read. Listen. Watch. Buckman.

Mike Linksvayer, January 29th, 2005

All Creative Commons radio show Staccato’s episode 7 features an interview with Magnatune record label founder John Buckman, our current featured commoner interview. Also check out a San Francisco television interview with Buckman and Magnatune artist Artemis.

MP3s of all 326 Magnatune-published albums are CC licensed. Listen.

Rip. Sample. Mash. Countdown.

Mike Linksvayer, January 29th, 2005

Since we noticed sta(cc)ato another CC radio show has started: The Revolution. After three regular shows, the Revolution is already producing a special: Rip. Sample. Mash. Countdown. Each week until the Freestyle Mix and Militia Mix contests end (February 12), the Revolution will play new entries that have been rated four stars (of five) or higher by the CC Mixter community.

Listen now.

CBC Radio 3 Chooses CC as a Top Issue

Neeru Paharia, January 27th, 2005

CBC Radio 3 has chosen Creative Commons Canada as 5th of 100 contemporary issues facing Canadians today.

Ready to Share (Pret a Partager)

Glenn Otis Brown, January 26th, 2005

Here’s a great idea: A conference that compares how creativity is regulated in fashion versus how it’s regulated in other art forms. In fashion, copyright (among other things) is pretty laissez-faire compared to, say, music or film.

On January 29, 2005, the Norman Lear Center will hold a landmark event on fashion and the ownership of creativity. Ready to Share will explore the fashion industry’s enthusiastic embrace of sampling, appropriation and borrowed inspiration, core components of every creative process. Presented by the Lear Center’s Creativity, Commerce & Culture project, and sponsored by The Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising/FIDM,  this groundbreaking conference will feature scholarly debate, fashion shows, multimedia presentations, the clash of perspectives and the cross-fertilization of ideas.

If you’re in Los Angeles this weekend, come see designer Tom Ford, musician Dangermouse, techie John Seely Brown, musician and producer T-Bone Burnett, and other giants of the various corners of the creative world talk about the fine art of sampling, across disciplines.

Or, check out the webcast at 9am PST January 29.

A Great Scene From iCommons

Neeru Paharia, January 26th, 2005

We just got this great photo of the Wissenschaftskolleg conference from Christiane, our International Commons Project Coordinator, whom you can see there in the background. Featured in the foreground is Professor Ricolfi, Creative Commons Legal Project Lead from Italy, and to the right of him is Professor Jürgen Renn, Director of the Max Planck Institute for History of Science. On the very right, is Professor Lessig. Photo by Olivier Menanteau.

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At Sundance

Glenn Otis Brown, January 26th, 2005

I’ll be on a panel on Digital Rights Management tomorrow at high noon at the Sundance Film Festival.

Digital Rights Management (DRM) is a key issue for any company that controls content or has a library it wants to exploit. Balancing issues of copyright/privacy versus profit is no small challenge. In the new digital age, is it possible to leverage content and maximize profit only when a top-notch DRM system is in place? The music industry learned its lesson the hard way with Napster; the film industry doesn’t want to make the same mistake, but still finds itself fighting multimillion-dollar antipiracy lawsuits year after year. How will the newest state-of-the-art DRM software change how we deliver movies? Come hear from the experts, and find out what’s on the horizon for the moviegoing (and book-reading) public. Moderated by Walter S. Mossberg, personal technology columnist for the Wall Street Journal.

Watch for Creative Commons sightings on Defamer.

Featured Commoner: Magnatune

Glenn Otis Brown, January 24th, 2005

Magnatune provides “Internet music without the guilt.” Based in Berkeley, California, Magnatune is a record label with a 21st Century business model, offering consumers a unique mix of free and paid music. One of the first for-profit companies to adopt Creative Commons’ copyright licenses into its strategy, Magnatune has amassed both an impressive buzz and a large artist roster. We recently spoke with Magnatune founder and CEO John Buckman about the music company’s progress and plans, and how going “some rights reserved” can boost the bottom line.

CC on the charts

Mike Linksvayer, January 20th, 2005

Ok, #9 on the Toronto Eye’s Anti-Hit List, with very some cool company. It’s a start!

Here’s the Eye’s pick on CC Mixter: fake french [le tigre est fatigué], featuring samples from several WIRED CD tracks.

It’s about discovery now.