building an

australasian
commons
some rights reserved

y G

Q
creative commons
 case studies | volume 1 
edited by rachel cobcroft
Building the Australasian Commons: Creative Commons Case Studies, Volume 1
is also available for download from the Creative Commons Australia website,
http://creativecommons.org.au/casestudiesvol1

The wrap-around cover of Building

an Australasian Commons is a
derivative work of "2004.02.29.
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building an
australasian
commons

creative commons
case studies | volume 1

edited by rachel cobcroft

creative commons clinic, australian research council
centre of excellence for creative industries and innovation

AUSTRALIA
 building an australasian commons

This book of case studies is a joint output of the Creative

Commons Clinic research program, funded by the
Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for
Creative Industries and Innovation, Creative Commons
Australia, and Creative Commons International.

www.cci.edu.au
http://creativecommons.org.au
http://creativecommons.org

isbn 978-09802988-8-8

Unless otherwise noted this book

is licensed under a Creative
Commons Attribution 2.5 Australia
licence. You are free to copy,
communicate and adapt this
work, so long as you attribute
the Australian Research Council
Centre of Excellence for Creative
Industries and Innovation and
the editor. For more information
see http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by/2.5/au
 creative
commons
case studies

Contents
Credits .................................................. 2 Freeing Footage for All:
Preface ................................................. 3 Creative Commons &
Introduction ........................................... 5 Moving Images ........................... 69
Australian Creative Resources
New Ways of Doing Music Online (ACRO) ................................... 72
Business: Creative Commons A Swarm of Angels ............................. 75
& Sound........................................... 9 Black brow .......................................... 78
Chris Denaro ...................................... 81
Ancient Free Gardeners ..................... 11 Digital Fringe (Melbourne Fringe
Festival) .............................................. 84
Andrew Garton ................................... 13
Following Alexis West ......................... 86
Audiophile ........................................... 16
Revver ................................................ 88
Jonathan Coulton ............................... 17
Sony eyeVio ....................................... 90
Creative Commons Music VIDEO SLAM: 5 Smiles ...................... 92
Collaboration Project (CCMCP).......... 19 VIDEO SLAM 02: Appropriate
Jamendo ............................................. 22 Original ............................................... 94
Knives at Noon ................................... 27
Magnatune.......................................... 29
Nine Inch Nails – Ghosts I-IV and Exhibition Open!: Creative
The Slip .............................................. 32 Commons & Visual Arts ............. 97
Pocketclock Records .......................... 35
Ali J Art & Illustration........................... 99
Postmoderncore ................................. 37
Artabase ........................................... 102
Topology ............................................. 39
ccSalon Australia on Flickr.com ........ 104
Yunyu.................................................. 41 deviantART ....................................... 108
OpenVoice Free PBX ......................... 43 merri randell.......................................111
Monkey C on Flickr.com ................... 113
Picture Australia Click and Flick ....... 115
Instilling Alternative Points of 60Sox ............................................... 118
View: Creative Commons & UpStage............................................ 120
Democratic Change ................... 45
Association for Progressive Archives Alive!: Creative
Communication – Australia (apc.au)... 47 Commons, Cultural &
Architecture for Humanity ................... 50 Governmental Institutions ....123
GreensBlog......................................... 53
ABC Pool .......................................... 125
EngageMedia ..................................... 55
Brisbane Media Map......................... 127
Global Voices Online .......................... 58
Dictionary of Sydney......................... 129
International IDEA Publishing ............. 60 Government Information Licensing
New Internationalist ............................ 62 Framework (GILF), Queensland
OpenDemocracy (oD)......................... 64 Government ...................................... 132
YouDecide2007 .................................. 66 Powerhouse Museum, Sydney ......... 135

Creative Commons Case Studies

 building an
australasian
commons

Remix My Lit: Creative

Commons & Written Word......139
Aduki Press – Stick This in Your
Memory Hole .................................... 141
The Age Blogs .................................. 144
Australian Network for Art
and Technology (ANAT) –
Filter Magazine ................................. 145
On Line Opinion................................ 148
Production
A New Leaf Media – The Pundit ....... 150
John Quiggin's Blog.......................... 152
Credits
Michael Specht's Blog ...................... 155
Mike Seyfang .................................... 156 Editorial
Remix My Lit ..................................... 159
Strange Symphonies Blog ................ 161 Rachel Cobcroft
Editor

2 Jessica Coates
Beyond the Classroom:
Subeditor
Creative Commons,
Education & Research ..............165 Elliott Bledsoe
Proofing
Creative Commons Clinic ................. 167
edgeX ............................................... 169
IMERSD e-Learning Project, Design
Griffith University .............................. 171
KCB101: Communication in the Elliott Bledsoe
New Economy .................................. 174 Chief Designer
Otago Polytechnic ............................ 176 Merri Randell
PLoS African Sleeping Sickness Finished Artist
Test ................................................... 178
The Community Library .................... 181
University of Southern
Interviewers
Queensland OpenCourseWare ........ 183
Rachel Cobcroft
Emma Carroll
James Milsom
Steve Gething
Elliott Bledsoe
Bjorn Bednarek
Jane Hornibrook
Irene Cassarino

Building an Australasian Commons

 creative
commons
case studies

Preface
The Creative Commons Case Studies wiki project and this printed volume have
been undertaken as initiatives of the Australian Research Centre (ARC) Centre
of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation (CCi) in association with the
Queensland University of Technology (QUT) Law Faculty.

Since its inception, the ARC Centre of Excellence led by Professor Stuart
Cunningham has worked to find, understand, investigate, explore and implement
new ways to promote the sharing of knowledge, culture and content as a key driver
of social, cultural and economic innovation.

Creative Commons licensing has been a key part of that research as this innovative
and unique legal tool is a critical ingredient of the system of networked informational
exchange we now call Web 2.0. The great value of this tool is in its understanding
of and synergy with the technology, providing a simple yet brilliant mechanism for
strategically managing copyright in an age of access.

As part of the process of understanding, improving and applying CC licences the

Centre has sought to gather evidence on how the licences are being used. This
offers a laboratory for investigation as well as case studies or role models for other
adopters. It also serves as a proof of concept.

To this end this project provides detailed evidence of the ways in which CC is being
used by creators and institutions along with an explanation of their motivations.
Such a study is world-leading and as confirmation of this I would note that our work 3
now forms the basis of the newly-created Creative Commons Case Studies wiki
on the international CC website, http://wiki.creativecommons.org/casestudies. This
alone is an extraordinary achievement.

The work of CC in Australia would not have advanced so far were it not for the
tremendous support and belief of Professor Tom Cochrane Deputy Vice Chancellor
(DVC) QUT, the ccClinic Team of Jessica Coates, Elliott Bledsoe, Nic Suzor and
Rachel Cobcroft and the ARC Centre of Excellence. Countless others have worked
with us to make CC a reality in Australia and for their passion and commitment we
are truly thankful. The efforts of many are reflected in the pages that follow. I am
extremely grateful for the time and effort people have taken to contribute to these
case studies.

In particular I should highlight the contribution and commitment of Rachel Cobcroft

the lead researcher on this project. Rachel has put her heart and soul into this
project and with excellent results. Jessica Coates and Elliott Bledsoe have given her
unwavering support, with Elliott’s layout and design (here with Merri Randall) again
being a spectacular feature.

We hope you enjoy reading these studies and we encourage your feedback and
insights.

Brian Fitzgerald
Professor of Intellectual Property and Innovation, Queensland University of Technology (QUT)
www.ip.qut.edu.au

Program Leader for Law, ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation
www.cci.edu.au

Creative Commons Case Studies

 creative
commons
case studies

Introduction

Engaging Creative Australia

Creative Commons is a world-wide initiative founded on the concept of ‘free culture.’

Celebrating all forms of artistic expression and innovation, ‘CC’ promotes creators’
rights to distribute and modify their works in a legally recognised framework of
‘some rights reserved.’ Since the release of the first CC licences in December
2002, millions of documents, images, audio tracks, film clips and educational
resources have been distributed via the Internet and more traditional means under
the protections which CC provides. From its flexibility to its ease-of-use, there is
increasing recognition of Creative Commons as the international leader in open
content licensing (OCL).

This publication provides a new perspective on Australia’s creative communities

and cultural institutions, Government initiatives, and educational offerings. The
case studies collected here represent an ongoing effort to map the scope and scale
of Creative Commons licence usage in Australia and internationally. Embracing
both individuals and organisations who employ the flexible copyright framework,
these studies show the hows, whys and wherefores of musicians, photographers,
filmmakers, bloggers, educators, journalists, researchers and writers choosing to 5
share their creativity. They recount the desire to manage copyrights upfront and to
bring a significant change to the Australian creative landscape through the use of
private rights to create public goods.

By illustrating a selection of the innovative tools and techniques being used for
inclusion and generation of OCL materials across the full breadth of the Australian
creative sector—from curricula to business practices to individual artistic projects—
this document demonstrates the significant impact which CC has had in this country
since the launch of the first local licences in 2005 and ultimately, serves as a
qualitative measure attesting to the influence of CC in this jurisdiction.

Importantly, this collection seeks to respond directly to the 2007 Unlocking the
Potential Through Creative Commons report (http://creativecommons.org.au/
unlockingthepotential) and its action items for community engagement:

1 Continued research on issues related to Creative Commons and Open

Content Licensing in Australia;
2 Building awareness of the Creative Commons project in Australia;
3 Expanding the information available about the Creative Commons project
in Australia;
4 Providing greater advice and support for projects that are considering
implementing, are in the process of implementing and/or that have
implemented Creative Commons licences in Australia; and
5 Further development of the Creative Commons Australia licences.

Creative Commons Case Studies

 building an
australasian
commons

Mapping the Creative Commons

‘The impact of the CC project can be measured by the

proliferation of its licences.’
OpenBusiness.cc, 2006, p 8

As demonstrated by the Creative Commons metrics project (http://wiki.

creativecommons.org/metrics), the international uptake of CC licences is
experiencing an exponential rise. In January 2006, when the movement was just
three years old, former Creative Commons Chairman Lawrence Lessig noted in
The Guardian:

"We've seen a pretty substantial lift… In the first year we

recorded about one million take-ups for our licences. In the
next year that went up to 4m. Between December 2004 and
December 2005, the number went from about 4m to 45m.’
www.guardian.co.uk/science/2006/jan/16/
academicexperts.copyright

While no definitive figure is available for the number of items currently licensed
under Creative Commons, estimates suggest that it is around 300 million
6 worldwide (www.scribd.com/doc/2364888/Creative-Commons-CC-Overview).
As an illustration, as of June 2008, the online photo-sharing site Flickr alone
hosts in excess of 67 million images under the range of Creative Commons
2.0 licences(www.flickr.com/creativecommons). The music site Jamendo
(www.jamendo.com/en/creativecommons) has 9537 albums available under
Creative Commons licences, whilst its contemporary Magnatune hosts 8815
songs across 553 albums by 244 artists (www.magnatune.com/info/stats). The
impact of the commons is therefore increasingly clear across platforms and
jurisdictions.

Significant studies are being undertaken in quantifying the commons by the

research teams of Giorgios Cheliotis, visiting Assistant Professor of Information
Systems at Singapore Management University in the Participatory Media Lab
(http://pml.wikidot.com), and the ARC's Linkage Project Unlocking IP; in particular,
the work of PhD researcher Ben Bildstein (www.cyberlawcentre.org/unlocking-ip).
Using back-links to licences and advanced Creative Commons searches through
Yahoo!, Google, and other customised interfaces, the researchers hope to provide
an accurate estimate which can be placed on the uptake of CC worldwide.
Taking stock of the Creative Commons initiative, Cheliotis et al. observe that
there is an increasing social shift towards open collaboration both in developed
and developing nations, identifying the rise of a ‘new global consciousness of
sharing and participation across national borders’ (http://wiki.creativecommons.
org/images/7/71/Taking-stock-of-the-creative-commons-experiment_eng.pdf).
This report aims to build on this increased awareness, and to provide additional
qualitative information on the means and motivations for sharing.

Building an Australasian Commons

 creative
commons
case studies

This Book
‘What artists need to see before they can feel confident about
the licences are examples of other[s] taking the licences;
incorporating them into their practices.’
OpenBusiness.cc, 2006, p 8

As clearly demonstrated by the following sixty-five case studies, Australian creators

engaged in the commons are making a critical contribution to ‘free culture’ in this
jurisdiction. Exploring the innovative practices of Australian artists and educators,
scientists and screenwriters, these case studies provide an overview of the activities
and undertakings expressing the desire to adopt a flexible approach to rights
management. Importantly, the studies examine users’ motivations to license under
CC, and any identified impact the shift to OCL has had.
In preparing these studies, each participant was asked to respond to a broad series
of questions relating to their practice, including:

ß Describe your organisation (establishing goals, business models, partner

organisations, etc.)
ß What are your current projects?
ß How did you first hear about Open Content Licences/Creative Commons?
ß Why did you choose to use CC? Which licence did you select and why?
ß How is the licence applied?
7
ß What has been your experience with OCL/CC so far? What have been
the benefits and possible problems?
ß Do you work collaboratively with other parties?
ß Which tools do you use?
ß Any other issues you may have come across/comments you'd like to make?

Several respondents were chosen because of their prominence in the Australian

CC community, while others were found by Yahoo! and Google searches using local
licence link backs. Each case study has been written with the intention of illustrating
a particular use of the CC licence in a specific sector, and to demonstrate the
successful local implementation of the international initiative.

The provision of appropriate information, advice, support and training on OCL

application is key to the Creative Commons Clinic’s education, research, and
industry engagement projects. Feedback received on the application of the licences
will be incorporated into future licence versions and Creative Commons Australia’s
ongoing outreach programme.

Creative Commons constitutes a thriving, and ever-increasing, community in

Australia. Underpinning this community is a desire to keep the results of intellectual
endeavour as open as is practicable, allowing materials to be shared across the
divides of geography, sector, and expertise. We commend the following case
studies to you as innovators and exemplars, acknowledging the ever-increasing
creation of a vibrant and vital Australasia commons.

Creative Commons Case Studies

 building an
australasian
commons

Acknowledgements
First and foremost, this book acknowledges the invaluable contribution made
to the building of an Australasian commons by the many creators – designers,
playwrights, educators, writers, editors, photographers, illustrators, filmmakers,
amongst significant others – who demonstrate their dedication to free culture
and the retention of a meaningful public domain. To the interviewees we have
approached in the last six months, we thank you for your ongoing initiatives and
for the inspiration you impart to others wishing to explore the application of open
content.

At the centre of the Creative Commons Australia initiative are Professors Brian
Fitzgerald and Tom Cochrane from the Queensland University of Technology. Their
insight and support in establishing the Creative Commons research initiative has
allowed a community of creators to thrive, and for which both industry and individual
artists are deeply grateful. Key members of the ccAustralia team who have
contributed immeasurably to this project are Elliott Bledsoe, Jessica Coates, Emma
Carroll, Steven Gething, James Milsom and Merri Randell.

Behind the scenes, a team of dedicated Creative Commons staff has helped to
build the CC Case Studies Wiki (http://wiki.creativecommons.org/casestudies).
Particular thanks go to Jon Phillips, CC’s Community Manager and enthusiastic
advocate, Timothy Vollmer (tvol) for his responsive bug fixing and technical insights
in building the backbone of the project. Thanks also to Cameron Parkins, Michelle
8 Thorne, Mike Linksvayer, Asheesh Laroia, and Nathan Kinkade.

We strongly encourage you to contribute your own CC stories to the wiki for this
project at http://wiki.creativecommons.org/casestudies and to contact us with any
comments or questions you have about the CC framework.

Rachel Cobcroft
Editor

Research Officer, Creative Commons Clinic,

Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation
www.cci.edu.au/ccc

Building an Australasian Commons

new ways of
doing music
business

Creative Commons & Sound

In May 2008, front man of the noir-rock band
Nine Inch Nails (http://nin.com) Trent Reznor music business
announced to the world that they were releasing
a second album, The Slip (http://theslip.nin.com), case studies
under a Creative Commons licence, encouraging
fans to download, distribute, and mashup their
work. In doing so, NIN was making an indelible Ancient Free Gardeners 11
mark upon the music industry: take note, business
models are on the move.
Andrew Garton 13
Audiophile 16
Offering a flexible framework with which to
manage copyright, CC provides artists with the Jonathan Coulton 17
opportunity to engage creatively with content.
Creative Commons
As early adopters of the flexible CC licences,
musicians demonstrate an increasing interest Music Collaboration
in entrepreneurial activities through online and Project (CCMP) 19
offline community-based and collaborative
initiatives. Presenting the incentive to ‘Rip.
Jamendo 22
Sample. Mash. Share,’ in 2004 Wired Magazine Knives at Noon 27
released a CC remixable CD, featuring the
Beastie Boys, David Byrne, Le Tigre and Magnatune 29
Gilberto Gil, amongst other artists of note
Nine Inch Nails – Ghosts I-IV
(http://creativecommons.org/wired). This venture
gave rise to the ccMixter.org online community, and The Slip 32
an award-winning project which is currently being Pocketclock Records 35
converted into a business spin-off to explore the
commercialisation of user-generated content. Postmoderncore 37

More recently, as the music industry has turned

Topology 39
towards new business models appropriate Yunyu 41
to the digital era, several ‘survival strategies’
have been posited by David Byrne (www.wired. OpenVoice Free PBX 43
com/entertainment/music/magazine/16-01/
ff_byrne) and the Open Rights Group in the
United Kingdom (www.openrightsgroup.org/
 building an
australasian
commons

creativebusiness/index. artists and labels to connect with

Images: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 US, http://theslip.nin.com

php/Main_Page). In this their community of fans through

environment, an increasing CC licences. Employing CC as a
focus has been placed promotional tool, local musicians such
on CC’s role in innovative as anime-inspired pop star Yunyu,
practice. Pioneering music experimental ensemble Topology and
sites such as Magnatune New Zealand synth-rock band Knives
(http://magnatune.com) at Noon allow free downloads of their
represent a concerted effort works for non-commercial purposes,
to introduce innovation to and offer albums for sale on CD Baby
the management of content, and Jamendo. Such distribution,
combining open access bypassing traditional publishers, has
philosophies with revenue- been embraced as a way of increasing
raising mechanisms. the bands’ prominence in both local and
international markets. At an international
Building on this innovation, level, the innovative business approach
in December 2007, Creative expressed by the independent and
Commons outlined its idiosyncratic Jonathan Coulton has
CC+ framework (http:// been shown to work well in his favour.
wiki.creativecommons. His experiment with new ways in
org/CCPlus), which aims which content can be distributed and
to encompass both the disseminated as a result of the Internet
sharing and the commercial has born significant fruit, with 45% of his
economies, offering artists income in 2007 being derived from paid
10
the ability to relicense their digital downloads.
work non-commercially
whilst retaining the right Whether engaging in distribution models
for resale to commercial as an emerging artist or a megastar,
enterprises. Business musicians are navigating a new dynamic
strategies embracing CC are which promises greater creative control.
currently being considered The Creative Commons licensing
and implemented by an scheme signifies a departure from the
ever-increasing series of traditional middle-man approach, and as
sites, including Jamendo, such, represents a unique opportunity to
Beatpick, Strayform, capitalise on creativity whilst giving back
Youlicense, RightsAgent, to the community.
Blip.tv, the Copyright
Clearance Center, and
Cloakx. These models ‘thank you for
provide salient illustrations
of different engagements your continued
with commercial practices,
which are continually being and loyal support
The downloadable package redefined in the effort to
for The Slip included the music
files (as high-quality MP3s, in
capture the imagination of over the years –
online audiences.
FLAC or Apple Lossless formats
at CD quality or in higher-than-
this one’s on me.’
CD quality as 24/96 WAVE files) The following case studies
accompanied by a PDF of album underscore the desire of Trent Reznor
artwork. These are four images independent Australian http://ninblogs.wordpress.com
from the album artwork.

New Ways of Doing Music Business

 creative
commons
case studies

Ancient Free Gardeners

description: Ancient Free Gardeners are an indie-rock
band from Melbourne, Australia, using

http://ancientfreegardeners.com/?page_id=13
Creative Commons licences to distribute
their music.

Image: By Bo Hui. CC BY-SA 2.5 AUS,

website: http://ancientfreegardeners.com
licence used: CC BY-NC-SA 2.5 Australia,
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-
sa/2.5/au
media: Audio
location: Melbourne, Australia Ancient Free Gardeners – (Left to Right) Callum Barter,
James Milsom, Steve Morfesse and Gautam Raju

Overview The band aims to reach wider audiences

internationally through the use of
Ancient Free Gardeners are an indie- Creative Commons licences, having
rock band in Melbourne, Australia. previously been signatory to distribution
The band consists of James Milsom deals that have borne significantly less
(vocals, guitar), Gautam Raju (bass than what the band had aimed for. Their
first album is currently being pieced 11
guitar), Callum Barter (drums) and Steve
Morfesse (keys, vocals). The band together. The singles will be available
plays original music written by James under Creative Commons; perhaps the
Milsom at venues in Melbourne and (on whole album.
occasion) tours interstate.

The band takes its name from Licence Usage

the friendly society, Order of Free
Gardeners, which dates back to around For the self-titled release the Creative
the 15th century. What is the actual Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-
link between the two? The tram into ShareAlike 2.5 Australia licence was
Melbourne CBD from the cemetery- used. After almost completely selling out
side sharehouse in which the band was of the five-track EP without recouping
established rushes past the now-defunct expenses, the band tried another angle
headquarters of the Free Gardeners’ for the distribution of the same songs: to Ancient Free
Melbourne branch. An impulse caused adopt Creative Commons. Gardeners vocalist
two band members to make a visit on and guitarist, James
Milsom took part in
one occasion, and so bizarre was the The entire EP is available on their the Creative Commons
experience that the adoption of the name website for free download (http:// Clinic Intern Program
was a foregone conclusion. ancientfreegardeners.com/?page_id=49) in 2008. During his
or streaming. It is also available on the internship, James
Ancient Free Gardeners earn income Creative Commons distribution platform researched and wrote
from playing live shows, CD sales and Jamendo (www.jamendo.com/en/ a paper exploring the
digital music sales via iTunes. However, album/22206) and through commercial need for new business
the band is not yet self-sustaining, and models for the music
distribution points including Apple’s
sector and what these
is financially supported by the members. iTunes music store. new models might
look like.

Creative Commons & Sound

 building an
australasian
commons
‘...once you understand that
Though no statistics are
with CC licences you don’t
available for downloads,
the band believe they
actually have to lose all of
derived very little benefit
from the release being on
the rights to the music, there
iTunes and other online
music retailers. The
is nothing but benefit that
move to open content
licensing was a very
you can derive. You have
recent one, so the band
has not yet experienced
next to nothing, so you have
any significant benefits
from licensing its music
nothing to “lose”’
under Creative Commons, James Milsom, vocalist and guitarist for Ancient Free Gardeners
but looks forward to the
experiment. They recently (http://obscuresound.com). Equally, they
expanded their experimentation with CC negotiated a synchronisation licence
by releasing the single Innards Out on with LonelyGirl15 (www.lg15.com/
the website under the same licence as lonelygirl15/?p=452) for the use of the
their previous release. track ‘I am not a shipwright’ which would
ultimately be viewed more than 60,000
time. Despite this increased exposure
Motivations they still only saw a minor rise in iTunes
sales.
12
James Milsom, front-person for the
band, first heard about Creative The Creative Commons Attribution-
Commons at a lecture on innovation Noncommercial-ShareAlike 2.5
made by John Wilbanks, the Executive Australia licence was chosen because
Director and Vice President of Science the band wished to reserve their right
Commons (http://sciencecommons. to attribution. Further, having licensed
org). The band became aware of the work previously and experienced fairly
distribution and publicity potential severe difficulty in generating any
afforded by the Internet. First steps into profit through independent music, the
the area using iTunes failed to have the band wished to reserve their right to
distributive and promotional effect they commercially license their music should
sought. But since making their music the opportunity arise. Said Milsom:
available free for non-commerical use
they have gained from several significant “For the thousands of
bands just like us, once you
promotional opportunities such as a
understand that with CC
feature on the Obscuresound music blog
licences you don’t actually
have to lose all of the rights to
the music, there is nothing but
Image: self-titled EP artwork by Elisabet Ericson.

benefit that you can derive. You

have next to nothing, so you
Innards Out artwork by Martin Rinman.

have nothing to lose.”

Ancient Free Gardeners have been experimenting

with the use of Creative Commons licences. Their
first release, a self-titled EP, and their recent single
Innards Out are both available on their website under
a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-
ShareAlike 2.5 Australia licence.

New Ways of Doing Music Business

 creative
commons
case studies

Andrew Garton
description: Andrew Garton is a prominent Australian-based writer, producer and digital media
adviser who widely employs and advocates the use of Creative Commons licences.
website: http://agarton.wordpress.com
licence used: Website/Blog: CC BY-NC-SA 2.5 Australia, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/
by-nc-sa/2.5/au and Flickr: CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 Generic, http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0
media: Audio, Video, Text, Images
location: Australia

Overview Communications, is a member of the

Arts Law Consortium of Victoria, and
a founding member of Open Spectrum
Andrew Garton (http://agarton.
Australia (http://openspectrum.org.au).
wordpress.com) is a prominent
Australian-based writer, producer
Garton commenced his career at age
and digital media advisor who sits at
14, participating in community and public 13
the forefront of new media practice
access media and contributing to the
and community cultural development.
experimental music scene(s) in Sydney,
A passionate advocate for Creative
Australia. Performing and producing as
Commons and open content licensing,
synthesist, saxophonist, and spoken-
Garton works across a number of
word performer
projects which express the aims of
from the late Andrew Garton
inclusivity, sustainability, and respect
1970s, he played
for local context. As the current
with punk/soul
Managing Director of the online and
band Private
community media group, the Association
Lives (1979-
for Progressive Communications –

Image: By Garton. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 Generic, www.flickr.com/photos/andrew-garton/105185343

1983) and fusion/
Australia, (apc.au) (http://apc.org.
improvisation
au), Garton places focus on building
outfit Lingo Babel
sustainable IT infrastructure and
(1985-1987). In
community-based media based
the late 1980s
initiatives in Australia, South East Asia,
he formed the
and the Pacific Islands. For example,
acoustic-based
apc.au consults on delivery platforms to
White Punks on
the Melbourne City Council – supported
Hope and the
Home Lands project (http://wiki.apc.
jazz/punk trio,
org.au/index.php?title=Home_Lands).
Return from
Home Lands intends to assist young
Nowhere. For
refugees to reconnect with their
ABC Classic
dispersed communities through an
Radio's The
innovative Internet television programme.
Listening
In addition, Andrew serves as
Room (now
Secretary of the Executive Board of the
off-air), Garton
international Association for Progressive

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 building an
australasian
commons

(MIFF) in 2001. It was further performed,

www.flickr.com/photos/andrew-garton/2547023611

in part, for the Fringe Fashion Awards

Image: By Garton. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Generic,

(Melbourne), Multimedia Arts Asia

Pacific (MAAP) (Brisbane), the
Melbourne International Arts Festival
and the Electrofringe (Newcastle, NSW).
Furthermore, in 2003, Andrew was
commissioned to produce a situationist-
inspired interactive work, D3, for the
Australian Centre for the Moving Image
(ACMI), where he spent two years as
Andrew Garton introduces the Remix Forum for Video Slam 02 interactive media consultant.

performed Sensorium Connect (www. In 2005, Garton accepted the role as

abc.net.au/arts/room/sensorium), Open Channel’s (www.openchannel.
the first generative sound piece for org.au) inaugural Program Director,
Australian radio and Internet in 1997, effectively relaunching the 35-year-
in collaboration with performance old organisation. The new programme
artist Stelarc (www.stelarc.va.com.au). of activities included the Creative
Composer of numerous documentary Commons-inspired VIDEO SLAM (www.
soundtracks, interactive installations openchannel.org.au/blogs/videoslam),
(both online and offline), and publisher the Certificate III in Screen course,
of articles on independent media, Producing for Community TV, the
generative music and radio art, Garton’s FRAMED lunchtime seminar series and
composition and performance has the community mobile movies initiative,
14 been characterised by employment Talking Docklands: Video Quilt.
of streaming technologies, generative
sound works and collaborative, cross-
disciplinary approaches, exploring
broader interpretations of screen
Licence Usage
culture and the moving image. Andrew
Andrew is a strong supporter of Creative
releases his various projects through the
Commons. His initial website and blog
Secession (http://secession-records.org)
were licensed under a CC BY-NC-
label. Succession’s website is licensed
SA 1.0 Generic licence, now CC BY-
under a CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 Generic
licence. NC-SA 2.5 Australia licence, and his
photographs on Flickr (www.flickr.com/
Under the auspices of Toy Satellite photos/andrew-garton) are licensed
(http://toysatellite.org), Andrew has under a CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
produced several of the earliest
audiovisual streaming projects in For Melbourne Arts Law Week
Australia, contributing to internationally- 2007 (www.artslaw.com.au/events/
acclaimed and award-winning sound PastEvents/VICArtsLawWeek2007.
works and generative compositions asp), Garton created the Open Channel
commissioned by both the Australian VIDEO SLAM (www.openchannel.org.
Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and au/blogs/videoslam), ‘a unique event in
ORF/KunstRadio (Austria). In 2001 that it not only provides a forum for the
he produced Undercurrents, which open content philosophy, it’s host to a
launched the Taipei International Arts hybrid form of production where people
Festival. This piece was subsequently from across many arts disciplines can
commissioned for performance at the meet, network and make something…
first multimedia event to be hosted by together!’ As a collaboration with
the Melbourne International Film Festival the Creative Commons Clinic and

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case studies

EngageMedia, the Victorian Arts Law their work to be made in perpetuity

Consortium and Melbourne’s Horse under OCL, an artist kicks at the core of
Bazaar, its focus rested on flexible globalisation’s founding beliefs.
licences for the creation of new works
that are given back to the community When asked why he chooses flexible
from which the material came. The licences such as Creative Commons,
second VIDEO SLAM, ‘Appropriate and how he is able to make money via
Original,’ saw the creation of four unique the initiative, Andrew responds that:
shorts, two of which were produced with
no copyright restrictions what so ever, ‘Just as we have to think of
all four being launched at the innovative different ways of living, so too
Remix Forum (http://agarton.wordpress. do we need to think of different
com/2008/05/25/vs02-remix-forum), also ways of earning an income. I do
conceived and produced by Andrew. not think it is possible to earn the
kind of money we have come to
expect from creative industries
Andrew performed at the inaugural 2006
by merely posting our content
Creative Commons Australia Salon
online. In addition, we can no
(http://creativecommons.org.au/ccsalon),
longer afford to live as we have
incorporating content from across the
done so, as our forefathers
Australian Creative Commons, such as have done… we just do not
images from the CCau Flickr pool (www. have the resources to support
flickr.com/groups/ccaustralia) established this. As such, I feel tools such
for the event. Garton chronicled this event as Creative Commons are part
in his Reprise (http://agarton.wordpress. of the discussion we should be
com/2006/12/01/ccsalon-reprise). having about our lives, how we 15
live, how and what we learn and
the mechanisms required to
Motivations support innovation and creativity,
that which sustains life, gives it
meaning and purpose - a lifetime
On 30 March 2007, Andrew addressed
of learning rather than a lifetime
the Queensland University of
of uncertainty.’
Technology’s Creative Commons Clinic
(ccClinic) with a provocative presentation Ultimately, Andrew sees the CC
titled Are We Insane? (http://agarton. movement as doing more than offering
wordpress.com/2007/04/05/are-we- cool sampling licences: ‘They are
insane). In this, he expounded on contributing to a revitalization of
humanity’s tendency under the effects creativity and cultural development as
of globalisation to mass-produce items a collective effort. It ensures diversity,
so they appear as mirror images, sustains it and keeps our fans free of
being ‘manifestations of our liberal fines and some of them even out of jail.’
economies… which at the extreme…
ensure a McDonald’s in every capital
Generic, www.flickr.com/photos/albertyinyang/309524021

Andrew Garton performing at the Australian ccSalon 2006

city, the same clothing labels on every
Image: DSC-8368-version 2 by yinyang. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

back, brands on every t-shirt and Big

Brother haircuts in every pub across
the country – what I’m talking about is
homogeneity.’

In vociferous response, Andrew

perceives flexible licensing as
challenging such overarching concepts
of ownership – by allowing copies of

Creative Commons & Sound

 building an
australasian
commons ‘Creative Commons
offers an important
Audiophile option for people to
description: Audiophile is an Australian
distribute their work
online repository of interesting
soundbites.
around the world
website: www.audiophile.org.au without limiting their
licence used: CC BY-NC-SA 2.5 Australia,
http://creativecommons.org/
right to some control
licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/au over their creative
media:
location:
Audio
Australia
output ’
Shyam, Founder of Audiophile

Overview rates for production through a limited

number of commissions.
Audiophile is an Australian not-for-
profit which publishes audio works by
young and emerging producers. Topics Licence Usage
include social justice, the environment,
16 Indigenous issues, the arts, and popular Contributions to Audiophile are published
culture. Audiophile showcases field under the Creative Commons BY-NC-SA
recordings, cultural features, radio plays, 2.5 Australia licence, and are available
social documentaries, audio postcards for free download.
and experimental sound designs.

Audiophile provides publishing

opportunities for emerging media
Motivations
producers and aims to pay professional
Audiophile emphasises contributions
Audiophile catalogue page, July 2008 which engage with their surroundings,
collecting audio recordings which reflect
creators’ own experiences. The site
offers a way to profile recordings which
may not otherwise be heard, placing an
emphasis on documentary format rather
than music, and the exploration of social
justice and environmental issues.

The founder of Audiophile, Shyam, told

Rachel Cobcroft from CCau via email
interview in January 2008 that he had
first heard about Creative Commons
through a friend who is a graphic
designer and fellow artist about three
years previously. Shyam emphasises
the flexibility and control that CC gives
to artists about the distribution and
commercial use of their works.

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Jonathan Coulton
description: Jonathan Coulton is an independent and unsigned singer-songwriter who utilises
Creative Commons licences to help promote his music via free downloads.
website: www.jonathancoulton.com
licence used: CC BY-NC 3.0 Generic, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc /3.0
media: Audio
location: United States of America

Overview buy t-shirts, books and games from the

merchandise section. There are even
karaoke versions available of some of
Jonathan Coulton is a singer-songwriter the songs. Evidencing his enthusiasm
based in America. Coulton refers to his for engaging fans, Coulton has also
music as an experiment in the new ways performed concerts in the virtual world,
in which content will be distributed and Second Life (http://creativecommons.
disseminated as a result of the Internet. org/weblog/entry/6056). 17
His rationale, in his own words, ‘I give
away music because I want to make
music, and I can’t make music unless
I make money, and I won’t make any Licence
money unless I get heard, and I won’t get
heard unless I give away music’ (www. Usage Jonathan Coulton
jonathancoulton.com/faq#Who). In 2005,
Coulton began a project titled Thing a The licence
Week, where he wrote and released a adopted for all
new song on his website every week Coulton songs
for a year (www.jonathancoulton.com/ is Creative
primer/thing-a-week). The project was Commons
aimed at getting publicity for Coulton’s Attribution-
music, and several of the songs including Noncommercial
‘Flickr’ and ‘Code Monkey’ were big 3.0 licence.
Internet hits. The Thing a Week project Coulton highlights
was released via a weekly podcast, with
the importance
each song being available under a CC
he places on
Attribution-Noncommercial licence.
allowing his
Coulton has all of his music available fans to have the
to stream on his website, with many chance to use his
work in whatever
Image: By Dale May. Used with permission.

songs also available for free download.

Customers can then buy songs in either way they choose,
MP3 or FLAC format for $US1 and including
albums for between $US5 - $US10. remixing and
Customers can also make donations adding to his
via Pay Pal or Amazon, buy physical work (www.
CDs through online distributor CD Baby, jonathancoulton.
download songs as ringtones for free, or com/faq#Use).

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‘Creative Commons is the lizard-brain fear about file

sharing. I can understand why

most powerful idea that it’s a hard thing for people in

the industry to get over – I

I’ve heard since they told

totally sympathise. But at least
for someone in my position,
it’s the best thing I could
me there was going to be have done. Every month I get
more traffic, more donations/
a sequel to Star Wars.’ sales, and more fans. I’m
quite certain that having a CC
license on all the music has
Jonathan Coulton, www.jonathancoulton.com/faq#CC really helped that process. If
someone who’s never heard
Though unable to release any statistics, my music before gets a free
Jonathan says in an email interview mp3 (or twenty) and likes it,
with James Milsom on 5 April 2008, chances are they’re going to
that some of his songs have been pass it along to some friends,
downloaded hundreds of thousands blog about it, maybe even
of times, and 45% of his income in make a video for it. Each one
2007 was from paid digital downloads. of those outcomes means
Jonathan’s content has been used more exposure, more fans,
in music videos made by fans and and more chances for people
posted on YouTube, subsequently to pay me – something that
receiving (in some cases) over a million wouldn’t have happened
hits. Fans have also created cover as easily if the music was
versions of his songs, artwork, dances, all locked up with DRM and
18 plays, card games and even guitar the full battery of copyright
instructional videos. Coulton says that restrictions.’
this sort of outcome is very satisfying
and validating, but more importantly http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2006/09/
from a business point of view, such the_second_life.html
enthusiasm from fans has meant that
he has received a great amount of free Also, while understanding the
publicity. significance of being able to give
music away legally, Jonathan sees the
importance of protecting some rights in
the music; the noncommercial aspect
Motivations of the licence he uses serves this
purpose well. He sees it as important
Jonathan Coulton heard about open for musicians to reserve their right to
content licensing through his previous commercially license their content if an
work writing software. He heard
opportunity to do so comes their way.
Lawrence Lessig speak at the PopTech
conference in 2003, and was sold
on the Creative Commons rationale Jonathan uses the Creative Commons
immediately. Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 licence.
Following trials using licences that
When asked about the benefits of incorporated the ShareAlike provision,
licensing his music under CC by Jonathan found that it was too difficult
Wagner James Au for New World to monitor whether people were indeed
Notes in September 2006, Jonathan ‘sharing alike’ and licensing derivative
responded: content in the same manner that he
had licensed the original. For that
‘It’s gone very well for me.
At first, even though I was all
reason, he abandoned use of the
fired up about the possibilities ShareAlike provision.
of CC, I still had that panicky

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Creative Commons Music Collaboration

Project (CCMCP)
description: CCMCP provides musicians with applications to contribute to collaborative audio
projects.
website: http://ccmcp.info
licence used: CC 3.0 Generic Suite, full copyright and Public Domain Dedication.
media: Audio
location: Global

Overview multi-track composition. If a musician is

inspired by a particular project, they are
encouraged to download it according
The Creative Commons Music
to its specified copyright terms, and
Collaboration Project (CCMCP) was
embellish it in their own way. Once
developed by Yoav Givati to create
the new track has been uploaded, the
a community among musicians who
musician will be able to receive feedback 19
share their songs, beats, and ideas
via comments and ratings from other
with other artists who will tweak, mix,
members. CCMCP’s Forums (http://
edit and expand upon their works in
ccmcp.info/forums) facilitate discussions
infinitely creative ways. Offering a
on the collaborations, enabling education
collaborative platform of applications,
through interaction.
tools, and discussion fora, the project
emphasises a holistic music education
The CCMCP project is currently in beta
through interaction between professional
form. Since its commencement on
musicians and beginners, assisting
20 May 2007, CCMCP has reportedly
users in the interpretation of music Content that is
taken on several different shapes.
notation, playing technique, theory, and part of CCMCP is
Wanting to remove the distance between
skill development such as writing lyrics, available through
musicians via the Internet – to recreate
tablature, and understanding technical a downloadable
the experience of jamming live – the
equipment and recording software such desktop application
project has employed technologies such
as Logic, SONAR, and Audacity. that utilises Adobe
as skypecasts to content management Integrated Runtime
systems, and custom-built applications (AIR) (www.adobe.
The CCMCP Library application
for research and development. Currently, com/products/air )
underpinning the site is a collaborative
CCMCP developers are in the process of to access the CCMCP
music engine which allows subscribed
building a platform to replace the present catalogue.
users to contribute to listed musical
implementation that will further embody
projects. Within CCMCP’s Project area
the ideas of openness, community, Adobe AIR lets
(http://ccmcp.info/project), artists are
and education. Founder Yoav Givati developers use proven
encouraged to outline how they wish
envisages creating a system for live web technologies to
others to interpret their works, which are build Rich Internet
gigs, podcasts, classifieds and show
streamed and available for download. Applications (RIA) that
listings, and aspires towards releasing
Each project consists of a number of deploy to the desktop
compilation albums of work created on
files, which comprise an individual track, and run across
the site. The project plans to go live in
such as for lead guitar or drum, or a operating systems.

Creative Commons & Sound

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the next few months under the domain provided the main development team
Ear-Drum.org. with in-depth examinations of desired
features and functionality of the site.
In an email interview conducted with
Rachel Cobcroft from Creative Commons
Australia, CCMCP creator Yoav Givati
explains that to date, the CCMCP has
Licence Usage
attracted attention from two main
With the new implementation of the
demographics: web developers interested
CCMCP site, Yoav Givati and his
in progressive web technology and
development team intend to allow users
musicians who are tired of the severe
to select among the six main Creative
disconnect of online music ‘communities’
Commons licences in addition to a
like MySpace (www.myspace.com)
Public Domain option and the standard
and Bandspace (www.bandspace.com)
© All Rights Reserved. The goal for
(before it became a ‘waiting page’),
this implementation is to give users the
where users are walled off from one
freedom to do whatever they want with
another and where musicians are forced
their content and whatever is welcomed
to market themselves, thereby creating
with each other’s.
a somewhat insincere, competitive
environment.
The CCMCP’s current Terms of Use
(http://ccmcp.info/terms.html) specify
Statistics that user-submitted audio is subject to
copyright or the CC licence the user who
Since CCMCP’s launch, the site has uploaded it assigns to it. By uploading
20 attracted more than 2000 unique copyrighted materials such as audio and
visitors, of whom approximately 150 images, the user grants the CCMCP
have registered to test and use the the right to stream and display that
application. Ranging from Mumbai, copyrighted material on CCMCP for as
India to Johannesburg, South Africa, long as the user keeps it on CCMCP.
visitors to the site are diverse. Most Users have the right to remove their
come from the United States of America, content whenever they wish, and the
then Canada, followed by the United CCMCP does not claim any ownership
Kingdom, Italy, and Brazil. A few over such content.
enthusiastic testers have gone beyond
the simple feature requests, and through As explained on the CCMCP Project
discussions over Instant Messaging have site (http://ccmcp.info/project), the
CCMCP Library is technically a Rich
Internet Application (RIA) which allows
the subscribed user to access the site’s
‘I started developing with music library, as well as contribute to
that library through the addition of their
the intention of exposing own original or transformative tracks.
The library is catalogued and viewable
people to music; the idea by projects, which carry descriptions
specified at point of creation. Each
that everyone should have project can have unlimited files added by
an unlimited number of people.

free, unfettered access to all Each project file (in MP3 format) is
assigned a Creative Commons licence

kinds of music.’ or full copyright, which gives the

musician control over how others use
and manipulate their works. Artists
Yoav Givati, Founder, CCMCP, www.chalk-it-out.com/causes

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case studies

can also specify uses through adding

detail to the description box about
how they wish their work to be used.
The description as to how others can
sample or create derivative works can be
changed during the file’s initial upload or
at any time thereafter.

The RIA is accessable via the main

website or can be downloaded onto a
PC or Mac. The RIA is part of a new
breed of Internet application that exists
independently of web browsers. It
requires the Adobe Integrated Runtime
(AIR) environment to run.

Motivations CCMCP homepage, July 2008

CCMCP creator Yoav Givati first heard
in my head just began spinning
about Creative Commons after entering
and aren’t likely to stop soon.’
the world of web development in mid-
2006, when he was introduced to Yoav Givati, in email conversation with
Rachel Cobcroft from CCau, 12 April 2008
the idea of flexible rights for creative
content. Yoav immediately began 21
reading up on open source, GPL, CCMCP’s stated purpose is to create
copyleft, and Creative Commons. a music-rich community focused on
Creative Commons appealed to him not education and musical experimentation,
only because the licences seemed to and to deliver this environment to
reach the widest spectrum of users, but anyone with Internet access. The
he also found that in reading through the concept underlying CCMCP is thus
documentation and browsing through a simple one: to take the feeling of
different implementations there was a an intimate yet open community and
distinct sense of openness that other provide access to knowledge, granting
alternatives lacked. In addition, Yoav users the freedom to get knee-deep in
found a sense of community where it each other’s creative works for the sake
seemed possible for the licences to of learning, sharing, and connecting.
be applicable across the depths of the Yoav adds:
Internet regardless of region, nationality
‘A big part of that freedom is
or legal system. allowing users to define their
own boundaries for a given
‘The idea that I – not some work, rather than forcing them
governing body – could decide to adopt someone else’s
how others can interact with my view of the optimum rights for
work and that declaring those sharing. We believe the creator
rights didn’t involving sending should define the purpose
off for some customized for their work and based on
patent or making some vague our feedback we can say that
declaration of insertion into people believe the purpose of
the public domain. …Creative creating is to share, at the very
Commons was applicable to so root, for the sake and in the
much more than just computer hopes of enriching someone
code, and as a musician, artist, else’s experience.’
and naïve programmer, the wheels

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Jamendo
description: Jamendo is a music platform offering artists the ability to promote, publish, and be
paid for their music while still making it available for download under Open licences.
website: www.jamendo.com
licence used: Currently includes full CC 3.0 Suite (including international variations), CC 2.0 Suite
(including international variations), CC Sampling Plus 1.0, http://creativecommons.
org/licenses/sampling+/1.0, CC Noncommercial Sampling Plus 1.0: http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/nc-sampling+/1.0 and Free Art Licence: http://artlibre.
org/licence/lal/en
media: Music
location: Global

Overview licensing, Jamendo emphasises the

legal distribution of content. Its business
model is based on the concept that the
Jamendo is a unique music platform
wide dissemination of content across
aiming to assist artists to ‘promote,
networks leads to popularity and
publish, and be paid for’ their music.
prominence: ‘Be known and recognized.
22 Found May 2004 in Luxembourg by
Spread your music worldwide.’
free culture enthusiasts Sylvain Zimmer,
Laurent Kratz and Pierre Gérard,
Jamendo is the first site to offer its
Jamendo has established a dedicated
contributors 50% of revenue gained
international community. Utilising peer-
from advertising. By registering for this
to-peer distribution methods, such as
optional programme (www.jamendo.
BitTorrent (www.bittorrent.com) and
com/en/static/help_revenueshare),
eMule (www.emule-project.net), coupled
artists share in the site’s profits
with Creative Commons and Free Art
according to their page views. In
Jamendo homepage, July 2008
addition, Jamendo offers the ability for
users to donate directly to their favourite
artists through a PayPal ‘tip jar’ facility.
Artists receive close to 100% of monies
donated: a small administrative fee is
deducted. This has been the first serious
attempt of a file-sharing site to provide
a direct way to compensate musicians
for their work. Furthermore, by adopting
Creative Commons, the site offers the
possibility to distribute music freely,
while preserving the basic rights of the
artist.

As a portmanteau of ‘jam’ and

‘crescendo,’ the Jamendo platform
unites:

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case studies

ß A legal framework to
support artists, through
Creative Commons and
Statistics
Free Art Licensing; As of 5 November 2007, Jamendo hosted over 5000 albums
ß An integrated rating and and 336,000 artists, equivalent to:
recommendation system
adapted from iRATE (http:// Available hours of music 4592
irate.sourceforge.net), a Number of album tracks 70 966
collaborative filtering system
Number of available artists 336 914
for music;
Number of registered artists 196 851
ß Free, simple, and quick
Number of known concert dates 2905
access to music through tag
searches; Total size of distributed files 2.52 TB
ß Use of common peer-to- Number of distributed files 289 418
peer technologies, such Finished BitTorrent downloads 2 310 084
as BitTorrent and eMule Data transfered with BitTorrent 106.74 TB
for album download and Number of available languages 26
content streaming; Number of reviews 54 288
ß music in MP3 and Ogg Source: www.jamendo.com/en/?p=stats
Vorbis file formats; and
ß Mechanisms to make direct
donations to the artists for free. Site costs are
through PayPal. kept low by using P2P
distribution. Minimal
23
Each artist is assigned a personal advertising is included
profile which includes links to their on the site and included
works, information about licensing, in audio streams to raise
photos, event announcements and revenue.
user-submitted reviews. As of 5 ß A free platform: Artists
November, 2007, Jamendo hosted reserve the right to remove
over 5000 albums and 336,000 their content from the site
artists. By 21 May 2008, Jamendo had at any point, and are thus
significantly increased their offerings: not prevented from signing
featuring 9249 albums, 56904 album exclusive contracts with
reviews, and 338131 active members. record companies.
On 6 June 2008,
Jamendo emphasises that it is: Artists are encouraged to increase Jamendo announced
their revenue by: a partnership with
ß A nonexclusive platform: Archos, manufacturers
Image: Archos AV500 by Michaël Boulenger, www.flickr.com/photos/

the artist remains the ß embedding the Jamendo of the Archos WiFi
owner of their music, Player or Widget featuring portable media player.
which they are free to their album into blogs and Through a specially
distribute by any other websites; designed interface,
means at their disposal. Archos users are able
ß advertising the link to
to download anything
Jamendo maintains a Jamendo on flyers, artists'
in the Jamendo
strong commitment to sites etc.;
bmika/192500158, CC BY 2.0 Generic

catalogue freely and

complementing traditional ß spreading the word about legally.
music distribution methods, Jamendo: the more popular
such as CD sales. the site, the greater the hit
ß A zero-cost platform: count and thus the greater
Jamendo provides hosting the revenue.

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On 29 October 2007, default minimum donation that

Images: (Top to Bottom) Cover for SaReGaMa’s single Aquarius , CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 Unported; Revolution Void’s
Increase the Dosage, CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 Unported; Pornophonique’s 8-bit Lagerfeuer, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 German
and self-titled EP of Blue Haired Girl, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 France

economist Aaron Schiff from the website suggests. Across

26econ.com (www.26econ. all donations the average was
com/music-by-donation- $14.55.
some-data) wrote on the www.26econ.com/wp-content/
uploads/2007/10/mean1.png
progress of voluntary
donations on Jamendo,
There’s a slight trend upwards
providing statistics as over time in the average
follows, in addition to the monthly donation, but a
Excel file (www.26econ.com/ linear trend is not statistically
wp-content/uploads/2007/10/ significant As you might expect,
donationdata.xls) of the distribution of donations
the data. This sits (across all months) is skewed.
alongside Jamendo’s Most donations cluster around
donation statistics (www. relatively low values, but
there are a number of higher
jamendo.com/fr/get/
donations. There were 12
donation/list/donation/
donations of $100 or more.
data/plain/?dni=info_
www.26econ.com/wp-content/
common&n=all). uploads/2007/10/hist.png

On analysis, Schiff found Attracting Venture Capital funding in

that total donations were July 2007 from Luxembourg-based
24 small: Mangrove Capital Partners, an early
investor in Skype, Laurent Kratz,
Jamendo currently Jamendo’s CEO and Co-Founder,
claims about 69,000
stated:
songs are available
for download… Over
‘With this funding, we plan to
the 22 months there
become the undisputed global
were 1,454 donations
player of free music. More than
made, for a total value
a music sharing platform we
of US$21,150. So
are economically supporting
each artist is receiving
and promoting the long tail
very little money, if
of music. We have a proven
anything
business model where music
www.26econ.com/wp-content/ is not only proposed for free to
uploads/2007/10/count.png
end consumers but we are also
closing an increasing number
Looking at the raw of partnership agreements and
data, people generally licensing deals.’
make donations
http://creativecommons.org/
of round numbers,
Jamendo hosts a diverse range weblog/entry/7571
mostly multiples of
of music: from instrumental $5 or €5. There were
(like SaReGaMa's single a few odd donations The lessons able to be learned from the
Aquarius) to acid jazz (like though, like 5.99 or Jamendo site by other online publishers
Revolution Void's Increase the 6.49. The largest (particularly e-book entrepreneurs, in
Dosage), from German electro donation was about this instance) have been summarised
(like Pornophonique's 8-bit $204. The smallest by Robert Nagle (www.teleread.org/
Lagerfeuer) to French rock (like was $5, which is the blog/?p=6138) as follows:
Blue Haired Girl).

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commons
case studies

1 There are many content the Free Art Licence, the English-
creators willing to give their language version of the Licence Art
content away; Libre, a French copyleft licence applying
2 Tools for distributing, to works of art.
cataloguing, and rating this
Jamendo’s Creative Commons search
are constantly improving;
interface (www.jamendo.com/en/
3 The openness permitted by creativecommons) presents thumbnails
Creative Commons offers of the albums which fall into the six
a way for independents to Creative Commons licence categories,
compete against various clearly showing which albums are
mainstream media operations; available for remix or commercial use.
4 Audio books can easily go Jamendo employs the ‘Jamloader’ tool
the ‘way of Jamendo,’ as (www.jamendo.com/en/jamloader)
for uploads, a GPL-licensed, Python-
has been demonstrated with
based open source software application
podiobooks.com; and
inspired by ccPublisher (http://wiki.
5 Although the site has yet to creativecommons.org/CcPublisher),
produce a lot of revenue, it as used by the Internet Archive (http://
does so without DRM. This archive.org). As with ccPublisher, this
may cause difficulties in tool allows users to select an appropriate
verification. Creative Commons licence and to tag
audio and video files with metadata
Nagle concludes that ‘Jamendo is an through an administrative panel (www.
inspiration for people in the content jamendo.com/en/static/artists_how). 25
creation field regardless of genre.’
In addition, each artist’s profile clearly
details their licence terms under the
‘Your rights on this album’ section,
Use of Creative Commons linking to the relevant Creative
Commons deed. It also includes a CC
Jamendo’s entire catalogue is available logo on embedded widgets which pops
for free download, under various up the relevant licence badge which links
Creative Commons or (less commonly) to the relevant deed.

Statistics
As of 7 November 2007, the distribution of licences on As of 21 May 2008, the distribution of licences on
Jamendo was: Jamendo was:

Attribution 98 Attribution 196

Attribution-ShareAlike 498 Attribution-ShareAlike 1163
Attribution-Noncommercial 45 Attribution-Noncommercial 70
Attribution-No Derivatives 87 Attribution-No Derivatives 167
Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike 2694 Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike 4902
Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivatives 1365 Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivatives 2121
Sampling + 0 Sampling + 129
Noncommercial Sampling + 419 Noncommercial Sampling + 262
Free Art Licence 229 Free Art Licence 222

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Motivations As to users’ individual motivations to

license under CC, Dailymotion (www.
dailymotion.com), a Paris-based video-
Jamendo allows artists to distribute sharing site, recently called upon
their work across peer-to-peer networks Jamendo’s artists and users to provide
via legally-recognised means. The site testimonials and anecdotes of their
harnesses the power of the Internet for experience with the site.
rapid recognition of talent, and rewards
the artist for their work through fair
compensation mechanisms. In adopting
Creative Commons, the site offers the
possibility to distribute music freely, while
preserving the basic rights of the artist.

‘By authorising the free

distribution of your album on
these networks, you are helping
to make Peer-to-Peer tools
legitimate. And, your work will
receive additional recognition
and publicity due to the current
media attention on the subject.

You will be recognized as an

26 artist with mature views on
music distribution.’
www.jamendo.com/en/static/artists_why

The site's Chief Technology Officer

Sylvain Zimmer outlines the three
reasons why Jamendo decided on
Creative Commons as the site’s licensing
framework:

1 The flexibility of the licenses

that let the artist choose ‘how
free’ they want their music to
be.
2 The clarity of the “human-
readable” license page and
the quality of the “machine-
readable” and “lawyer-
readable” license pages.
3 Creative Commons is an
organization supported by
great individuals, a vibrant
community and a tremendous
growth rate worldwide.

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case studies

Knives at Noon ‘The music market

is so saturated and
Creative Commons
description: Knives at Noon are an indie-electric-rock
band based in Dunedin, New Zealand,
utilise Creative Commons to encourage
remixing of their music. is another way we
website: www.myspace.com/knivesatnoon
licence used: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 New
can reach more
Zealand, http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/nz
people with our
media: Audio music.’
location: New Zealand Oli Wilson, synth and vocals for Knives at Noon

Overview ‘Andy would send me songs, I

would add in a synth line or add
in a line, send it back to him. It
Knives at Noon are a progressive New would go to and fro, then we’d
Zealand band formed in late 2007 send it to Tim, he’d write some
by vocalist and guitar player, Andrew rhythm stuff for it, and then
Ketels, synth and bass player, Oli Wilson when we’d get back together
and drummer, Tim Couch. Having just in Dunedin, we pretty much 27
been placed in the top 32 bands for rehearse and take it on the road.’
MTV Australia’s Kickstart Competition
and completing a national tour (finishing Their creative processes have resulted
up with a session at the Red Bull Live in a debut EP of richly detailed tracks
to Air Studio in May), the group have stamped with each member’s sound.
been prolific despite such a short time Drummer Tim Couch says that finished
together. songs end up consisting of about twenty
parts of separate recordings.
The band attribute their
success to their reliance Knives at Noon – (From Left to Right) Tim Couch, Oli Wilson and Andy Ketels
on modern technology and
music-sharing practices
including Creative
Commons, enabling them
to create a unique sound
as well as to build their
fan base. At one point, the
band members were spread
between Dunedin, Auckland
and Papua New Guinea,
Image: Teri Lyn Higgins. Used with permission.

which led to working via

the Internet and traditional
post to construct tracks.
As recounted to Jane
Hornibrook from Creative
Commons Aotearoa
New Zealand, Oli Wilson
explains:

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Creative Commons has led Knives

at Noon even further towards open
Motivations
collaboration, enabling producers and
DJs around the world to sample and Bass and synth player Oli Wilson first
remix their work. Since releasing their heard about Creative Commons when
tracks, the band have engaged interested he met Elliott Bledsoe from Creative
parties in the UK, America, Australia and Commons Australia while visiting friends
New Zealand who download and make in Brisbane. After picking up the Asia
derivatives of the original tracks to form and the Commons Case Studies 2008
new material. Knives at Noon welcome handbook and Unlocking the Potential
others to use their work, providing through Creative Commons Oli was
producers with the Pro-Tools recording convinced that Creative Commons would
files to sample at will. be invaluable for Knives at Noon.
The group decision to take on an
By embracing the potential of Internet Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike
file-sharing enabled by Creative licence reflects the band members’
Commons and hosting site MySpace preference for open sharing. Knives at
(http://www.myspace.com), the band Noon feel that even though they allow
have attracted listeners from all over the sharing and remixing of their work, the
world in a way that would not have been noncommercial terms of their Creative
possible ten years ago. To hear Knives Commons licence will help them strive
at Noon online, visit their MySpace page for commercial viability through tours
(http://www.myspace.com/knivesatnoon). and royalty payments. In fact, vocalist
Andy Ketels believes that giving fans the
freedom to share is the best way to reach
their goals as established musicians
28 Licence Usage because ‘more people are using our
music.’ Oli adds that:
Knives at Noon use a CC BY-NC-SA
3.0 New Zealand licence for their six- ‘The music market is so
track EP release. They choose Creative saturated and Creative
Commons to allow other musicians to Commons is another way we
remix their tracks. Already, artists such can reach more people with our
as Future One (Auckland), Darkist (UK), music. I like it how our ideas
Dean Lawz Brisbane, (Australia), Benny aren’t entombed.’
Electric Brisbane, (Australia), Woosh
(Dunedin), MC Beau (Dunedin), Undertow The band knows that ‘the Internet
(Dunedin), Module (Wellington) and has changed everything.’ Knives at
Michael Schraa (Dunedin) are remixing Noon have used advances in digital
tracks. While these parties cannot make collaboration, music sharing and the
commercial use of the original or remixed Internet as a social medium to their full
work without permission from the band, advantage and are leading the way to
Knives at Noon are planning to release a online creative success.
limited edition ‘remix’ tape
later in the year. Benny Electric’s remix single cover and Knives at Noon EP cover

Since releasing their 6-track, self-titled EP under a

Creative Commons licence, Knives at Noon have seen
their tracks remixed by international and local artists
Images: Used with permission.

including Darkist from the United Kingdom. In Australia,

Brisbane’s Benny Electric's remix of the track ‘Get Outta
My Head’ won the Voter’s Choice for June 2008 on the
social network MySongCast (http://mysongcast.com).
You can hear his mix on his MySpace page
(www.myspace.com/ bennyelectric).

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case studies

Magnatune
description: Magnatune is a pioneering online record label that uses Creative Commons licences
to promote its catalogue with free samples of songs, alongside a variable pricing
model.
website: www.magnatune.com
licence used: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 1.0 Generic, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-
nc-sa/1.0
media: Audio
location: Global

‘Open Music is music that is

Overview shareable, available in “source
code” form, allows derivative
Magnatune is an online record label works and is free of cost for
based in Berkeley, California that was non-commercial use. It is
founded in 2003 by John Buckman. the concept of “open source”
Underpinned by the philosophy that computer software applied to 29
‘Musicians need to be in control and music.’
enjoy the process of having their music
released’ (www.magnatune.com/info/ Magnatune has been a leader in the
ethos), Magnatune aims to attract wider implementation of the CC+ protocol,
exposure for its artists than they would promoting artists’ sustained commercial
have achieved employing traditional success alongside this sharing model
music distribution models, which in turn
(www.magnatune.com/info/model). CC+
enables the creation of a fan base and
allows a significant proportion of an
gaining of income. The site supports
artist's income to accrue from business
musicians by offering 50/50 revenue
deals, with licences automatically
deals within a variable pricing model,
generated using forms on the website.
made famous by Radiohead’s 2007 In
Rainbows release. Buyers can purchase Licences generated are royalty free
either MP3 copies of albums at a price (meaning the initial licensing fee is
the buyer determines to be fair, ranging on a one-off basis) and cost between
between $US5 and $US18, or physical $US150 and $US5000. From both
CDs for a fixed price. Magnatune offers music sales and sub-licensing, artists
receive 50% of the sale price. As at In March 2005,
streaming audio of its artists’ music for
12 January 2006, artists received, on Magnatune began
free as a promotional ‘try before you buy’
experimenting with
strategy. average, somewhere between $US1500
music distribution by
and $US4000 per year from Magnatune
releasing ‘Tuneplug’:
Allowing Creative Commons downloads (Linux User Magazine, www.magnatune. a USB portable flash
of music tracks realises John’s dream of com/info/press/coverage/img/lud.pdf). drive pre-loaded with
‘open music’ (www.magnatune.com/info/ John’s vision is to provide an income of complete MP3 albums
openmusic), countering the musician’s $US10,000 p.a. to a third of the artists from 10 Magnatune
biggest hurdle of obscurity. signed to the label. artists.

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Licence Usage However, the organisation does flag

as an issue the fact of some countries’
The licence used for all Magnatune collecting societies acting as a barrier
content is the Creative Commons to artists using CC licences, thus
Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike preventing any artist from the country
from being able to work
with Magnatune (or
‘This is very exciting news about similar platforms). A major
benefit of using Creative
Magnatune. This is precisely the Commons licensing in
Magnatune’s experience
kind of innovation that will solve has been the ease with

the current crisis within music.’ which other distribution

platforms such as radio
station Last.fm, and non-
Lawrence Lessig, founder, Creative Commons, commercial podcasts, can
www.magnatune.com/info/openmusic use Magnatune content.

1.0 Generic licence. This licence Statistics

provides the basis of Magnatune’s ‘open
music,’ allowing works to be shared, Magnatune has (at 11 March 2008,
30 made available in ‘source code’ form, www.magnatune.com/info/stats): 269
remixed, and free of cost for non- artists, 593 albums and 8696 songs
commercial use. available. The highest average payment
made for an album has been $US10.43.
Music compressed to 128 kbit/s quality As at 11 March 2007 (1 year before
is either downloadable (when chosen writing), 70 licences were being sold per
as a ‘song of the day’) or streamed for month. Classical music still dominates
users to hear music in order to attract paid downloads, contributing 30% of
them to the options of either buying MP3 revenue.
files or licensing music for commercial
use. Users are invited to pass tracks
to three friends, and are permitted Motivations
to sample and remix these for non-
‘If I retain all rights to
commercial purposes. Ten percent
everything, then I’m not
of the catalogue is also available as
necessarily going to further
‘source’ materials, as scores, MIDI my own goals, whatever they
files, samples, and track-by-track audio might be, so I’m going to open
files (http://www.magnatune.com/info/ up and let some of my rights be
openmusic). available for free under certain
conditions because I find it
Magnatune is a pioneer for Open furthers my goals overall.’
Content Licensing in independent music, John Buckman, CEO, Magnatune
www.openrightsgroup.org/creativebusiness/
with the company’s website providing
index.php/John_Buckman:_Magnatune
anecdotal evidence of success with the
use of Creative Commons licences.

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Magnatune licenses under Creative Another motivation in the creation of

Commons primarily for promotional Magnatune has been the need to be
reasons. Unrestricted access to content selective of content. From around 400
logically allows for easier dissemination submissions each month, Magnatune
of that content. Where other platforms releases about 10 albums based on
and labels online offer small samples their quality (http://creativecommons.org/
of songs or songs at dramatically weblog/entry/7002). While the nature of
lower quality than CDs, Magnatune many distribution platforms, especially
uses Creative Commons licences to the social networking ones such as
enable it to allow potential customers to MySpace, is to be specifically non-
listen to full, near-CD quality versions selective, Magnatune bucks this trend
of the songs with fewer restrictions. and aspires to become a ‘label’ with a
Restrictions being placed on mainstream reputation of quality, respecting both
commercial content to attempt to combat artists and fans alike.
copyright infringement are referred
to as Digital Rights Management An in-detail study of Magnatune has
(DRM). Where these technologies are been published by the Open Rights
designed to limit the use and transfer of Group at www.openrightsgroup.org/
copyrighted content, Magnatune hoped creativebusiness/index.php/John_
to provide ‘clean’ song files, meaning Buckman:_Magnatune
that they could be freely transferred and
used. Reflecting this, Magnatune allows
its customers to send purchased song
files to three friends (www.magnatune. 31
com/info/give). The argument is that if
potential customers can hear a whole
song without any restrictions in high
quality, they are more likely to pay for the
song.

Magnatune homepage, July 2008

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Nine Inch Nails – Ghosts I-IV and The Slip

description: American band Nine Inch Nails (NIN) rocked the music establishment by releasing
its last two albums under a Creative Commons licence.
website: http://nin.com
licence used: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 USA, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-
sa/3.0/us
media: Audio
location: United States of America

Overview

On 2 March 2008, prominent and widely regarded as a master stroke for

polemic American noir rock band the band: by selling an accompanying
Nine Inch Nails (NIN) (http://nin.com) $US300 ‘ultra-deluxe limited edition’
departed from previous music industry version of the album on vinyl, NIN netted
management practices by releasing $1.6 million overnight. Expanding the
Ghosts I-IV (http://ghosts.nin.com) album into the ‘visual world’ a week
32 under a Creative Commons licence. after release, front-man Trent Reznor
Giving fans the ability to remix and announced the launch of the Ghosts
redistribute the tracks from a multitude Film Festival project on YouTube (www.
of different formats, Ghosts I-IV (also youtube.com/group/ninghosts), calling for
known as Halo 26) encapsulates the users’ film and audio submissions to ‘be
free spirit of the age as creative as you like.’ Reznor explains
Trent Reznor, Nine Inch Nails frontman to rip, mix, and their philosophy of free release:
share, creating
a community of ‘The end result is a wildly
Image: “Trent Reznor, February, 2008 (Press Photo) “ by Nine Inch Nails Official, www.flickr.com/photos/

ardent followers. varied body of music that we’re

The thirty-six able to present to the world in
track album ways the confines of a major
is divided into record label would never have
four parts, with allowed – from a 100% DRM-
free, high-quality download,
the first nine
to the most luxurious physical
unnamed tracks
package we’ve ever created.’
offered for free
download, and http://ghosts.nin.com/main/more_info
the entire album
available for The artistic team behind the project
nineinchnails/2348368204, CC BY-SA 2.0 Generic

$US5 as well included Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross,

as in a variety and Alan Moulder, with instrumental
of pressings contributions from Alessandro Cortini,
and packages Adrian Belew, and Brian Viglione.
at different Collaborating with Artist in Residence
prices. This (A+R, www.ainr.com), Rob Sheridan
move has been moulded the album’s accompanying
visual and physical aesthetic.

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Two months after the release of Ghosts play it on your podcast,

I-IV. Nine Inch Nails (http://nin.com) give it to strangers,
licensed a second album, The Slip etc.’
(http://theslip.nin.com) under Creative
Commons. Pitched as ‘one hundred In contrast to services which
percent free’ by Reznor, The Slip (also prevent re-distribution of
known as Halo 27) has been proclaimed tracks, all files are 100%
as a further challenge to the music
DRM-free.
industry, defining an alternative path
for musicians interested in the self-
promotion of works. Available for digital
download in an array of formats – MP3, Motivations
lossless FLAC, MP4 (M4A), and the
impressive higher-than-CD quality 24- Utilising Creative Commons
bit, 96kHz WAV files via torrents – the has been a successful
ten tracks are readily remixable via their strategy for NIN: the
multi-track audio source files available manoeuvre has accrued
on the Nine Inch Nails Remix site
substantial profit and
(http://remix.nin.com). The release also
includes a PDF with artwork and credits. prominence in the world-
wide press. As widely
Pre-empting the album release, the reported on 4 March
single Discipline was distributed freely 2008 (www.techdirt.
via the official NIN site in April 2008, and com/articles/20080304/
a second, Echoplex, was released for 162842435.shtml), the
free from iLike (www.ilike.com). To cater $300 ultra deluxe edition of 33
for the substantial fan base interested Ghosts I-IV, limited to 2500
in acquiring sought-after merchandise, copies, sold out in a matter
NIN released the album on vinyl and of days. With fans still keen
CD under a variable pricing model over
to seek ‘personalisation,
the American summer period. The site
states 'The Slip will remain free for authenticity, embodiment’ in
download indefinetely' (http://theslip.nin. the hard copy, Kevin Kelly
com/physical). notes that considerable
incentives remain surrounding
items released for ‘free’

Images: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 US, http://ghosts.nin.com

Licence Usage (www.kk.org/thetechnium/
archives/2008/01/better_than_
NIN actively encourages its fan base fre.php). In relation to the
to engage with its music, through release of the deluxe editions
redistribution, remixing (http://remix.nin. and associated products, Mike
com) and user-generated film festivals Linksvayer observes:
(www.youtube.com/group/ninghosts).
As with Ghosts I-IV, The Slip is licensed ‘If an artist typically makes
under a Creative Commons Attribution- $1.60 on a $15.99 CD
Noncommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United sale, profit from sales
Like the digital release of The Slip,
States licence. NIN’s intention with this of the limited edition
already matches the downloadable package for
release is clear, as per the site (http://
profit from a CD Ghosts I-IV included the music
dl.nin.com/theslip/signup):
selling hundreds of files (in a number of formats)
‘we encourage you to remix it thousands of copies.’ accompanied by a PDF of album
share it with your friends, http://gondwanaland.com/blog/ artwork. These are four of the
post it on your blog, 2008/03/04/nin-ghosts images included in
that document.

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The first 9 tracks Celebrating their North American tour ‘@glenn that is exactly what
of Ghosts (titled "1 with a free EP sampler Lights In the Sky Reznor is hoping he will do,
Ghosts I" through (http://dl.nin.com/lightsinthesky/signup) convince his fans that he is
"9 Ghosts I") are Trent Reznor adds: the man so that the next time
available as a free
something is for sale they will
download from
the Nine Inch Nails ‘If you like what you hear, be buy it up. It is called selling
website. sure to show up early to the free, and it works every time,
show (and please remember especially in the online arena.
All 36 tracks on to support them by purchasing Still, it is a masterful move
the album were their music, if so inclined).’ and shows that he knows how
released under a
http://ninblogs.wordpress.com/ to manage his brand better
Creative Commons
Attribution- 2008/06/05/new-band-new-tour-sampler than anyone else out there
Noncommercial- right now, besides maybe
Share Alike 3.0 Evident throughout entries such as radiohead.’
United States Wired Magazine’s Listening Post (http://
licence, meaning blog.wired.com/music/2008/05/nine- Emphasising the importance of tour
people who had
inch-nails.html) announcing the release promotion and the smartness of this
purchased the full
album were free on 5 May 2008, reactions from the fans strategy in ensuring ongoing revenue
to distribute the continue to be strongly positive: streams, RandomCake responds:
album under the
terms of the CC ‘Reznor is the man!!!!! I swear ‘@the constant skeptic, Well,
licence. I am going to buy his next (for I’m not sure Trent really
sale) studio album just b/c he cares about every day record
34 is so f#$%ng cool’ sales these days, these free
Glenn downloads really help with
tour sales, and tours are a lot
‘And it’s another epic victory more profitable than CD sales,
for Reznor. Three albums in then there are the limited
practically a year, and all of edition items such as vinyl
them absolutely stellar. The and numbered CDs which
man knows music, plain and really help to rake it in (Ghosts
simple. I’ll be picking up a vinyl had an ‘Ultra Limited Edition
copy come July.’ Package’ at $300, and there
McTool were 2,500 of them so that’s
$750,000 made there!) Then
In response to these statements of fan there are other options, so
fealty, ‘the constant skeptic’ notes: without selling huge quantities
there is large profit, and by
giving away large quantities he
Notification of the CC licence on Ghosts I-IV gains mass appeal! Win win all
round!’

In the week following this release, NIN

led Amazon.com’s MP3 chart, with
Radiohead coming in at number 5
(http://blog.wired.com/music/2008/03/
nine-inch-nai-1.html). As Wired’s Eliot
Van Buskirk muses: ‘There’s a lesson
for the labels in there somewhere.’

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case studies

Pocketclock Records
description: Pocketclock Records are an independent
music label based in Melbourne, Australia,
focusing on experimental pop.
website: www.pocketclock.org
licence used: Creative Commons BY-SA 2.1 Australia,
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-
sa/2.1/au
media: Music
location: Melbourne, Australia

Image: Used with permission.

Overview breakbeats, tiny
melodic cut-
ups and anemic
Pocketclock Music is a small,
blastbeats.’
independent record label based in Talkshow Boy aka Adrian K-Sahara
Poland (www.
Melbourne, Australia. Established in
myspace.com/
2003 to represent the ‘sound of young
Melbourne,’ Pocketclock’s focus is
lazyholland) plays 35
distinctly experimental pop. Each primitive DSP pop music with ‘loops as
featured musician offers free downloads long as your arm’ (http://pocketclock.
on the site under the Creative Commons org/artists.html). Informed by the
Attribution-Share Alike 2.1 Australia folk and pop traditions, Poland takes
licence, alongside the occasional her influences from outsider music,
promotional video. Pocketclock also house, abstract jazz, video games,
provides artists with a mobile recording and storytelling, amongst other places.
facility to ‘convert your sound to golden Poland’s self-titled EP (http://pocketclock.
impulses’ (http://pocketclock.org/studio. org/releases/cl005.html) consists of
html), and has supported several four tracks, culminating in ‘Random
local mastering/editing and production Pop,’ which featured on Brothersister’s
projects. (www.brothersisterrecords.org)
international experimental pop
Talkshow Boy (TSB, also known as compilation titled A fifty gallon drum of
Adrian K-Sahara) is a 22 year-old savage customs fresh flesh and random
musician who hails from Melbourne. pop (www.brothersisterrecords.org/
In his own words, ‘He plays intense brothersisterrecords/comp.html).
and complicated electronic new pop Also featuring on the Brothersister
songs about love, being tuff, and release with the title track ‘Fifty gallon
how people act towards one another’ drum,’ Pompey (www.myspace.com/
(http://pocketclock.org/artists.html). pompeycasmilus) pitches himself as a
In November 2007, TSB released a ‘young man making noisy, polyrhythmic
new record TESTOSTERONE! (http:// pop and sounds, steeped in arch
pocketclock.org/releases/cl007.html). sentimentality and linked in ways to
Over 19 tracks, TSB ‘pushes the environmental sounds, girl groups,
romantic, aesthetic and political agendas primitive music, studio - as-instrument,
to the sounds of cute majorchordal etc.’

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It's a bit too big and weird, huge

Pocketclock Licence Usage sample clearance fees, hazy
currently represents
three artists: infringement rules (what is it,
Pocketclock releases are available for
Talkshow Boy (TBS) three notes? Two seconds? I
download under the Creative Commons
(www.pocketlock. don’t understand). So it makes
Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic
org/talkshowboy), sense to keep up the license if
Poland (www. licence. Site visitors are able to obtain
individual MP3 tracks or a ZIP file of the someone uses it. I’m just quite
myspace.com/ grateful for the alternative.’
lazyholland) and entire record for free. Direct donations
Pompey (www. to the artists are encouraged through
pocketclock.org/ PayPal.
pompey). The label Motivations
has had previous Choosing to offer Pocketclock releases
associations with under a ShareAlike licence, founder Pocketclock founder Rowan Mcnaught
Lakes, Oh! Belgium Rowan Mcnaught was inspired by first found Creative Commons when he
(www.myspace. the creation of a ‘sort of paper trail,’
became unhappy with pretending to be a
com/ohbelgium) as he explained in an email interview
and Cine-milky/ traditional-style label.
with Rachel Cobcroft from Creative
Sienmilki. Commons Australia in November 2007:
‘It was thoroughly unrewarding
‘When I find music I like, I tend trying to sell records just to
to track backwards into its be able to keep putting new
progenitors to find more of it ones out, and it seemed I’d be
or work out what it is or what I happier just sharing everything
means a bit more. I’d hope that online: by not spending up
asking anyone who used any of I could just keep putting out
36 the music to attribute it would music I liked and a few people
have a similar effect.’ could find it.’

Rowan reflects that whilst he is unsure of Whilst he admits to not being very
outside sampling of Pocketclock music, cluey in relation to traditional legal
he is aware that the players on the label code, Rowan reflects that he was really
actually take bits and pieces impressed with the Creative Commons
from each other’s music to licensing scheme:
remix and reuse.
‘We are inevitably for small fry,
‘The ShareAlike limited appeal type music, and
component is really of course the Internet caters for,
just because I think and even nourishes, that. When
CC licenses are such I found Creative Commons,
a friendly alternative it reinforced that idea and
to the way things allowed us to stop working in
usually seem to go. the traditional way: In some
ways I think by licensing the
music under CC, for me, serves
more to say “It’s actually OK
to give this to your friends
than anything else; I’m not so
worried about anyone misusing
Images: Used with permission.

the music.”

The covers of three Pocketclock releases: (Top

to bottom, left to right) Poland's self-titled EP,
Pompey's Fifty Gallon Drum and Talkshow Boy -
TESTOSTERONE! covers.

New Ways of Doing Music Business

 creative
commons
case studies

Postmoderncore
description: Postmoderncore is a netlabel concerned with releasing underground New Zealand
music and other music of interest under local Creative Commons licences.
website: http://postmoderncore.com
licence used: Creative Commons BY-NC 3.0 New Zealand, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/
by-nc/3.0/nz, Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 New Zealand,
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/nz
media: Music and cover art
location: New Zealand

Overview of music as a commodity.

I decided that the best
method for sharing the
Postmoderncore is Wellington-based music and accompanying
netlabel that, in the words of founder art with its audience was
Sam Stephens, ‘cares about music, not to offer free downloads
commerce.’ Established as a protest over the Internet. I 37
against the commoditisation of music also wanted to reach a
and the idea that a musician needs to wide and international
be motivated by profit, Postmoderncore audience.’
believes in giving an audience to music
that deserves it, and ensuring that Operating as a self-funded
the potential audience of a release initiative, Postmoderncore
is not limited by money or production sells CDs of the music
constraints. available online, so that

Images: Covers of Tangent’s A Pictorial History, CC BY-NC 3.0 NZ and The Unknown Rockstar’s Fake Ivory and
the label’s artists and fans
According to its web site (http:// can have physical CDs if
postmoderncore.com/about.html), they wish to. This is not a
Postmoderncore’s philosophy has been money-making exercise,
greatly influenced by the Negativland and is intended more for
(www.negativland.com) fan collective promotional purposes.
Snuggles (www.sensoryresearch.net/
thoughtconduit/news?grid=7). Founding
the label five years ago, Sam Stephens Licence Usage
expresses his underlying beliefs:
Artists on Postmoderncore
‘I came to the conclusion that are offered the ability to
copyright was a tool used by license under the Creative
Deep Earplug Music, CC BY 2.5 Generic

corporations to make profits, Commons Attribution-

and control artists and their
music. …Postmoderncore The covers of three Postmoderncore
is the flip side of my protest releases: (Top to bottom) Tangent's
against copyright and the idea A Pictorial History and The Unknown
Rockstar's Fake Ivory and Deep
Earplug Music.

Creative Commons & Sound

 building an
australasian
commons

Noncommercial- ‘When I learned about the

‘Creative No Derivatives
3.0 New Zealand
Creative Commons bringing
these principles to music and

Commons or the Attribution-

Noncommercial 3.0 New
the arts, I was very excited as
I already was releasing on the

licenses allow Zealand licence. Being

happy with the licences
Internet, and thought these
licenses had great potential,

your music so far, Postmoderncore

will continue to
and expressed ideas I already
had about creativity as a gift,

to spread release under Creative

Commons.
rather than something to be
owned and hoarded.’
furthest.‘ The Creative Commons According to Sam, Creative Commons
licences selected
Sam Stephens, Postmoderncore licences provide the advantage of
depend upon the wishes
allowing for distribution of music by
of the artists. According
fans, removing centralised distribution
to founder Sam
and associated costs and annoyances:
Stephens, some of the
‘They express the freedom and sharing
label’s musicians are
happy to have derived works produced I want from creativity.’
from their music, and some are not,
so they end up using the according As someone who is encouraging others
licence. Sam intentionally uses the to release under Creative Commons
New Zealand licenses to express licences, Sam is careful to ensure that
38 Postmoderncore’s ties to New Zealand, artists releasing on Postmoderncore
and to support the CC Aoteoroa New understand the full implications of doing
Zealand (CCANZ) initiative. so. In particular, Sam emphasises that
artists need to understand that they can
After reading of the commercial use
never revoke the CC licence, and once
of CC-licensed images on billboards
they’ve released the album, it’ll always
by Virgin Australia (such as www.
asiancanadian.net/2007/10/photo- be available for free, even if suddenly
of-teenager-appears-on-australian. they get commercial interest.
html), Sam explicitly chooses non-
commercial licences, so that further ‘It means that my artists need
use of Postmoderncore material can to not be particularly profit-
be vetted by the artist(s) involved. In motivated, and/or that they
Sam’s understanding, ‘This doesn’t need to have the confidence
stop commercial use of the music; it to know that if they get
Postmoderncore hosts simply requires explicit permission to be commercial interest, they can
a number of websites granted. I think it’s good to maintain this create a new work that is as
for other independent level of control.’ strong as the one they just
arts projects in New
released. My feeling is that for
Zealand including
an online store called an undiscovered artist who
Dadashopping (http:// Motivations does dream of “making it” one
dadashopping.net) day, the best thing they can
which sells releases As founder of this netlabel, Sam look for in the meantime isn’t
from the netlabel as Stephens first heard about Open profit, but exposure. Creative
well as a number of
Content Licensing through the open Commons licenses allow your
other independent
musicians from
source software movement. music to spread furthest.’
around the country.

New Ways of Doing Music Business

 creative
commons
case studies

Topology
description: Topology is an internationally acclaimed Brisbane-based new music ensemble.
website: www.topologymusic.com
licence used: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 2.5 Australia, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-
nc-sa/2.5/au
media: Music
location: Brisbane, Australia

Overview recognised as Australia’s popera diva).

Topology’s performances include
the opening concert of the Sydney
Established in 1997, Brisbane’s avant-
Spring Festival, where they received
garde music ensemble Topology has
the Best Ensemble Award in 1999,
gained an international reputation as
an experimental Fluxus festival at the
artists devoted to the experimental form.
Self-described as ‘nothing if not flexible,’
Queensland Art Gallery, Neil Armfield’s 39
vision of The Marriage of Figaro at the
Topology performs in a multitude of
Sydney Olympics Art Festival, and the
venues from art galleries through to
Surabaya Arts Festival in 2007 (see
opera houses, accompanying silent films
www.topologymusic.com/index.php/
and playing pop concerts in 10,000-
category/concerts). Billed by Australian
seat stadia. Regularly recording for the
Music Online (www.amo.org.au) as ‘neo-
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
classic contemporary music explorers,’
(ABC), these contemporary musicians
collaborate with
new music’s Topology – (From Left to Right) Kylie Davidson, Bernard Hoey, Christa Powell, Robert Davidson, John Babbage
leading lights,
such as Terry Image: “Topology with black background” by Chris Osborne. Used with permission.
Riley, John
Adams, Phillip
Glass, Michael
Nyman, and
Steve Reich,
as well as
www.flickr.com/photos/55195133@N00/1489109097

popular
musicians
including Tyrone
Noonan (from
the award-
winning band
‘george’) and
Kate Miller-
Heidke (widely

Creative Commons & Sound

 building an
australasian
commons

Topology is Robert Davidson on topologymusic.com/loudblog) are

double bass, Bernard Hoey on viola, available on their site. The composers
Christa Powell on violin, Kylie Davidson also distribute free sheet music (www.
on piano, and John Babbage on topologymusic.com/index.php/category/
saxophone. scores).

Compositions by Robert Davidson

include Convex and Concave, a Motivations
‘contrapuntal miniature’ inspired by
the drawings of M.C. Escher, the Robert Davidson discussed his
Karak concerto, a percussive piece motivations to provide a selection of
his scores and recordings to the public

‘I can’t see that we can with Rachel Cobcroft in February 2008.

move forward in creative

‘The open framework suits
Topology as the sales of
albums is not as valuable
work with copyright to us as the promotion of
our profile. There does
staying as it is.’ seem to have been a causal
link between using open
approaches (to MP3s and
Robert Davidson, Topology
sheet music PDFs on the web)
and our profile being raised,
though it’s hard to be certain
40 about this. In my own case,
there has definitely been an
using bowed vibraphone, and Big increase in my revenue from
Decisions, a documentary opera which international performances of
contemplates the dismissal of Gough my music as I have bypassed
publishers and given away
Whitlam in 1975. Saxophonist John
free scores.’
Babbage was inspired to compose one
of his many pieces Chop Chop whilst in
Inspired by contact with the members
Santiago, Chile, exploring the harmony
and syncopation of Gerard Brophy and of Negativland (www.negativland.com)
Olivier Messiaen (for program notes in San Francisco, and subsequently
for these compositions see www. by reading the writings of Lawrence
topologymusic.com/index.php/category/ Lessig, there has been a philosophical
compositions). attraction to free culture for Davidson
also.

‘I can’t see that we can move

Licence Usage forward in creative work with
copyright staying as it is. I
Topology has placed their album want to make music using all
Perpetual Motion Machine on Jamendo sorts of quotes and allusions,
(www.jamendo.com/en/album/4148) but find it prohibitive to be
always needing to pay $20-
under the genre ‘contemporary
$120 per second of footage
classical’ and the Creative Commons (I signed a contract today to
BY-NC-SA 2.5 licence. Individual pay those amounts to use
tracks (www.topologymusic.com/index. excepts). There have to be
php/downloads) and excerpts (www. other ways.’

New Ways of Doing Music Business

 creative
commons
case studies

Yunyu
description: Yunyu is a successful, unsigned singer/songwriter in Sydney, Australia, who uses
Creative Commons licences for promotional purposes.
website: www.yunyu.com.au
licence used: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 2.0,
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0
media: Audio
location: Sydney, Australia

Overview As with a number of independent bands,

Yunyu uses the services of a company
called Usync (www.usync.net). The
Yunyu (www.yunyu.com.au) is an
understated, self-proclaimed member service provides a ‘backstage pass’ to
of the emerging (and in many cases paying fans, who can then get access
emerged) generation of bedroom-based to exclusive content in the ‘backstage’
artists who may not, without the Internet, area of the Usync website. The service 41
have ever seen the cold light of day. She essentially brings ticket sales, music
is a classically-trained musician, though sales, news announcements and
she admits to having been bored by the other components of a music business
restrictions of that genre. Yunyu first saw model into the one location or
success before ever having played a live interface. Yunyu
gig (www.yunyu.com.au/home/bio), via
the new talent competition Unearthed Popular online radio station
(www.triplejunearthed.com), operated Last.fm (www.last.fm),
by Triple J Radio (www.abc.net.au/ relying on automated peer-
triplej).Following her ‘unearthing’ Yunyu recommendation, also assists
received radio airplay all over the globe,
in the proliferation of Yunyu’s
including some chart domination on
Canadian college radio. music, together with social
Images: stills from Yunyu’s video clip to “Lenore’s Song.”Used with permission.
networking platforms like
Yunyu uses the services of several MySpace (www.myspace.
online businesses to sell and share com) and Facebook (www.
her music. For both physical and facebook.com).
digital distribution, Yunyu’s business
model utilises a number of different
music platforms. She has CDs and
MP3s available for purchase from US
independent distributor, CD Baby (www.
cdbaby.com). CDs are also available
from the Australian independent store
Earshot Music (www.earshotmusic.com.
au), while paid digital downloads are
available from iTunes (www.itunes.com/
store). Yunyu also offers fans the option
of buying CDs directly from her.

Creative Commons & Sound

 building an
australasian
commons

Licence Usage work featuring in six different student

films, including productions from as
far as Belgium and The Netherlands,
Yunyu uses a Creative Commons in addition to multiple placements in
Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike podcasts, such as that of the ‘Coolshite
2.0 licence for promotional purposes. Crew’ (www.coolshite.net) and her lyrics
Two of her songs, A Prayer and Lenore’s being used to teach English to Japanese
Song, are available under this licence people. A fan-made video to her song
as streaming music videos (www.yunyu. Dance so Slowly is the icing on the
com.au/home/music#videos). Whilst her cake (www.youtube.com/watch?v=jC-
site does not include any downloadable XkHfSIBc).
tracks, Yunyu specifies on her webpage
that, though only two of her songs
are actually officially under Creative
Commons licences, she is happy for Motivations
any of her work to be used in certain
circumstances without payment but with Yunyu’s experience using the Internet
attribution (www.yunyu.com.au/home/ as a distribution and promotional
creative-commons). She acknowledges platform makes her use of Creative
social projects and amateur productions Commons licences a logical step. While
as acceptable forms of use, and adds the benefits of Creative Commons
that if someone has paid for a copy licences are obvious from the above
of her work, what they then do with discussion, Yunyu cites difficulties with
the work (including file-sharing using Creative Commons licensing as far
services such as P2P) is up to them. as other artists or content producers
understanding the licences:
42 Though unable to provide any accurate
statistics on the effects Creative ‘There is, when I speak to
Commons licensing has had on her some creators, a certain
success, Yunyu cites the availability of misconception that Creative
Lenore’s Song as having been a big Commons equals public
help in increasing her profile. The song domain which is not true. So
is licensed under Creative Commons, as there is a general perception
discussed above, and its accompanying that they have lost some
music video has seen over 85,000 income due to putting their
hits on YouTube (www.youtube.com/ work under Creative Commons
watch?v=EzSstcvLmYM). James Milsom licenses but I beg to differ
from Creative Commons Australia because I think I have benefited
interviewed Yunyu on 20 April 2008, from the spread of my work
where she stated that: through this channel.’

‘The ease that I have allowed When interviewed in April 2008, Yunyu
the use of my music for was in the middle of an international
podcasters, bloggers and the tour, and though in some way this
like could only have helped me sort of success can be attributed to
make my living as a musician.’ Creative Commons licences, (as with
all CC artists) she sees the real effects
Yunyu has been pleased with the of CC as being difficult to determine.
benefits of Open Content Licensing In advising others in the use of Open
generally, saying that, ‘It allows Content Licensing, she provides a
podcasters/ indie movie makers/ poor couple of caveats: ‘I think the deal is
film students/ poor artists etc. to use to choose very carefully what licences
and share my music easily and without suit you because there are limitations
hassle.’ This ease of (re)use has proven to changes and Creative Commons is
extremely beneficial for Yunyu, with her generally irrevocable.’

New Ways of Doing Music Business

 creative
commons
case studies

OpenVoice Free PBX

description: OpenVoice Free is a free-for-download voice-prompting service specialising in
supplying Australian voice prompts for the Asterisk open-source PBX telephone
system and other compatible IVR systems.
website: www.openvoice.com.au/free
licence used: Creative Commons BY-SA 2.1 Australia,
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.1/au
media: Software, Audio
location: Australia

Overview for base Asterisk IVR functionality.

This gives the user a functioning basic
system containing the most common
OpenVoice (www.openvoice.com.au)
announcements. OpenVoice Free is
is a small business based in Australia,
not restricted to the Asterisk platform
specialising in providing voice prompting
services for the Asterisk Open Source and can also be used for other IVR
applications. For more demanding 43
PBX system (www.asterisk.org) and
other compatible telephone voice- IVR systems and customised prompt
prompt systems. Such applications are packages, OpenVoice have a range of
commonly used by businesses and services available for purchase.
organisations to manage telephone
switchboards and improve business By using Creative Commons licences,
communications. As part of its services OpenVoice have made a non-
offered for commercial sale, OpenVoice commercial contribution to the Asterisk
has created OpenVoice Free, a set of community and has secured a method
Australian voice prompts which are for legally distributing a demo of their
available free of charge under a Creative services that promotes their more
Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 extensive selection of commercially-
Australia licence. licensed media.

OpenVoice Free is a comprehensive

set of voice files that businesses and Licence Usage
organisations can download for use
and distribute free of charge in both OpenVoice Free is licensed under a
commercial and non-commercial Creative Commons BY-SA 2.1 Australia
environments. The voice files feature licence. This permits commercial uses
an Australian voiceover artist, providing of the media, ensures OpenVoice is
an Australian and sometimes humorous attributed and that any derivative works
touch to what are often American-voiced are licensed in the same way. Initially
IVR systems. The package contains OpenVoice considered GFDL licensing
a complete set of Australian voicemail for OpenVoice Free, but found that
prompts, wake-up calls and prompts Creative Commons licences were a

Creative Commons & Sound

 building an
australasian
commons

more user-friendly alternative due to distribution of their media. The

their plain English deed and minimal licences are also simple to
accompanying licence documentation. understand, and don’t require a
Also, unlike GFDL, Creative Commons lawyer to decode.’
licences are not format specific. This
accorded with OpenVoice’s goal of OpenVoice chose the Creative
making OpenVoice Free available with Commons Attribution-ShareAlike licence
maximum ease and exposure. because:

ß ‘The licence permits

commercial use of the media.

‘The licences are also This is important as our media

is intended for a primarily

simple to understand, commercial application

and we would like [to give]

and don’t require a businesses the ability to use

our free versions of the media.

lawyer to decode.’ ß Attribution is required, as part

of the reason for offering the
media is as a demo for our
Ben Buxton, OpenVoice
more extensive commercially
licensed media. We’d like
those who spread the media
around to give a pointer back
44 to us.
OpenVoice report that their CC-licensed
ß ShareAlike so that derivatives
media is downloaded at a rate of 50x of the media retain the
that of the commercial versions on offer, commercial use guideline, and
and have found that customers who the attribution back to us.’
used OpenVoice Free were impressed
enough with the service to go on to OpenVoice Free is a good example of
purchase OpenVoice’s commercially how a company can license their media
available media. with Creative Commons to generate
business and commercial gain, while
offering a free version for those without
Motivations the budget for commercial applications.
According to Ben’s philosophy, ‘We’d
As a fan of free software and media rather people access a free version than
licences, OpenVoice’s Ben Buxton was not at all, as it benefits them, and we are
impressed with the range of licences proud to offer an Australian option to a
offered by Creative Commons. In an primarily American software package.’
email interview with Emma Carroll from
Creative Commons Australia in April
2008, Ben offered the following rationale
for adopting CC:

‘We use CC licences because

they provide a range of
licensing options that suit most
copyright holders who would
like to allow relatively free

New Ways of Doing Music Business

instilling
alternative
points of view

Creative Commons & Democratic Change

‘An open source model for participatory,
bottom-up and emergent policy will force
us to confront the issues of our time.’
democracy
Douglas Rushkoff case studies
2003, Open Source Democracy, p 61

The open democracy tenets of equity, positive Association for Progressive

participation in decision-making, and allowance Communications – Australia
of alternative points of view lie at the heart of (apc.au) 47
the Creative Commons endeavour. It comes
as no surprise then, that an increasing number Architecture for Humanity 50
of social change organisations are embracing EngageMedia 53
online technologies and Creative Commons as a
valuable tool for spreading the word. Documented Global Voices Online 56
here are exemplary efforts to effect change GreensBlog 58
both within and beyond the CC community
internationally, and demonstrated in equal International IDEA Publishing 60
measure in the Australian public sphere.
New Internationalist 62
These projects encourage individuals and OpenDemocracy (oD) 64
organisations to embrace democratic processes
in the digital realm as well as offline, ‘shining
YouDecide2007 66
light on places and people that other media
often ignore,’ per Global Voices Online (www.
globalvoicesonline.org). Through the possibilities
of republishing and dissemination facilitated by The following case studies underscore important
CC, the global voices which emerge across the initiatives to encourage awareness, realisation
international public sphere are amplified, creating and protection of rights for all stakeholders. They
communities which ‘give a damn.’ An exemplary reinforce the critical collection and dissemination
project that demonstrates this is Architecture for of independent perspectives enabled by CC.
Humanity, which constructs emergency housing As featured, international projects including
in the wake of global disasters under the CC EngageMedia (http://engagemedia.org), the
Developing Nations licence. New Internationalist collective (www.newint.
 building an
australasian
commons

extend democratic debate

into the digital realm.
Meanwhile, independent
Image: Democrazy by Locace, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Generic, www.flickr.com/photos/

Brisbane radio station

4ZzZ and publisher Aduki
Press (www.aduki.net.au),
through their Convergent
Community Newsroom
and publication of Stick
This in Your Memory Hole
respectively, combine
online dissemination with
more traditional media
locace/2664840730

to ensure they reach the

widest possible audience.
For these organisations,
Creative Commons
org), openDemocracy (oD) (www. is an important tool
opendemocracy.net) and International in the development of community
IDEA Publishing (www.idea.int/ consciousness, providing a legal
publications) embrace open access framework for the free expression
ideals to ensure that marginalised views of ideas and sharing of ideals by
46 find appropriate forums. In this way, individuals who may not otherwise
as expressed by New Internationalist, find opportunities or have the ability
they bring ‘life to the people, the ideas to engage in the public domain. By
and the action, in the fight for global encouraging the broad dissemination
justice.’ By encouraging alternative, of alternative points of view, beyond
collaborative story-telling, these the restrictions of ‘all rights reserved’
case studies challenge the enduring copyright, these groups are fostering the
corporate dominance of mainstream freedom of thought and speech for the
media and help to overcome boundaries ultimate betterment of all society.
of geography, class, gender, spirituality
and sexuality. Simultaneously, these
organisations create an extensive
series of freely available and reusable
knowledge resources for their
communities, encompassing expert
networks, organisational assistance and
policy determinations.

On the home front, prominent projects

such as the Association for Progressive
Communication Australia (apc.au) (http://
apc.org.au), YouDecide 2007 (http://
youdecide.org), and the Australian
GreensBlog (http://greensblog.org) utilise
CC to leverage the latest technologies to

Instilling Alternative Points of View

 creative
commons
case studies

Association for Progressive

Communications – Australia (apc.au)
description: apc.au advocates for open content and flexible licensing models for the benefit of
the community.
website: http://apc.org.au, Wiki: http://wiki.apc.org.au
licence used: Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 2.5 Australia, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/
by-nc-nd/2.5/au, Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 2.5 Australia,
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/au
media: Online media
location: Australia

Overview 2 To develop and provide

networking online media
services, applications and
The Association for Progressive
content, including advisory,
Communications – Australia
consulting and related
(apc.au) is a digital media
services, production and
communications organisation 47
research;
established in 1997 on the ideals
expressed in Internet Rights Charter 3 To assist the civil sector in the
(http://rights.apc.org/charter.shtml) use of online media services
of the Association for Progressive and in the development and
Communications (APC). The publication of network content,
organisation is engaged in both the in areas of community interest
development of, and sustainable access including environment, social
to, community-owned information. development, human rights
Emphasising awareness, realisation, and social justice; and
and protection of rights, the Charter 4 To support online media
commits to Internet access for all, initiatives through the
access to knowledge, particularly with Australasian and Asia-Pacific
respect to shared learning and content areas and promote open
creation using free and open-source and equitable access to
software, and freedom of expression online media technologies
and association. particularly for the non-
government sector and
Within this framework, apc.au’s core disadvantaged groups and for
objectives are: the development of strategic
working communities.
1 To promote and provide
services for the development, apc.au sits on the steering committees
application and strategic use of Open Spectrum Australia (http://
of, and community education openspectrum.org.au), Home
in respect to online and digital Lands (http://wiki.apc.org.au/index.
media technologies; php?title=Home_Lands) (remote

Creative Commons & Democratic Change

 building an
australasian
commons

The GNU and CC are ‘...tools that Licence Usage

provide a legal framework that Typically, apc.au’s projects
developed with partners,
would ensure ownership of cultural clients and associates
utilise Creative Commons

and intellectual property remains Attribution-Noncommercial-

No Derivative Works
licenses (http://
within the public domain and for creativecommons.org/
licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/au).
the public good.’ Current projects developed
by apc.au include Home
Lands, VIDEO SLAM and
Grant McHerron, Technical Director, apc.au Sarawak Gone.
communications program for refugee
Home Lands is designed to connect
youth) and the Arts Law Consortium
young refugees to their homelands
(providing access to ICT rights issues to
and separated communities via online
cultural development and arts workers).
media and Creative Commons rights
management in association with the
Since its establishment in 1990, apc.au’s
Cultural Development Network, the
umbrella organisation, the Association
Home Lands Reference Committee, and
for Progressive Communications (APC),
with support from the City of Melbourne.
has worked with the United Nations to
48 help civil society organisations participate
VIDEO SLAM (www.openchannel.org.
in global policy-making via the strategic
use of information and communication au/blogs/videoslam) is a rights and
technologies (ICTs) including the Internet. production management workshop
APC also examines issues surrounding that encourages cross-discipline
privacy, surveillance, and encryption, and collaboration in the use of flexible
governance of the Internet. licences. This results in the production
of new works that put Creative
apc.au sits alongside members in Commons licences into direct contact
The APC Internet with screen practitioners. VIDEO SLAM
Rights Charter Argentina, Bulgaria, Colombia, the
Democratic Republic of Congo, Italy, explores whether these licences can be
identifies the ability to
share information and Mexico, the Philippines, South Africa, used to create new works from Share
to communicate freely Spain, the UK and Uruguay. In addition Alike content and whether there is
using the Internet as to many members offering local portals enough material in the public domain to
vital to the realisation to discuss ICT policies and rights in produce works that are both meaningful
of human rights. As their respective regions, APC works to and watchable.
such, there needs to achieve social and environmental justice
be Internet access Sarawak Gone (wiki.apu.org.au/index.
and sustainable development. APC
for all and the use php?title=Sarwak/_Gone) is a trial of
thereof must allow
members are often the first providers
of Internet in their countries, and they the use of Creative Commons in an
freedom of expression
continue to pioneer practical and indigenous context. It is a community
and association and
access to knowledge relevant uses of ICTs, particularly in media project documenting meetings
to be effective. The developing nations and with grassroots between six indigenous communities in
charter also highlights organisations. Governed by its remote and urban locations in Malaysia.
issues such as constitutive members, APC sets its All video shot, edited and distributed will
privacy, surveillance, strategic policies every four years. remain the intellectual property of the
encryption and communities that comprise the project.
governance of the In addition to their projects, apc.au
Internet as barriers to
realising this objective.

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 creative
commons
case studies

has also released 10 years of essays, apc.au, with Rachel Cobcroft from
lectures, reports and articles dealing Creative Commons Australia in May
with information communication 2008, he expressed the following
technologies for cultural development opinion:
(ICT4CD) (http://wiki.apc.org.au/index.
php?title=Documents), under a Creative ‘Open models for licensing,
Commons Attribution-Noncommercial- for research and education,
No Derivative Works Licence in support the arts and cultural practice,
for Document Freedom Day 2008 (DFD) science and business... for
(www.documentfreedom.org). Managing everything that we make and
Director Andrew Garton explains in the the resources we rely on, are
press release (http://wiki.apc.org.au/ an imperative towards the need
index.php?title=DFD08_Media_Release) to move from the dire outcomes
the significance of this decision for of opportunistic development
documentation: and the mechanisms currently
in place to protect them.
‘The author may choose to
reserve some or all rights These tools apply a sense
through open licenses, of collective ownership that
providing consumers with stimulates innovation and the
immediate access to how transformation of unsustainable
content may be used, re-used practices without the burden
and/or attributed without having of patents. apc.au, through
to communicate with neither its various projects, from
the author nor any 3rd party. broadcast spectrum policy to 49
Open licenses puts rights public performance, from online
management directly into the media advisory to research in
hands or authors of any form collective music making, we
and medium.’ seek a more liberal, sustainable
society that respects, protects
apc.au is also working to establish an and enhances both bio
open business model that provides and cultural diversity and is
operational transparency, effectively nourished by it.’
applying the open and flexible concept
to the company itself. apc.au homepage, July 2008

Motivations
‘apc.au advocates for and
employs open licenses such as
GNU and Creative Commons
as tools that provide a legal
framework to ensure that
ownership of cultural and
intellectual property remains
within the public domain and for
the public good.’

In an email interview with Grant

McHerron, Technical Director of

Creative Commons & Democratic Change

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Architecture For Humanity

description: Architecture for Humanity is a California-based, non-profit organisation which
promotes social design, encouraging architects and designers to seek architectural
solutions to humanitarian crises.

website: www.architectureforhumanity.org

licence used: Creative Commons Developing Nations 2.0,

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/devnations/2.0

media: Architecture, Design

location: Global

Overview For Architecture for Humanity (AFH)

these facts epitomise the global
housing crisis. It is also the basis for
‘One billion people live in abject their motto ‘Design like you give a
poverty. damn.’ Founded from a single laptop
Four billion live in fragile but computer in 1999 by Cameron Sinclair
50 growing economies. and Kate Stohr, AFH is a charitable
One in seven live in slum organisation which promotes social
settlements. design, seeking architectural solutions to
By 2030 it will be one in three. humanitarian crises. Based in California,
and with chapters around America
What is needed is not one and in Canada, the United Kingdom,
solution but millions of Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Singapore, New
solutions.’ Zealand and Australia, AFH responds
to global events: present and past
www.architectureforhumanity.org/network
projects encompass the establishment

Architecture for Humanity has

Image: a Google Map representing chapters of Architecture for Humanity around the world,

local chapters in Sydney, Australia;

Montreal, Canada; Dublin, Ireland;
Genoa and Torino, Italy; Tampico,
Mexico; Auckland, New Zealand;
Singapore; United Kingdom;
Atlanta, Ames, Anchorage, Austin,
Blacksburg/Virginia Tech, Boston
Bradenton, Chicago, Cleveland,
www.architectureforhumanity.org/chapters

Detroit, Hawaii, Houston,

Indianapolis, Knoxville, Los Angeles,
Minnesota, New York, Fargo,
Ottawa, Philadelphia, Portland,
Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San
Diego, San Antonio, San Francisco,
Seattle, St Louis, Tampa and
Washington DC, United States.

Instilling Alternative Points of View

 creative
commons
case studies

of transitional housing for returning of the Year from the Observer’s Ethical
refugees in Kosovo, mobile health Awards and Wired Magazine’s Rave
clinics in Sub-Saharan Africa, an HIV/ Award for Architecture.
AIDS outreach centre in South Africa,
and rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina in
the Biloxi Model Home Program (www.
architectureforhumanity.org/programs/ Licence Usage
katrina/katrina.htm).
AFH’s projects are licensed under the
Co-founder Cameron Sinclair explained Creative Commons Developing Nations
his philosophy for sustainable housing licence (http://creativecommons.org/
in his acceptance speech for the 2006 licenses/devnations/2.0). As profiled by
TED prize (www.ted.com/index.php/ Ethan Zuckerman in his blog discussing
international development (www.
talks/view/id/54), stating his wish to
ethanzuckerman.com/blog/2004/09/17/
‘create a global open-source network
creative-commons-developing-nations-
that will let architects and communities license), this is ‘a simple solution
share and build designs to house the to a complex problem’ surrounding
world.’ A result of this ‘one wish to commercial operations in ‘high-income’
change the world’ was the establishment nations versus non-commercial projects
of the Open Architecture Network in developing nations. The licence
(OAN) (www.openarchitecturenetwork. allows the retention of full copyright in
org) in 2007, developed in conjunction the developed world, whilst permitting
with Creative Commons and Sun individuals and organisations of the
Microsystems. OAN aims to respond developing world to work within an
to the UN Millennium Development attribution-only framework. This
Goal of achieving ‘improvement in the approach also benefits local designers,
lives of 100 million slum dwellers for as they can develop a targeted solution
51
the year 2015.’ The network involves for their region, and then go on to
not only professional architects; it market to a broader audience across
incorporates community leaders, developed nations in the West.
educators, healthcare workers, non-
profit organisations and technologists, In June 2006, Kathryn Frankel from
amongst others with relevant expertise. Creative Commons asked Cameron
Reaching their audience through Sinclair about how AFH uses CC
competitions, workshops, educational licences (http://creativecommons.org/
forums and exhibitions, OAN fosters public weblog/entry/7026):
appreciation for the diverse
ways that architecture and
design can improve lives. Image: D. Jason Pressgrove/Architecture for Humanity/Gulf Coast Community

The contribution made

by AFH has been further
recognised in the granting
of the 2005 Index Award to
Improve Life (Community)
and in 2006, the Innovation

These drawings are for a homeowner

Design Studio. Used with Permission.

on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. She lost

her home at 207 Elmer Street
in hurricane Katrina in 2005 and
was also later swindled out of
thousands of dollars by a fraudulent
contractor. The home was built
by the East Biloxi Coordination
Center with Four Square.

Creative Commons & Democratic Change

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commons

‘We use the Developing

Nations licence for the designs
Motivations
of our buildings. Once the
On the extent to which CC licences
first prototype building is
could benefit the architectural and
completed, we can essentially humanitarian design community,
give away the designs to Cameron Sinclair said:
other communities in other
developing nations. ‘...CC licenses could act as a
platform, like a legal standard,
Licenses are granted in the that designers could work from.
designers’ names. This At the moment, the industry is
actually came out of a project in a very gray area and nobody
we did, the architect felt by knows what belongs to who,
doing the project, he would lose who’s really the designer, who’s
the design. So half of it is a liable. CC licensing could clear
reassurance, the other half is to that up.’
give architects the confidence
http://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/7026
to actually do pro bono work
and not feel that their creativity
The AFH vision expresses the ideal for
will be given away.’
infrastructure to be designed and built
locally:
The Creative Commons Developing
Nations licence has subsequently
‘We believe that this can be
been retired, given that it did not
achieved not by replicating a
permit worldwide non-commercial
52 design that was successful in
verbatim sharing, and that there
one situation in another, but by
was an inadequate demand (http://
encouraging locally-inspired
creativecommons.org/retiredlicenses).
designs and by enabling these
The licence is still useable and
solutions to be shared and
legally enforceable, however Creative
freely adapted by all.’
Commons will no longer be updating this
licensing stream. www.architectureforhumanity.org/about

History of the CC Developing Nations Licence

On 13 September 2004 Creative Commons launched the Commons stated, ‘We estimate just 0.01% of our existing licenses
Developing Nations licence. The operation of the licence are Developing Nations licenses.’ Another concern was raised:
is similar to an Attribution licence—it allows sharing and
adaptation, even for commercial gain. The key difference ‘While the license frees creative work in the
between that licence and the Developing Nations licence developing nations, it does not free work in any
is the inclusion of an additional restriction, limiting the use way elsewhere. This means these licenses do
not meet the minimum standards of the Open
of licensed material to developing nations only. The licence
Access Movement.’
defines ‘developing nations’ as ‘any nation that is not classified
as a “high-income economy”’ by the World Bank. On the World
On these grounds, it was decided to no longer endorse the
Bank website, they publish a list of high-income economies, Developing Nations licence. The Commons Deed for the
www.worldbank.org/data/countryclass/classgroups.htm. Developing Nations licence states that the licence is retired
and should not be used for new work. All works released
Creative Commons ‘retired’ this licence, as well as one other under it before retirement remain protected by the licence.
licence, on 4 June 2007. It was deemed to not have enough up- The full rationale is published on the Creative Commons blog
take to warrant maintaining it. At the time of retirement, Creative at http://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/7520.

Instilling Alternative Points of View

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commons
case studies

EngageMedia
description: EngageMedia is a video-sharing website focused on social justice and environment
issues in Australia, South-East Asia and the Pacific.
website: www.engagemedia.org
licence used: Default, blanket CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 Unported, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/
by-nc-sa/3.0, User-definable Creative Commons 3.0 Unported suite, GNU Free
Documentation Licence, www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html, or other licence
media: Video, text
location: Australia, South-East Asia, Pacific

Overview based micro-payment system, allowing

members to contribute financially or on a
voluntary basis to emergent projects. In
EngageMedia is a ‘web 2.0’ video-
the interim, material is indirectly exposed
sharing website for film on social
to revenue opportunities via festivals,
justice and environmental issues in
competitions and broadcasts.
South-East Asia, Australia, and the 53
Pacific. As a platform for the production
Based on peer-to-peer (P2P)
and distribution of documentaries,
technologies, the EngageMedia site
artistic, and experimental video
offers a comprehensive Guide to Digital
works, EngageMedia seeks to create
Video Distribution (www.engagemedia.
a community of filmmakers, artists,
org/guide-to-digital-video-distro).
and activists from around the region
The ability of contributors’ to expose
who inform viewers of local and global
environmental destruction and human
actions for social change. The site seeks
rights abuses through well-researched
to distribute films that are largely ignored
by commercial and government media
EngageMedia homepage, October 2008
institutions and that cannot gain access
to traditional distribution channels.

Emphasising open access and

collaborative frameworks, the site
supports the dissemination of
independent perspectives to challenge
the enduring corporate dominance
of traditional media. It also exists
to provide tools and training for
marginalised communities, thereby
establishing a mutually supportive network
of peers working towards sustainable
development.

EngageMedia is contemplating the

future implementation of a donations-

Creative Commons & Democratic Change

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Members/ahlaseng86/videos/peace-branches-for-the-people.mpg/view
ahlaseng86. CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 Unported,, http://www.engagemedia.org/

commons
Image: Still from Monks protest against Burmese Military Junta by

of your work in theirs, so long

as they allow others to do the
same with their work. Apart
from the ethics of such a policy,
we believe it is practically
impossible to stop people
reproducing your work once it
is in digital form. This is also a
positive, however, as people will
help you distribute your work
around the globe if they enjoy it.’
www.engagemedia.org/editorial-policy
A clip on EngageMedia documents monks demonstrating against the
Burmese Military Government, 29 September 2007
The site applies a blanket default
Creative Commons Attribution-
submissions, the EngageMedia collective Noncommerical-Share Alike 3.0
states simply, ‘We want to build media Unported Licence to all uploaded
that questions how the world works.’ content. During uploading, the site
requires users to decide if they will
EngageMedia was launched at the apply the default licence, select another
Earthling National Environmental licence among the most recent unported
Activist Forum at the annual This Is versions of the Creative Commons
Not Art (TINA) Festival in Newcastle, licences, or apply the GNU Free
on 30th September 2006. The forum Documentation Licence. The workings
explored broad ideas about the way in of the CC licences are outlined in detail
which individuals can be more effective on the site (www.engagemedia.org/
54
activists through the tools they use. creative-commons), where distinctions
EngageMedia’s offices are based in are drawn between commercial and
Melbourne, Australia, and their collective non-commercial uses, and options
currently comprises five new media for derivative works. EngageMedia
specialists. integrates a Creative Commons
licence generator into the video upload
process, thereby making the process
Licence Usage of identifying a licence and applying
it to the film very easy. The site also
EngageMedia furthers its intention to provides tools to enable videos to be
create an alternative presentation and embedded into other web pages, as
distribution point for independent film well as an easily downloadable high-
by establishing itself as a digital archive resolution version of each film.
of independent video productions
employing open content licences. The To encourage further development and
Editorial Policy of the site states: distribution of freely-available content,
this video software is also available in
‘We want visitors to this site an open-source format.
to be able to freely copy and
redistribute the works here ‘The EngageMedia website
as long as it is for non-profit encourages users to download
purposes, unless you choose and share video, rather than
to let others use your work for simply streaming the video. We
commercial purposes also. want people to be able to save
Work should preferably be the videos and re-distribute
share-alike, which means “I them. The need to open up
share if you share”, allowing other channels of distributing
others to re-edit or use part this kind of work is clear and

Instilling Alternative Points of View

 creative
commons
case studies

encouraging the sharking

of work on the Internet
by removing restrictive
‘...we’re interested in collaborative
copyright will open up
these channels.’
storytelling, and in moving away
http://creativecommons.org.au/
commoners/engagemedia
from restrictive copyright laws that
enforce rigid ideas of individual
Motivations intellectual property.’
Based on the philosophies of www.engagemedia.org/creative-commons
open access and sharing, the
EngageMedia site embraces framework for us to deal with
Creative Commons as offering a restrictive copyright, enabling
practical framework for compliance us to provide the service we
set out to provide, and in
with copyright laws in many nations.
terms of its political approach
In an interview conducted by Creative it is an interesting and positive
Commons Australia project officer example of a legal framework
Elliott Bledsoe with Anna Helme from built by lawyers but based on
EngageMedia (http://creativecommons. social movements and cultural
org.au/commoners/engagemedia), realities. It also differs from
the site’s motivations to license other approaches to copyright
under Creative Commons are clearly management such as waiting
for law reform or disregarding
explained: 55
the law entirely and embracing
video piracy as an ethic itself.’
‘For us we found that
Creative Commons provides
a very usable framework for When asked about filmmakers’
filmmakers wishing to use motivations to upload their video on
open content licences. They EngageMedia, Anna Helme opines:
can allow reproduction and
distribution while preserving ‘The message rather than
some rights that leaves open the profit tends to be the
the potential to recoup funds primary motive in this kind
through commercial distribution of independent production,
of their work.’ but filmmakers are often
interested in attaining
The growing popularity of Creative mainstream distribution to
Commons licences has been a key reach mainstream audiences,
incentive to their implemention on the in recouping funds and in
building a reputation to further
site. Anna Helme believes that the
their career in film in video
commons have now reached a critical production. Video activists are
mass, increasing their utility. She says: also often interested in having
some control over the context in
‘CC has proved itself to be a which their video is distributed.
very effective social tool as This means that producers are
evidenced by its large and less likely to wish to release
growing popularity. It’s really their work into the public
important for open content domain. They would prefer
licenses to have a critical mass to make choices about which
of people using them and CC rights they wish to reserve,
has achieved this very quickly. which is where Creative
For me CC is both a practical Commons is especially useful.’

Creative Commons & Democratic Change

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commons

Global Voices Online

description: The Global Voices Online project presents writings from an international team of
bloggers who monitor online conversations pertaining to their regions.
website: www.globalvoicesonline.org
licence used: Creative Commons BY 2.5 Generic,
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/au
media: Text, podcasts
location: Operation is global, divided into six regions: Middle East/North Africa; Sub-Saharan
Africa; East Asia; South Asia; the Americas; Eastern Europe, Russia, Caucasus and
Central Asia.

Overview conversations—the ‘global voices’—

which have hitherto gone unheard.
The project works to develop tools,
Global Voices Online (GVO) is an
to establish institutions, and to foster
award-winning non-profit project
relationships in parts of the world where
founded in 2004 by the Berkman
opinion is rarely sought.
56 Center for Internet and Society, Harvard
Law School (http://cyber.law.harvard.
‘We believe in the power of
edu). The project’s goal has been to
direct connection. The bond
redress the inequities in media attention between individuals from
by leveraging the power of ‘citizens’ different worlds is personal,
media’. This is achieved by aggregating political and powerful. We
online materials, such as wikis, believe conversation across
weblogs, podcasts, tags, and online boundaries is essential to
chats, thereby drawing attention to the a future that is free, fair,
prosperous and sustainable -
Global Voices homepage, July 2008 for all citizens of this planet.’
Global Voices Online Draft Manifesto,
www.globalvoicesonline.org/wiki/article/
Global_Voices_Draft_Manifesto

Launched by Berkman Fellows Rebecca

MacKinnon and Ethan Zuckerman,
the Global Voices project draws on
an international team of bloggers who
monitor online conversations pertaining
to, and occurring in their regions.
Operationally, the organisation works
through six regional editors: from the
Middle East and North Africa; Sub-
Saharan Africa; South Asia; East Asia;
the Americas; and Eastern Europe,

Instilling Alternative Points of View

 creative
commons
case studies

Russia, Caucasus and Central

Asia. Feeds are summarised ‘We believe that sharing our
and distilled on a daily basis, and
key bloggers are interviewed to
content in this way is most
provide diverse and geographically
dispersed perspectives.
consistent with our main goal:
Materials are translated into
Bangla, Spanish, Farsi, French,
making the voices of bloggers
Portuguese, Chinese (simplified
and traditional), and will soon
around the world heard...’
be available in German, Hindi, Global Voices Online Draft Manifesto
Japanese, Arabic, and Malagasy.
the site receive appropriate credit. As
Seeking representative samples of such, Global Voices strongly encourage
Internet reportage, Global Voices the use of their badge with a link back to
approaches prominent regional the homepage.
members in the blogosphere as
emerging leaders in their local
communities to contribute to the site. In Motivations
the words of founder Ethan Zuckerman,
‘We believe that sharing our
this is ‘someone who is already a good
content in this way is most
blogger, already has a readership,
consistent with our main goal:
already has an understanding of the making the voices of bloggers 57
communities they’re dealing with.’ around the world heard by as
Global Voices encourages direct many people as possible.’
contact with the contributors to the site,
Global Voices Online Draft Manifesto
particularly from news organisations
interested in the stories provided. The philosophy underlying Global
Voices’ decision to use the Creative
‘This is a small planet in
Commons Attribution 2.5 Generic
need of some big ideas. The
licence for all materials has been to
more people there are in the
conversation, the more likely ‘make it easy for… content to be re-
we are to find them.’ published on other websites, commercial
and non-commercial, so long as those
www.worldchanging.com/archives/
001769.html
sites credit [Global Voices] as the
original source.’

Contributors to Global Voices seek

Licence Usage to ‘respect, assist, teach, learn from,
and listen to one another.’ Whilst Global Voices Online
The Global Voices site is published
they ‘continue to work and speak as was the winner of
under a Creative Commons Attribution
individuals,’ they also seek to ‘identify the 2005 Deutsche
2.5 licence. The site’s attribution policy Welle award for Best
(www.globalvoicesonline.org/about/ and promote [their] shared interests and
Journalistic Blog in
global-voices-attribution-policy) outlines goals,’ thus supporting the ideals of civil
English. It was also the
that whilst the site both authorises and society (http://www.globalvoicesonline.
recipient of the 2006
encourages people to re-use its content, org/wiki/article/Global_Voices_Draft_ Knight-Batten Grand
it is also important that contributors to Manifesto). Prize for Innovations in
Journalism.

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GreensBlog
description: GreensBlog is the official online presence of the Australian Greens Senators.
website: http://greensblog.org
licence used: Creative Commons BY-SA 2.5 Australia, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-
sa/2.5/au
media: Images, Text
location: Australia

Overview ß The leader of the Australian

Greens, Senator Bob Brown,
Greens Senator for Tasmania
The Australian Greens Blog, known as
since 1996;
‘GreensBlog,’ was established as the
online presence of ‘The Greens’ for the ß Senator Christine Milne,
2007 Australian federal election. The Greens Senator for Tasmania
58 since 2004;
blog presents the issues, politics and
policies of the federal party, emphasising ß Senator Rachel Siewert,
the possibilities for online grass-roots Greens Senator for Western
action. Intended to engage as many Australia since 2004;
people as possible in a constructive ß Senator Scott Ludlam, Greens
discussion about Greens issues, the Senator for Western Australia
blog features writing by current Greens since 2007; and
Senators (or ‘Senabloggers), including:
ß Senator Sarah Hanson-
GreensBlog homepage, July 2008 Young, Greens Senator for
South Australia since 2007.
Some Greens staffers also contribute,
including Tim Norton and Chris Twomey
from Senator Siewert’s staff, Tim Hollo
and Oliver Woldring from Senator
Milne’s staff, Adam Burling from Senator
Brown’s staff and Gemma Clark from
Senator Hanson-Young’s staff.

GreensBlog is a complementary
strategy to the Green’s YouTube
video platform (www.youtube.com/
australiangreens). Through these web
2.0 initiatives, the Australian Greens
discussed their policies of ecological
sustainability, social and economic
justice, grass-roots democracy, and
peace and non-violence. As expressed
by Tim Hollo:

Instilling Alternative Points of View

 creative
‘Our hope and intention commons
case studies
is that, over time, [the ‘We chose the
GreensBlog] can become Attribution-Share
Alike license as
an effective space for we need people
to recognise and
attribute our work,
open source democracy’ whilst at the same
time ensuring that
the license is passed
GreensBlog, http://greensblog.org/about on. We cannot use
a Noncommercial license,
‘As the mainstream media as occasionally our work
becomes more superficial, will be reprinted in commercial
web 2.0 begins to offer greater publications.’
opportunities for in depth
discussion and analysis. We’d According to Tim, the site uses CC-
love to see GreensBlog become licensed images used wherever possible,
a vibrant hub for discussion of and plans to implement Creative
Greens-related issues, what’s Commons across all its web presence.
been going on in Parliament and
our constituencies, and how the
Greens might address issues of
the day.’ Motivations
http://greensblog.org/2007/
Exhorting readers to link back to
10/03/open-source-democracy
GreensBlog ‘liberally and often,’ the
site seeks to become an effective
space for open source democracy 59
Licence Usage (http://greensblog.org/2007/10/03/
open-source-democracy). As Tim
All content featured on the GreensBlog Hollo observes in a guest column on
is, unless otherwise noted, licensed 3 October 2008 at Larvatus Prodeo
under a Creative Commons Attribution- (http://larvatusprodeo.net/2007/10/03/
Share Alike 2.5 Australia licence (http:// guest-post-by-tim-hollo-open-source-
creativecommons.org/licenses/by- democracy), the following inspired the
sa/2.5/au). Underscoring participation
establishment of the GreensBlog:
in democratic processes, the blog
actively encourages reuse and
‘Our ultimate, and most exciting
referencing of entries with appropriate
aim is to go beyond discussion,
attribution. Through its ‘sharing’ facility
way beyond message
(http://greensblog.org/about/sharing- dissemination, and use the
greensblog), GreensBlog enables its blog to develop something
readership to publish the party’s RSS new: open source democracy.
feeds of latest headlines through widgets We want ideas – suggestions
and ‘blidgets’ – a highly customisable for parliamentary motions, for
widget intended to be in keeping with the amendments to bills. We want
theme of individuals’ blogs. to post policies in development
so that the hivemind can help
Greens staffer Tim Norton notes in an us develop them. If, as we
email interview with Rachel Cobcroft believe is possible, we achieve
from Creative Commons Australia in balance of power in the Senate
May 2008 that he first heard about after this election, GreensBlog
CC from members of the Brisbane as envisaged could have a
office, and has used the licences for real impact on the choices
other projects in the past. For the Australia’s Parliament makes in
GreensBlog, Tim notes: the coming years.’

Creative Commons & Democratic Change

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International IDEA Publishing

description: International IDEA is an intergovernmental organisation seeking to strengthen
democratic processes and institutions worldwide.
website: www.idea.int/publications
licence used: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 Unported,
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
media: Text
location: Global. Headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, with offices in Asia, Africa,
and Latin America.

Overview of eminent officials, International IDEA

has been granted observer status
The International Institute for Democracy at the United Nations. International
and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA’s areas of expertise lie specifically
IDEA) (http://www.idea.int) functions in constitution-building and electoral
60 as an intergovernmental organisation processes, assessing political parties,
to support sustainable democracy. and providing support thorough
Offering an extensive series of examinations of democracy and gender.
knowledge resources in the form of
expert networks, policy proposals As part of the knowledge resources
and organisational assistance with it generates, each year International
democratic reform, International IDEA IDEA publishes a substantial range of
seeks to strengthen global political new titles in the areas of democracy
processes. Based in Stockholm, assessment, conflict management,
Sweden, International IDEA has offices electoral processes, political parties,
in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. constitutional-building processes and
Governed by a Council comprising gender. IDEA’s research seeks to
Member States and assisted by a Board promote accountability, efficiency and

Three publications from the extensive

list of IDEA publications made
available under Creative Commons
Attribution-Noncommercial-Share
Alike licenses: Strengthening
Women’s Political Participation
in Indonesia, Democracy and
Deep-Rooted Conflict: Options
for Negotiators and Building
Democracy in Jordan. IDEA has
published a vast portfolio of reports in
a number of languages under
Creative Commons.

Instilling Alternative Points of View

 creative
commons
case studies

transparency for democratic processes

and institutions, and to inform the debate ‘IDEA’s work
surrounding political participation and
capacity building. These publications
strengthens the
are on the IDEA site (www.idea.int/
publications), where titles are able to be
processes for citizens,
browsed by topic, region, and language,
then downloaded to disk. Databases
non-governmental
containing information on the workings
of democracy are able to be accessed
organisations and
through the site and include Voter governments to debate
Turnout, the ACE Electoral Knowledge
Network, the Reconciliation Resource the essential elements
Network, and Quotas for Women.
of democracy.’
Licence Usage www.idea.int/themes/index.cfm

In 2007, International IDEA allowed the Guidelines on how to use the CC-
application of the Creative Commons licensed documents are available at
Attribution-NonCommercial-Share http://www.idea.int/publications/how_to_
Alike 3.0 Unported licence (http:// use_ccl_titles.cfm.
creativecommons.org/licenses/by- 61
nc-sa/3.0) to selected titles within its
publications. IDEA’s CC-licensed Motivations
works are listed at http://www.idea.int/
publications/cc_publications.cfm, in International IDEA’s move to license its
alphabetical order. As of 20 December publications under Creative Commons
2007, there are 104 International in 2007 was seen to ensure increased
IDEA titles licensed under CC. access to the organisation’s research,
thereby promoting the
The IDEA’s Publications portal, July 2008 aims of collaboration,
reconciliation,
and inclusive
democracy. As with
all CC licences,
the copyright of the
author is asserted
in each instance,
and sits alongside
an indication of the
uses for which no
permission needs to
be secured, provided
that the licence’s
conditions are
followed.

Creative Commons & Democratic Change

 building an
australasian
commons

New Internationalist
description: New Internationalist exists to inform, educate and communicate its message and
ideals in an accessible style through the New Internationalist magazine, books,
Internet and other media. New Internationalist Publications seek to ‘bring to life the
people, the ideas and the action in the fight for global justice.’
website: www.newint.org
licence used: Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 2.5 Generic,
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5
media: Text
location: Global, headquartered in Oxford, England with offices in Toronto, Canada;
Adelaide, Australia; Christchurch, Aotearoa/New Zealand; and Tokyo, Japan.

Overview practice. NI also maintains editorial and

sales offices in Adelaide, Christchurch,
New York, and Toronto.
New Internationalist (NI) is a monthly
magazine which seeks to publish
NI’s subscriber base currently exceeds
information relating to social justice and
75,000, which has enabled the not-
62 human rights, to address the imbalance
for-profit co-operative to expand into
of power between the first world and
the production of books, films, and
the ‘majority world,’ and to investigate
other materials to support United
under-reported ethical and ecological
Nations and related bodies concerned
issues. Established in 1973 by New
with community development and
Internationalist Publications in Oxford,
sustainability. Originally sponsored
England, the magazine is directed by
by Oxfam, the Cadbury and Rowntree
a workers’ co-operative which runs as
Trusts, and Christian Aid, the co-
an independent trust according to strict
operative has been self-sustaining since
ethical and environmental codes of
the early 1980s.

In 2007, NI won the Utne

Independent Media Award
for ‘Best International
Coverage’ for the eighth
time (www.utne.com/
uipa.aspx), honouring
‘independent efforts that
Image: bookstore, clothed. by cjelli. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Generic,

provide bold, innovative,

New Internationalist use Creative

www.flickr.com/photos/glassware/120955789

Commons-licensed Flickr images to

supplement some of their news and
feature articles on www.newint.org.
The image on the left was taken by
Flickr user cjelli and reused by NI as
a draw-in to a feature by Anna Chen
about the arduous task of ironing
which begs the question, ‘What’s
wrong with crinkles, anyhow?’

Instilling Alternative Points of View

 creative
commons
case studies

thought-provoking alternatives to this policy in detail

mass media fare’ (www.newint.org/ in their copyright
about/the-co-operative). Other major policies (www.
accolades include the Independent newint.org/misc/
Press Award for ‘Best International copyright).
Coverage,s’ awarded for the seventh NI also uses

Image: Front cover, New Internationalist, Issue 413, July 2008. Used with permission.
time, in addition to the highly-regarded Creative
readers’ poll, awarded in 2000. NI has Commons
been recipient of the United Nations
licensed images
Association Media Peace Prize for its
from Flickr to
outstanding contribution to world peace
supplement
and development, as well as the United
content published
Nations Development Programme
Paul Hoffman Prize awarded for NI’s on the website.
outstanding contribution to world Each Flickr image
development. The magazine has also is attributed
been widely endorsed by its readership, by including
which includes John Pilger and a copyright
Archbishop Desmond Tutu. logo and the
photographer’s
‘New Internationalist is an Flickr username,
ongoing education and a which is linked to The cover of New Internationalist, Issue 412
monthly reminder of our
the specific image
common humanity. A wonderful
that NI has resued.
readable guide to the social 63
and political forces that shape They also indicate that the image is
our world...With its hard-hitting available under a Creative Commons
coverage of world affairs, licence and link to the appropriate
evocative first-person essays, Commons Deed.
sweeping exposes of such
topics as land mines and the
geopolitics of blue jeans, the
New Internationalist offers Motivations
a consistently unique and
important perspective on global
NI’s mission statement (www.
culture.’
newint.org/about/the-co-operative)
The Editors of Utne Reader,
emphasises its campaign for social and
in presenting the 1998 award
environmental justice in the publication
of previously unheard voices. In order
to maintain its mission, NI values
Licence Usage ‘self-help, responsibility, democracy,
equality, equity and solidarity.’ The
NI blanket license the site under a
release of materials under Creative
Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 2.5
Generic Licence but explicitly exclude in Commons licences conforms to New
the website’s footer and all the images Internationalist’s ethos of openness
on the site. Copyright for images remains and democratic participation: as stated,
with the the photographer, illustrator or NI exists to ‘inform, education and
representative agency. They also state communicate its message and ideals
that content other than images that is not in an accessible style through the
under the terms of the CC licence are New Internationalist magazine, books,
noted separately. The magazine explains Internet and other media.’

Creative Commons & Democratic Change

 building an
australasian
commons

openDemocracy (oD)
description: openDemocracy is an independent online magazine offering global perspectives on
current issues, fostering democratic debate.
website: www.opendemocracy.net
licence used: Some articles released under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 2.0 UK (England
& Wales), http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/uk, images hosted on
Flickr under a Creative Commons BY-SA 2.0 Generic, http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by-sa/2.0
media: Text, Images
location: Global, headquartered in London with offices in New York

Overview bridges geographical boundaries, as

well as those of class, gender and
sexuality, ensuring that marginalised
openDemocracy (oD) offers an
views and voices have presence.
independent voice on global news
Since its establishment in 2001, oD
and current affairs via a leading online
has hosted contributions by citizens
64 magazine. Promoting ‘free thinking
of both the North and South, together
for the world,’ the site exists to ‘publish
with leading thinkers and prominent
clarifying debates to help stimulate
public figures such as Kofi Annan,
your mind, challenge your perceptions
Salman Rushdie, Richard Stallman
and then invite and encourage you
and Siva Vaidhyanathan. Published by
to take part’ in a range of prominent
openDemocracy Limited, part of the
issues surrounding human rights
openDemocracy Foundation for the
and democracy (www.britishcouncil.
Advancement of Global Education, oD
org/zerocarboncity-debate.htm). oD
is headquartered in London, UK, and
maintains an office in New York.
openDemocracy homepage, July 2008

Licence Usage
On 14 June, 2005, openDemocracy
announced a partnership with Creative
Commons to ‘bring works by the
world’s leading scholars and writers
into the global commons’ (http://
creativecommons.org/press-releases/
entry/5476). They commitment to
release the work of 150 oD authors
under a Creative Commons licence,
making openDemocracy the first
major online publisher to adopt the CC
framework on a large scale. In October
2005, Creative Commons’ Senior

Instilling Alternative Points of View

 creative
commons
case studies

Counsel Mia Garlick discussed the

implications of this decision with ‘Democracy, like culture itself,
oD’s co-managing editor, Solana
Larsen, on the Creative Commons must be a collaborative project.’
blog (http://creativecommons.org/
weblog/entry/7034), who declares Siva Vaidhyanathan, www.opendemocracy.net/
that oD’s commitment is ‘to getting media-copyright/creativecommons_2596.jsp
ideas out in circulation.’ Meeting
with ‘genuine enthusiasm’ by its accessible to all, confident that people
contributing authors, oD’s agreement will ‘read republished articles and be
with Creative Commons has allowed the
drawn to the source by curiosity.’
public to republish most of the articles
on the openDemocracy.net site for non- ‘Editorially, openDemocracy
commercial ends. has paid a great deal of
attention to the legal struggles
‘Practically, the use of [Creative that led to the development
Commons] licences grant of the Creative Commons,
participating openDemocracy and interviewed both Richard
authors… more control over Stallman and Eric Raymond
how their works will echo when Napster was still a big
through the world of digital story. Intellectually, it was a
text. They will encourage free piece of cake to see that the
republication and dissemination Creative Commons offers a
of their articles in non- constructive and democratic
commercial media across the
solution to a really huge
globe.’ problem. Practically, it was 65
Siva Vaidhyanathan, www.opendemocracy.net/ harder to walk boldly into
media-copyrightlaw/creativecommons_2596.jsp unknown territory.’
Solana Larsen in interview with Mia Garlick,
Articles published as part of this
initiative are released under a Creative http://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/7034
Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-
NoDerivatives licence. They explain Welcoming the collaboration between
this relationship in detail on the website Creative Commons and openDemocracy in
(http://www.opendemocracy.net/ 2005, Siva Vaidhyanathan sees the move
creative_commons), where they provide as ‘making a profound statement about the
recommended attribution text and HTML importance of openness and the dangers
code. openDemocracy also strongly of a culture of excessive ownership.’
encourages the use of its badge where
content is republished. ‘The fact that openDemocracy’s
articles get picked up and
Images published on the website are re-posted on other sites, or
available on Flickr (http://flickr.com/ made available out of context
photos/opendemocracy) under a through Google News, not only
Creative Commons BY-SA 2.0 Generic gets them to more people, it
licence. directs some of those readers
back to the site… The link
back to openDemocracy,
through attribution and through
Motivations a literal hyperlink, is a kind of
advertising, a kind of invitation,
Describing oD’s trajectory from closed a kind of enticement.’
to open, Solana Larsen celebrates the http://www.sivacracy.net/archives/
decision to make the magazine’s archive 004344.html

Creative Commons & Democratic Change

 building an
australasian
commons

YouDecide2007
description: YouDecide2007 is a citizen journalism initiative established by SBS, On Line
Opinion, the Brisbane Institute, and the Creative Industries Faculty at the
Queensland University of Technology to cover the 2007 Australian Federal election
in a bottom-up, ‘hyperlocal’ fashion.
website: www.youdecide2007.org
licence used: Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 2.5 Australia,
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/au
media: Image, Text, Video
location: Australia

Overview view/69/84) inside pages. Editorial

control in differentiating content provided
certainty for project partners, and
YouDecide2007 is a citizen journalism allowed a gradation of experience on the
project initiated to cover the 2007 site for its readership.
Australian Federal Election in an
66 alternative, bottom-up and ‘hyperlocal’ YouDecide2007 demonstrates how
fashion. Funded as an Australian citizen journalism can complement
Research Council (ARC) (www.arc.gov. political coverage of mainstream media
au) Linkage Project, YouDecide2007 outlets, creating synergies between
professional ‘expert’ content, as
is a partnership between SBS (www.
provided by the project partners, and
sbs.com.au), On Line Opinion user-generated content created on
(www.onlineopinion.com.au), the the site. The YouDecide2007 project
Brisbane Institute (www.brisinst.org. is distinctly ‘hyperlocal,’ emphasising
au) and Creative Industries (www. ‘on-the-ground’ news reporting from
creativeindustries.qut.edu.au) at the individual electorates, and therefore
Queensland University of Technology illustrating the interesting interplay
(QUT). In the lead up to the Australian between local and national issues in key
seats. It builds on experience from On
Federal Election on 24 November
Line Opinion in the reporting of public
2007, the site sought submissions affairs and community management,
from interested citizens on issues of and research expertise from QUT in
relevance to their electorates, from the qualitative and quantitative analysis
Broome to Bennelong, across a range of social media and public sphere
of formats – whether audio, video, or initiatives.
textual. Citizens submitted news items
and opinion pieces, which were profiled
on the main page as premium content Licence Usage
(www.youdecide2007.org/content/
view/20/28) or discussed in a ‘sandpit’ User-generated content submitted
section according to their merit, and to the YouDecide2007 site is dual
engaged in robust discussions on the licensed. Articles, images, and videos
‘raw’ (www.youdecide2007.org/content/ are made available to the public under

Instilling Alternative Points of View

Images: (Left to Right, Top to Bottom) Derivatives of Howard in Bennelong by Anne Finnane, Bartlett Launches Indigenous Policy 1 by Murray
Henman and Culture jamming in Moreton by Rachel Cobcroft. Derivatives made with permission. Originals all CC BY-NC-ND 2.5 Australia,
available at www.youdecide2007.org creative
commons
case studies

This photograph of former Prime

Minister John Howard in the path
of a looming balloon bearing a
slogan of change in the New South
Wales electorate of Bennelong is an
example of user-generated content
published on YouDecide2007.
Below are two other user-generated
images; one of Former Senator
Andrew Bartlett announcing the
Australian Democracts’ Indigenous
Policy and one documenting
DIY election advertising in the
Queensland electorate of Moreton.
the Creative Commons Attribution- Barry Saunders, a QUT
Noncommercial-No Derivative Works Creative Industries
2.5 Australia licence. In addition, users researcher with the
grant the project partners – QUT, SBS YouDecide2007 project,
and On Line Opinion – a non-exclusive, commented on the site’s
perpetual, world-wide licence to reuse use of Creative Commons
the content for any purposes associated in an interview conducted in
with the project, on the condition that March with Rachel Cobcroft
appropriate attribution to the author from Creative Commons
remains (see www.youdecide2007.org/
67
Australia:
content/view/29/43). The availability of
premium content for reuse by project ‘YouDecide2007 utilised
partners was a key aspect of the ARC CC licensing to allow
linkage grant. portability of content.
We thought it important
that our contributors be
Motivations allowed to reuse their
own content as they saw
The YouDecide 2007 project was fit, and that the stories
spread as widely as
commenced to provide a democratic
possible. YouDecide2007
forum for alternative reporting on was more about getting
Australian public affairs. By analysing perspectives heard than
the dynamics of the site, the project making money, and the
has sought to suggest models of best CC licence fit our needs more
practice for citizen journalists and than a traditional copyright
managers of citizen journalism sites. licence.’
A primary aim of the project has been
to understand changes in the public In addition, the YouDecide2007 team
sphere brought about by user-generated also sought out partnerships with
content, and which interventions into regional bloggers who wanted to share
the mainstream political process are their content on the site. Although
possible. It also engages with the permissions from the bloggers were
current interest in the role of the Internet obtained, Creative Commons licensing
and user-generated content in the allowed this content to be republished
mainstream political process. with appropriate attribution.

Creative Commons & Democratic Change

 freeing
footage
for all
Creative Commons & Moving Images
‘The “some rights reserved” approach to
content management synonymous to the
Creative Commons licensing suite offers
moving images
new content to utilise on less complicated case studies
terms; it offers new ways of thinking
about, managing, and capitalising on
original creative content.’ Australian Creative Resources
Elliott Bledsoe, The ‘You Can’t Touch This’ Effect, p 1
Online (ACRO) 72
A Swarm of Angels 75
Noting the difficult terrain to be traversed by
creators in the digital age, New York Times Black brow 78
journalist Nancy Ramsey positions the current
Chris Denaro 81
tension between the creator and copyright law:
Digital Fringe (Melbourne
‘Today, anyone armed with a video Fringe Festival) 84
camera and movie-editing software can
make a documentary. But can everyone Following Alexis West 86
afford to make it legally?’
Revver 88
www.nytimes.com/2005/10/16/movies/16rams.html
Sony eyeVio 90
This tension has been manifest for filmmakers
including Jonathan Caouette of Tarnation
VIDEO SLAM: 5 Smiles 92
fame, who originally shot his documentary for VIDEO SLAM 02: Appropriate
approximately $US218, but, was forced to pay Original 94
copyright clearance costs close to $US230,000
when the film’s distribution was subsequently
approved.
licensed report by Patricia Aufderheide and
Similar scenarios unfold in Untold Stories: Peter Jaszi of the Center for Social Media at
Creative Consequences of the Rights Clearance the American University. The multiple barriers
Culture for Documentary Filmmakers (www. to rights clearances processes for documentary
centerforsocialmedia.org/rock/backgrounddocs/ filmmakers are recounted with the caveat that
printable_rightsreport.pdf), a Creative Commons- there is a clear chilling effect to creativity.
 building an
australasian
commons

As Elliott Bledsoe from Creative The operation of Creative Commons

Commons Australia observes, licences has been illustrated in the
Mayer & Bettle animations created by
‘There is a distinct need for Brisbane-based studio Black brow. With
a rights management system the first film describing the distribution
that is flexible enough to allow and use of creative works ‘free and
for quick and easy access to not illegally,’ the sequel outlines the
useable materials but which rights and responsibilities inherent in
is legally sound to appease the creation of artistic works, including
the wider sectors’ copyright collaborative efforts. Released as
concerns. Creative Commons an educational initiative for the 2008
is one such licensing model.’ Queensland University of Technology
Smart Train journey around the State,
In this environment beset by long, costly the film is ready for remix, being
and complicated clearances, Creative licensed under the Creative Commons
Commons presents a clear alternative Attribution 2.5 Australia licence.
in providing up-front permissions. As
Robert Greenwald, director of Outfoxed, Australian filmmakers seeking access
opines: to Creative Commons-licensed stock
are able to avail high-quality digital
‘In making Outfoxed and materials from the Australian Creative
Uncovered, I learned how Resource Online (ACRO) database,
cumbersome and expensive it which offers a range of repurposable
70 can be to license footage from Creative Commons and AEShareNet
news organisations. Creative Free for Education-licensed footage,
Commons licences allow photographs and audio. Director of
me as a filmmaker to know the New Zealand and United States
immediately how I can use a documentary Following Alexis West
piece of content in my films.’ Brian Boyko adheres to a similar
Robert Greenwald in Haughey, M (2004) philosophy of reuse, offering over 20
hours of digitised raw footage under

Big Buck Bunny is the second film from

the Blender Institute (www.blender.
Image: A still from Big Buck Bunny by Blender Institute. Film is CC BY 3.0 Unported,

org), known for making films using

free software. It was release online on
30 May 2008. By June it had had more
than half a million views on Vimeo
http://peach.blender.org/wp-content/uploads/bbb-splash.png

and YouTube and more than

400 000 downloads.

The film is available under a Creative

Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported
licence and comes in a variety of
formats, quality levels and download
points. The film score is also available
for download as MP3 or Ogg files and
is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution-Noncommerical-No
Derivative Works 3.0 Unported licence.

Freeing Footage For All

 creative
commons
case studies

the Creative Commons Attribution- artists and lawyers to create a sound

NonCommercial-Share Alike 3.0 and video work exploring appropriation,
licence to the New Zealand film remixing and the use of public space in
archive, the South Seas Film School, electronic arts.
and the University of Texas School of
Communication Radio-Television-Film Internationally, user creativity is
program for educational purposes, harnessed by the distributed film
as well as providing an online release process of A Swarm of Angels. Initiated
for further historical and other non- by British director Matt Hanson as a
commercial projects. collaborative endeavour to pursue the
production of a science fiction film,
‘Open innovation models ASOA emphasises a ‘ROE’—Return on
recognise that one person’s Entertainment—for its investors, thanks
trash is another person’s to the possibility to download the movie
treasure. There is an inbuilt freely and to re-use or remix part or
asymmetry between the owners whole of the project’s output. Hanson
or custodians of information,
believed it important for the production
and potential users in terms of
crew to receive ‘proper salaries’ indexed
the uses of information and the
value of those uses.’
from market rates based on their
involvement with the feature.
Terry Cutler, 2007, Innovation and
open access to public sector information, p 7
Embracing revenue-sharing business
Brisbane-based animator Chris Denaro models, video-sharing platforms
exemplified by Revver distribute 71
regularly re-uses Creative Commons-
licensed images obtained from Flickr. advertising income to contributors.
His works re-examine the processes Japan’s Sony eyeVio service seeks to
involved in commercial prototyping, with emphasise the benefit for commercial
the integration of Creative Commons enterprises by scrutinising the copyrights
images critically bringing spontaneity of each uploaded video, thereby
and serendipity to his works. assuring the legitimacy of uploaded
content and minimising an organisation’s
Expressing the endless interactivity exposure to risk: unlike a service such
enabled by multimedia, Melbourne’s as YouTube which adopts a ‘wait and
Digital Fringe festival aims to foster see’ approach, eyeVio takes proactive
avant-garde tech-cultural interactions measures to ensure its position as a
and to embrace the ideological concept high-quality video platform.
of open source and shared culture,
knowledge and expertise. Also hosted
at Melbourne’s video lounge Horse
Bazaar, VIDEO SLAM is a hands-
on sound and video event employing
Creative Commons materials for
hybrid arts practitioners. Presented by
Open Channel in association with Film
Victoria, 3RRR, apc.au, Arts Access,
and the Creative Commons Clinic as
part of Arts Law Week, VIDEO SLAM
unites Australian filmmakers, producers,

Creative Commons & Moving Images

 building an
australasian
commons

Australian Creative Resources Online (ACRO)

description: Australian Creative Resources Online (ACRO) is an open resource repository
of reusable digital multimedia materials.

website: www.acro.edu.au

licence used: Creative Commons and AEShareNet Free for Education,

http://www.aesharenet.com.au/FfE2

media: Audio, Images, Video

location: Australia

Overview resource repository, ACRO will

stimulate long-term creative
and cultural capital for creative
The Australian Creative Resource industries.’
Online (ACRO) is an open resource
Rooney & Graham, 2004
repository archiving and storing digital
72 and digitised multimedia materials—
ACRO commenced as an Australian
video clips, digitally drawn images, Research Council (ARC)-funded
photographs, and audio segments—in infrastructure project in 2002, which was
editable formats intended for reuse. further supported by the University of
Emphasising an open framework, ACRO Queensland in 2003.
aims to create a distribution network of
high-quality, low-cost materials which The founding objectives of ACRO have
are either in the public domain or employ been:
open content licences. By offering
streamlined access to content, ACRO ß To develop and provide a
seeks to engage grass-roots creative robust and rapid infrastructure
producers and community media for national research and
organisations, facilitating innovation international collaboration
and creative production without fear across Australia’s creative
of litigation or lengthy rights-clearance industries;
processes. As materials are reused, it is
ß To stimulate Australia’s
hoped that creators and producers re-
broadband content industry,
contribute their content to the archive.
nationally and internationally;
‘In short, by providing ß To provide a rich public
producers, broadcasters, resource for creative
students, teachers, researchers industries research and
and the community with access content production;
to a range of production, ß To develop a resource for
research, and educational productive international
resources around an open research collaborations;

Freeing Footage For All

 creative
commons
case studies

ß To develop innovative Licence Use

classification systems
and associated database ‘ACRO seeks to create a legally
applications for new forms of safe framework for individuals
archive materials; and organisations to work with
multi media resources in an
ß To develop new Intellectual open source environment.’
Property initiatives and Rooney & Graham, 2004
models; and
ß To develop innovative Materials archived on ACRO are
technologies and techniques either believed to be in the public
domain or have been cleared by the
for the development,
copyright owners for use under Creative
production, management, and Commons and AEShareNet Free
delivery of Australia’s cultural for Education licences. The default
products. licence used by ACRO is the Creative
Commons Attribution-NonCommercial
www.tomw.net.au/2002/acra.html
2.0 licence, allowing the remix and reuse
of works for non-commercial purposes.
A prominent output from ACRO has Commercial use must be negotiated with
been the Hot Buttered collection (www. the rights holders.
acro.edu.au/public/control.jsp?term=h
ot+buttered&action=search), offering a For producers, their ability to access
the archive to place resources in it is
selection of Australian surfing videos
governed primarily by their willingness 73
and soundtracks. The spirit of reuse is to place their materials under Creative
at the heart of the Hot Buttered brand: Commons licence arrangements.
the surfboard company takes it name
from Hot Buttered Soul, Isaac Hayes’ ACRO also permits use of AEShareNet
second studio album from 1969, which licences (www.aesharenet.com.au), an
itself begins with a cover of the Burt Australian-based licensing framework
Bacharach and Hal David classic tune
Walk on By. The ACRO project digitised
Hot Buttered’s entire audiovisual
Statistics
catalogue which they agreed to make ACRO’s usage reports show that on the 18 March 2008 the
available under Creative Commons average data transferred per day was approximately 38MB.
licences. Full bandwidth digital copies Below are some key metrics:
were created as an essential step of
the digitisation. Hot Buttered’s founder Successful requests 11 974 (6112)
Terry Fitzgerald took the opportunity to
Average successful requests/day 1027 (873)
repackage the digitised collection and
Successful page requests 6002 (2666)
release it as an anthology: Hot Buttered
Average successful page requests/day 514 (380)
Soul (www.hotbuttered.com.au/soul/
Failed requests 1203 (679)
hb_soul.php), maintaining that ‘surfing
Redirected requests 56 (2)
is art’ (www.hotbuttered.com.au/history.
Distinct files requested 5360 (3664)
php). The film chronicles the evolution
Distinct hosts served: 1344 (966)
of the single-fin surfboard over three-
Data transferred 440.07MB (235.83MB)
and-a-half decades, describing the ‘free
Average data transferred/day 37.75MB (33.69MB)
surfing dream.’
Source: www.acro.edu.au/reports/report.html

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‘The values of openness, novelty, The ACRO archives and

associated online tools are

and innovation are more likely based on an ‘open resource’

philosophy. The central
to translate into economic value organising logic of ACRO is
that open access to high-
in new media than the values of quality content and content
development tools will bring
predictability, highly regulated public and private benefits
in the forms of increased
production, and closed IP cultural activity; increased

regimes on which “mass” media

levels of engagement in
cultural production; increased

models are based.’ intercultural awareness; and

increased economic activity
David Rooney and Phil Graham, ACRO Co-Directors related to cultural production,
distribution, and exchange.
that has been providing standard open
‘By providing a unique and
content licences since 1998. The most
diverse set of resources, and
popular of the AESharenet licences is
by encouraging derivative
the Free for Education licence (www.
and open usage of those
aesharenet.com.au/FfE2), which permits
resources for the production
74 material to be freely used and copied for
of new creative works, ACRO
educational purposes.
will help lay the foundations for
new digital rights management
systems and alternative
Motivations business practices suited to
broadband environments.’
According to a 2004 research paper
presented by ACRO Co-Directors David Underpinning the archive is the ability
Rooney and Phil Graham, ‘Creative to reuse and recycle ‘waste’ materials
Content and Sustainable Community – the leftovers from traditional cultural
Media Organisations: Australian production processes such as ‘cutting-
Creative Resources Online’ (www. room floor’ footage. The Creative
acro.edu.au/acropubs.html), published in Commons licensing framework facilitates
Australian Studies in Journalism (www. the distribution and reapplication of this
uq.edu.au/journ-comm/index.html?page=5 content for groups in the community,
755&pid=5755&ntemplate=578), the main being valuable to film, television, and
assumption underlying the establishment radio producers, musicians, historians,
of the database has been that advertisers, documentary producers,
the IT industries, and ‘anybody wishing
‘The values of openness, novelty, to study, understand, or capitalise upon
and innovation are more likely Australia’s creative potential’ (www.
to translate into economic value tomw.net.au/2002/acra.html).
in new media than the values of
predictability, highly regulated
production, and closed IP
regimes on which “mass” media
models are based.’

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commons
case studies

A Swarm of Angels
description: A Swarm of Angels is a groundbreaking project to create a £1 million film and
give it away to over 1 million people using the Internet and a global community of
members.
website: http://aswarmofangels.com
licence used: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 2.5 Generic, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/
by-nc-sa/2.5
media: Video, Images, Text, Music, Multimedia
location: United Kingdom

Overview As analysed by Oxford Internet Institute

researcher Irene Cassarino, the
ASOA business model was designed
A Swarm of Angels (ASOA) began in
to be ‘a valid new alternative, maybe
January 2006 as the initiative of Matt
more enlightened’ than the Hollywood
Hanson, a 36 year-old visionary director
entertainment world. Hanson objected
based in Brighton, UK. Hanson’s idea to the possibility that ASOA would 75
was to gather people from around the become a massively distributed
world with the desire to take part in a investment opportunity. Instead, he
movie-making process. Participation aimed to attract a host of ‘angels,’ keen
was intended to be ‘creativity/passion/ to give a reasonable amount of their
curiosity’-oriented, as opposed to money to sustain
being focused on profit and ownership. an altogether
Promotional poster for A Swarm of Angels
Distribution of the final film was agreed groundbreaking
to be ‘free’ (in the open culture sense) movie-making
because, in the words of Hanson:

Image: By mattbrighton. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Generic, www.flickr.com/photos/matthanson/248914462

project in return
for having an
‘you can’t control media these opportunity to
days. You need to go with it, become involved
rather than fight it. We’re part in the creative
of the remix generation, with process.
the DIY digital tools to make
our own digital media, whether ASOA is unique
that’s film, music, or whatever.’ in following a
crowd-funded
http://aswarmofangels.com/fund/faq
subscription model.
The minimum
This means that the product is able to subscription fee to
be used, not just consumed, and users participate in the
can watch or remix it. ‘If you look at the experience movie
Greek epics,’ says Hanson, ’the story- was set at £25.
tellers that were recounting their tales Contributors gained
always put their own spin on it.’ exclusive rights

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to participate in the decision-making Likewise, support may come from

process through a web-based polling other opportunities which don’t conflict
system, an online discussion forum and with ASOA general principles, such as
a wiki platform. Hanson adheres to the sponsorship and equipment partnership.
‘one head one vote’ governance rule for
this, uniquely paticipatory environment: It is intended that production crew
‘After all, plenty of films have tried the receive ‘proper salaries’ based on their
“many producers/investors route,” but involvement, and ‘market rates’ for a £1
none have tapped into the wisdom of million feature. Matt Hanson also draws
crowds.’ a salary from the project, having decided
a few months after the project was
Hanson was the first subscriber to launched to concentrate on ASOA and
ASOA on 16 January 2006; the second cancel other work such as upcoming
angel joined on 13 of March 2007. By book projects, consultancy and other
the 7 July 2007, 1000 members had productions. Hanson regularly engages
in promotional events around the
been reached – the second milestone
world like in his recent appearance as
for the project (http://aswarmofangels.
a keynote speaker at the prestigious
com/fund/mission-milestones).
Berlin Film Festival (www.berlinale.de/
en). Nobody else in the community,
The first development phases have now
regardless of the commitment, is directly
been running for approximately two
years. The main outcomes are two draft paid.
scripts (The Unfold and The Ravages),
the trailer and poster for the project,
76
and a poster for The Unfold, while other Licence Usage
outputs are still in the pipeline.
After a consultation process with the
The angels are the initial and primary angels, it was decided that ASOA will
source of funding, but Hanson does not release its end-products to the public
rule out additional funds from media under a Creative Commons Attribution-
companies and distributors who might
Noncommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 licence.
want to broadcast or use film assets
The Share Alike element ensures that
for their own commercial endeavours.
the material is available for
reuse by other filmmakers,
Director Matt Hanson, founder of A Swarm of Angels
while the Noncommercial
option enables the Swarm
to generate revenue
Image: Matt Hanson portrait by mattbrighton, CC BY 2.0 Unported, www.flickr.com/

by offering a separate
remunerated licence to
commercially exploit the
created movie, e.g. by
screening it in a movie
theatre or showing it on TV.
This ensures word-of-mouth
promotion is unrestricted,
whilst providing a guarantee
photos/matthanson/137540848

that no commercial entity

can appropriate the benefits
of the project without
remunerating the creative
community.

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Most contributors to
ASOA publish their ‘I believe building a feature film from
creations on their
own websites or on the ground up to be ready for remixing,
a website provided
by Hanson for the easy to view, ready to share, and
streaming of big files
and publish the link perfect for download is the way to go’
in the ASOA forum.
Matt Hanson, http://aswarmofangels.com/fund/faq
When contributing
media content to dangerous: they argued that money
ASOA the contributing member has to should always come upfront from angels
agree to a ‘Media Release Statement’ and should be directly related to a
in which they grant a non-exclusive specific project ‘so that interested people
license (subject to attribution) for their could fund artistic people to generate
contribution ‘to be used as part of the A interesting work and all of our lives can
Swarm of Angels project.’ Without such be enriched by the result’ (JoeK).
an open licence, it would become almost
impossible to track rights related to the The core unresolved questions ASOA is
different contributions. facing are:

ß Which aspects of the

Motivations production and financial
model should differ from the 77
The ASOA slogan is ‘Remixing Cinema’: traditional cinema 1.0 system?
the project aims to empower not only
ß How to position ASOA
creators actively engaged with the
ASOA community, but to every creator with respect to other open
within or beyond the bounds of the business frameworks (eg
‘Swarm’ in the present and in the future those used in software
by releasing a movie which actively production);
invites remixing. In order to govern and ß Whether to allow any
protect this vision, a particular set of additional money from
Creative Commons licences has been commercial exploitation of the
chosen. CC is an integral part of the original project to be injected
identity of the project. When surveyed into future projects.
via questionnaire, 70% of ASOA’s top
contributors agreed or strongly agreed
that ‘Creative Commons Licenses For a deeper analysis of organisational
enable creativity.’ and legal issues involved, please see
Irene Cassarino and Wolf Richter’s
Nevertheless, the Creative Commons’ paper ‘Swarm Creativity - The Legal
Noncommercial licensing option and Organizational Challenger of Open
has been controversial. While Matt Content Film Production’ (www.dime-
Hanson did not want corporations to eu.org/wp14/conferences/creative-
gain from ASOA without contributing industries) by which was presented at
remuneration, several angels objected the Dynamics of Institutions and Markets
that the generation of income (even for in Europe (DIME) conference on the
future productions) should not be part Creative Industries and Intellectual
of the model, because it was potentially Property on 22 May 2008 in London.

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Black brow
description: Black brow is a filmmaking duo based in Brisbane, Australia whose productions
include the Creative Commons Australia animations that feature Mayer and Bettle.
website: www.blackbrow.com
licence used: Black brow’s films: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 2.5 Australia, http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/au, Mayer & Bettle: CC BY-SA 2.1
Australia, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.1/au, Mayer & Bettle 2: CC
BY 2.5 Australia, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/au
media: Moving Images
location: Brisbane, Australia

Overview In 2005, Black brow was commiss-

ioned by Elliott Bledsoe from Creative
Commons Australia to create a short
Black brow is a Brisbane-based
animation explaining how CC licences
collaborative filmmaking organisation operate. Actor Dash Kruck, voice of
established by Pete Foley and Chris Mayer, and Elliott developed the script
78 Perren, specialists in video and audio which was bought to life on screen by
production. Operating under the brand Pete and Chris.
‘Black brow makes films,’ Pete and
Chris have completed four animations The film was commissioned to be
which are featured on their site. Their part of the Queensland University
most recent, 3xSuper Robot Heartbreak of Technology’s Smart Train (www.
(www.blackbrow.com/movies/3xSRH. train.qut.edu.au) which departed from
mov), features the ‘FT Work 9000,’ Brisbane on 15 May 2005 on a five-
‘Ignoramatron’ and ‘Me!me!me!bot’ week journey around 24 regional and
robots who wreak havoc in a town. rural centres in Queensland including
Three brave kids stand up to the Mt Isa, Bundaberg, Rockhampton,
mechanical threat, showing them Maryborough and Mitchell. The result of
two months of collaboration was Mayer
the impact of their destruction, which
and Bettle (www.creativecommons.
ultimately helps the robots to amend
org.au/animation_train), a wonderfully
their ways.
engaging explanation of how to
Bettle gets an education on how to use Creative Commons download music ‘for free and not
illegally.’ Screened at numerous
Image: Still from Mayer and Bettle. CC BY-SA 2.5 Australia,

CC events worldwide, including

http://creativecommons.org.au/mayerandbettle

the inaugural CCau ccSalon (http://

creativecommons.org.au/ccsalon) in
November 2006 and CC’s fifth birthday
party celebrations in Berlin in December
2007, the film has been translated into
French, German and Hebrew thanks
to the CC licence permitting derivative
works.

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Since its online debut on 13 May 2005, a dedicated education

Images: Stills from 3x Super Robot Heartbreak. CC BY-NC-ND 2.5 Australia, http://www.blackbrow.com/movies/3xSRH.mov
the film has been downloaded more than division and exploration
5,000 times via the Creative Commons into complimentary
Australia website. During the inaugural licensing options are
international Creative Commons just some of the key
fundraising drive (http://support. developments.’
creativecommons.org.au) Creative http://ccelliott.blogspot.
Commons Australia donated the film com/2007/12/mayer-bettle-
to the cause by uploading it to Revver sequel.html
(www.revver.com/video/94724/cc-mayer-
and-bettle-animation) where it has been According to prominent
viewed almost 6,000 times. All revenue Australian blogger and
generated through Revver is contributed new media academic at
to the international Creative Commons the University of Western
initiative. The film is also available for Australia, Tama Leaver,
viewing online at EngageMedia (www. ‘It’s another fine effort
engagemedia.org/Members/elliottb/ from CCau, making CC
videos/ccau-medium.mov/view) and licenses understandable and
YouTube (www.youtube.com). accessible to a general (non-
lawyerish) audience!’ (www.
Given the global success of the first tamaleaver.net/2008/04/20/
film, when the QUT Smart Train mayer-and-bettle-are-back).
initiative started up again in early
2008, and the possibility of a sequel Like the original film,
arose, Elliott returned to Pete and Mayer and Bettle 2 is
hosted on Revver (http://
79
Chris to commission Mayer and Bettle
2 (http://creativecommons.org.au/ revver.com/video/854735/
mayerandbettle2), this time as a co- mayer-and-bettle-2)
production by Black brow and Brisbane- as part of the Creative
boutique film production company Commons fundraising
InVision Media (www.invisionmedia. campagn (http://support.
com.au). Elliott and Dash developed the creativecommons.org/
initial script which was further refined videos). It is also available
by Jessica Coates and Rachel Cobcroft online at EngageMedia
from Creative Commons Australia. (www.engagemedia.org/
The film engaged the same voice Members/elliottb/videos/
actors—Dash Kruck as the voice of ccaumayerbettle.mov/view)
Mayer and Mem Rynne as the voice of and YouTube (www.youtube.
Bettle— to play the infamous characters, com/watch?v=YevIezOe4hk).
and Leisa Pratt to do the voice of the
newest character, Flick, Bettle’s ‘fan and
collaborator.’
Licence Usage
Here is what Mayer had to say during
production of the new film: The Mayer and Bettle
animation was released Screen shots from 3x Super
‘“Much has changed since under the CC Attribution- Robot Heartbreak, the latest
we shot the first film,” Mayer ShareAlike 2.1 Australia animation released by Pete Foley
said, “Which is why Bettle and licence. Its script (http:// and Chris Perren from Black brow.
I are getting back in front of creativecommons.org. They are the filmmaking duo who
the camera.” Tightening of the au/materials/ccau-train- produced both Mayer and Bettle
licences, expanded metadata, script.doc) (Microsoft animations for Creative
Commons Australia.

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 building an
australasian
commons ‘Creative Commons is
Word format) and
like having 100,000 free
Images: Stills from Mayer and Bettle 2, CC BY 2.5 Australia,
http://creativecommons.org.au/mayerandbettle2

source files (http://

creativecommons.
publicity officers.’
org.au/materials/ Peter Foley, Animator, Black brow
CC-AU_ANIM_
SRC.zip) (100MB, The script (http://creativecommons.org.
Moho and AIFF format) are au/materials/ccau-mab2-script.doc)
also available for reuse and (Microsoft Word format) and source
modification. files (http://creativecommons.org.au/
materials/CC-AU_ANIM_2_SRC.zip)
The sequel, Mayer and are available on the Creative Commons
Bettle 2 is licensed under Australia website.
the Creative Commons
Attribution 2.5 Australia Black brow host a number of other
films on their website, all of which, with
licence. The full video can
the exclusion of two films, Water and
be downloaded in high-
Waste, which were commissioned and
resolution Flash format
are owned by the Logan City Council,
ready for redistribution and are available under the site’s blanket
remix from the Creative licence, Creative Commons Attribution-
Commons Australia website Noncommercial-No Derivative Works
(http://creativecommons.org. 2.5 Australia licence. Pete’s blog, Pete
au/mayerandbettle2). uses biro (http://iusebiro.blogspot.com),
features a series of his illustrations
80 At the end of the film’s and animations. It is licensed under
credit roll, the Attribution CC Attribution-Noncommercial-No
Licence Badge is displayed, Derivative Works 2.5 Generic licence.
accompanied by the
following notice:
Motivations
‘This animation film,
the associated script, Black brow has gained international
musical score and attention, as well as several job offers,
all other associated from their involvement with Creative
copyright is licensed Commons. ‘Creative Commons helped
under a Creative us reach markets we never considered
Commons Attribution were possible to reach for us at this
2.5 Australia licence. early stage in our careers,’ observes
You are free to copy, Chris Perren (www.anat.org.au/pages/
communicate and adapt forumspubs/FilterArchive/Filter61_
this work, so long as WEB.pdf). Pete Foley adds, ‘Creative
you attribute Creative Commons is like having 100,000 free
Commons Australia. publicity officers. You get heaps of
Where using individual
people watching your film because no
In Mayer and Bettle 2, the kooky elements, please
one is scared of being arrested because
duo returns, but this time take a attribute the relevant
of it.’
different approach, discussing creators as well. For
the utility of Creative Commons more details on terms of
for creators. They also explore this licence, see http://
the latest initiatives from Creative creativecommons.org/
Commons and the licences as a licenses/by/2.5/au.’
tool for collaboration.

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case studies

Chris Denaro
description: Chris Denaro is an Australian animator who examines industrial processes of
prototyping, incorporating Creative Commons materials into his animations to bring
spontaneity and serendipity to his works.

website: www.chrisdenaro.com

licence used: Creative Commons BY-SA 2.0, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0

media: Moving Images

location: Brisbane, Australia

Overview were reconfigured in Photoshop and

mobilised through loops within Flash,
Chris Denaro is a Brisbane-based whereupon they were projected onto the
animator who creates multimedia exhibition space floor. The exposure the
artworks and installations incorporating pieces gained was significant: iDAP’s
and taking inspiration from Creative audience literally walked through the 81
Commons-licensed material. In August work to enter the exhibition.
– September 2007, Chris was the artist-
in-residence at The Vernacular Terrain ‘The creative process
(www.artmuseum.qut.edu.au/exhibit/ incorporated the act of
acquiring Creative Commons
news-event.jsp?news-event-id=11583),
content from
an exhibition exploring environmental,
Flickr as a type A still from Prototype24 by Chris Denaro
political and cultural place through of spontaneous
installations of interactive media, and reflexive
initiated by the International Digital Arts

Image: Still from Prototype 24 by Chris Denaro. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 Generic, http://chrisdenaro.com/
direction for the
Project (iDAP) (http://www.idaprojects. work to take.’
org). Here, Chris developed a new work Chris Denaro
every 72 hours, reusing images found
through Flickr’s Creative Commons
Chris recently
advanced search (http://flickr.com/
completed a
search/advanced) in a spontaneous
and reflexive process, creating new Master of Arts
objects from found images, particularly (Research) at the
of curvilinear consumer goods, termed Creative Industries
‘Blobjects’ by Bruce Sterling (www. Faculty (www.
boingboing.net/images/blobjects.htm). creativeindustries.
The reconstituted shapes, reminiscent qut.edu.au),
of Japanese Chindogu ‘a bizarre Qeensland
movies/prototype24.mov

collection of gadgets and gizmos University of

that… almost serve a useful purpose’ Technology
(http://website.lineone.net/~sobriety), in which he

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commons

described the creation over three weeks he directed the art

Images: (Top to Bottom) Stills from animations Prototype5, Prototype17,
Prototype16 and Prototype11 by Chris Denaro. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 Generic.

of these process-driven classes for Year 10 students, requiring

animations, contrasting them to create their own interpretations
traditional industrial design of Blobjects and consumer items
methodologies. His exegesis using the process he had previously
‘traces a path through the demonstrated and described.
production of an animated
work, and discusses the
evolution of an individual Licence Usage
production workflow that
reconfigures the industrial Through his practice-led research,
animation process of Chris developed a ‘reflexive process
prototyping.’ that included mise en place, Creative
Commons and environmental influences
During this time Chris as ingredients.’ Chris explains in his
developed KIB105: exegesis:
Animation and Motion
Graphics, a QUT Creative ‘The source materials I gather
Industries unitdelivered to are licensed under Creative
100 undergraduates and Commons, which is a new type
of copyright contract, designed
nine postgraduates which
for sharing and modifying
required students to make
creative content. The author
82 1 - 2 minute animations of a work can allow others the
for their final assessment. right to create derivative works
Source material used by based on their content. Rather
the students had to be than “all rights reserved,” the
available under a Creative Creative Commons mantra is
Commons licence. Equally, “some rights reserved”.’
students’ final work had to
also be licensed under CC. Using Flickr’s Creative Commons
In reflecting on the running material (www.flickr.com/
of the unit, Chris observed creativecommons), discovered through
that a better outcome the advanced search mechanism,
would have been to present allowed Chris to source the images he
students’ final assessment required for his innovative, spontaneous
online under the students’ prototyping processes. Chris was
choosen licence, giving the careful to select images which were
material a life beyond the licensed to allow derivative works,
classroom. given his practice of disassembly and
reassembly of objects.
Chris is currently artist-in-
These stills are from Dialogues residence at Metro Arts
with the Protoype, a series of (www.metroarts.com.au) Motivations
looped animation films by Chris in Brisbane’s CBD. He
Denaro. Each short uses elements Creative Commons licensing enabled
has previously been artist-
from Creative Commons licensed Chris to incorporate spontaneity into
Flickr images reassembled to
in-residence at Brisbane
Grammar School, where his animation workflow, utilising the
present new perspectives on the
original subject matter.

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case studies

advanced Flickr CC filtering tool to

gather source materials and take
inspiration from the images thereby
discovered. Additionally, Chris followed
‘The process of starting
Flickr’s folksonomy (www.flickr.com/ from chaos, with an array of
Creative Commons images as
photos/tags), generating ideas through
clicking on related tags:

‘There were untagged images, my ingredients, and allowing

and mis-tagged, and probably
the most important for me was the form to emerge, excited
the links to further tags. I would
search for pipes and plumbing, and challenging me.’
and find some images to
use as source, but then the Chris Denaro
author could have other more
obscure tags to use as a further ‘The individuals who succeed
search, or else they had other in the creative economy speak
images which were related. a different language. They
value novelty above repetition.
Out of interest, say, pipes
They are more often intuitive
and plumbing, mixed with car
than rational, more subjective
yards, mixed with holidays in
than objective. They regard
Spain at the waterfront. All of
mistakes as a useful learning
these images had photos of 83
process, necessary for
pipes which I could use, but
success.’
there was no way of finding
Howkins in Macken 2007, p 97
a connection between these
unless by chance and long hard
searching and browsing.’

After spending many sessions online

browsing materials and downloading
images, whereupon he would take his
ideas as a group to be incorporated into
the creative process, Chris observed in
relation to Creative Commons:

‘This adds spontaneity and

serendipity to the work,
as the source material is
unpretentious, fresh and
unpredictable.’

Proclaiming the importance of re-

examining the creative process through
conscious, structured reflection and
analysis, Chris quotes John Howkins,
author of The Creative Economy:

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Digital Fringe (Melbourne Fringe Festival)

description: Part of the Melbourne Fringe Festival, Digital Fringe is dedicated to showcasing the
use of digital screen-based technology in the arts.

website: http://digitalfringe.com.au

licence used: Copyright, PD and Various Creative Commons 2.5 Australia and 3.0 Unported
licences

media: Interactive Media, Animation, Audio, Video, Images, Text

location: Australia

Overview unique immersive video projection

environment), DF exhibits its works
during the festival in three ways: the
Broadcast across the city of Melbourne
General Stream, Interact, and the Mobile
using screens, projections and the web,
Digital Fringe (DF) showcases digital Projection Unit (MPU).
84 art and ‘interactive media shenanigans
from a gaggle of local media artists’ The general stream is a continual
(http://digitalfringe.com.au/?q=node/17) playlist of digital art projected across
and international artists as part of the screens and surfaces in galleries,
annual Melbourne Fringe Festival (www. public spaces (such as the Federation
melbournefringe.com.au). Square plaza screen), entertainment
and hospitality venues, cyberspace and
The festival aims to foster avant-garde city iHubs. The Interact exhibit utilises
tech-cultural interactions and embraces mobile phones and Internet technologies
the ideological concept of open source to create an interactive creative platform
and shared culture, knowledge and for digital artists. As part of the general
expertise. call for submissions, artists can present
interactive digital art projects for inclusion
Managed by digital arts bar in an ‘amorphous mobile phone
Horse Bazaar (renowned for its interactive piece’ (http://digitalfringe.com.
au/?q=node/23). Interact
links data sent from
‘The flexibility and accessibility that mobile phones directly into
artworks displayed through
Creative Commons provides really participating screens
across Melbourne and the
opens the options for artists about DF website.

how they want their creations to The Mobile Protection

Unit (MPU) is a van
continue their cultural life’ travelling through the
streets on the evenings
Simeon Moran, Digital Fringe Co-producer

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case studies

of the festival. Guest artist

Image: Still from Arctic Sanctuary by ENESS, CC BY-NC 3.0 Unported, http://digitalfringe.
programmers interact with the
architectural nuances of the
city by projecting their playlist
onto nearby buildings. GPS
positioning and projections
from the van are monitored
in real time alongside
video hook-ups with the
programmers. Internet users
can also use text via SMS to
interact with the MPU.

com.au/?q=node/255
Licence Usage
Artists uploading content to
the DF website can select Part of multi-disciplinary design team ENESS immersive project Arctic Sanctuary
from the full range of licences in QV Square, Melbourne
- from traditional ‘all rights
reserved copyright and 15% no rights
reserved’ to a public domain dedication.
reserved public domain). The positive
However, in order to maximise the
response has encouraged the DF team
interactive and remix elements of the
to develop future exhibitions to include
festival while retaining their copyright, 85
remix activities, and take advantage of
participants are encouraged to select
the creative potential facilitated by the
a ‘some rights reserved’ Creative
CC licences.
Commons licence. As an extra condition
the artist must agree to their works
being screened during the festival and
for the promotion of Digital Fringe; Motivations
however, copyright in each work remains
with the artist in entirety. When it came to licensing this project,
the DF team believed Creative
At present the uptake of Creative Commons licences were the most
Commons licences by artists on the DF appropriate and flexible option,
website demonstrates an enthusiasm considering the ethos behind DF and its
for the licences matched by the Digital innovative use of digital technology and
Fringe organisers. art. From an ideological standpoint, they
were keen to push the concept of open
“We think CC is great – there source and shared culture, knowledge
seems to have been a really and expertise, but also understood the
good uptake from artists need for culture creators to reserve
submitting works to DF so it some of their rights in certain situations.
obviously is attractive to artists For this reason artists were encouraged
as well” to license their works with any form of
Simeon Moran, Digital Fringe co-producer CC licensing that suited their particular
needs. Creative Commons licences
It is estimated that around 75% of works could then both facilitate the exhibition
have been published under Creative and help keep DF content open for
Commons (with 10% selecting all rights alternate creative uses.

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Following Alexis West

description: Following Alexis West is a documentary film which examines the effect of New
Zealand’s switch to a proportional representation system has had on its politics and
culture since 1996.
website: www.blogphilo.com/main/?page_id=9
licence used: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
media: Film, Moving Images
location: New Zealand, United States of America

Overview are conducted with prominent New

Zealand politicians, political scientists,
The documentary film Following Alexis media figures, bloggers, and ‘just
West chronicles the effects that New plain old folks in the pub,’ with a view
Zealand’s switch to a proportional to gaining insights into the success
86 representation voting system has had of the proportional representation
on its culture and politics since 1996. voting structure, and ultimately what
Mirroring the journey taken by French the relationship is between NZ’s
political theorist and lawyer Alexis de parliamentary system and its people.
Tocqueville to America to examine the On the eve of the 2008 US Presidential
workings of democracy in the early elections, Boyko seeks to derive
nineteenth century, which culminated Promotional poster for Following Alexis West
in the writing of De la démocratie en
Amérique (Democracy in America), the
Image: Used with permission by mattbrighton. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Generic, www.flickr.com/photos/
film’s producer Brian Boyko travels to
New Zealand from the United States
to document the country’s political
and cultural achievements. The
documentary examines the way in
which New Zealand’s reconfigured
voting structure may serve to
prevent ‘gerrymandering, negative
campaigning, civic disengagement,
and undue influence of powerful
lobbies, as well as taking a look at
problems with democracy in New
Zealand that [are believed not to exist]
in America, like restrictions on satire
matthanson/248914462

and film classification’ (www.blogphilo.

com/main/?page_id=9). Interviews

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 creative
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case studies

invaluable lessons for his homeland,

asking ‘Where in the world do you
Motivations
find Democracy?’ Specifically, Boyko Following Alexis West producer Brian
is seeking answers to whether the Boyko says that he accepts Creative
proportional representation system Commons as a normal, ordinary part
provides a fair compromise between of the day-to-day functioning of the
conflicting interest groups, and whether web. Inspired by the release of Cory
governments formed in New Zealand Doctorow’s writing under Creative
are stable and able to govern effectively. Commons, and the Flickr licence
To date, 28 hours of footage have been integration, Boyko believes his work
shot in Auckland and Wellington, New should be open to anyone who is willing
Zealand, and are in the process of being to use it fairly.
digitised and uploaded. Secondary
‘If a kid wants to remix Sir
shooting in Austin, Texas, is to follow, Geoffrey Palmer into a rap
with post-production to be complete battle with Eminem, best of luck
by March 2008. This will allow the to him. Creative Commons is
documentary to be submitted to North great because I don’t have to
American and European film festivals say up front who -can- use the
material. Anyone can use the
from April 2008. material with the guidelines
provided; if you want to step
outside the guidelines, well, it’s
Licence Usage possible, but we need to talk
about that.’
87
Following Alexis West is being produced Email interview with Brian Boyko by
Rachel Cobcroft, 28 December 2007
independently, and will seek distributors
for the film’s commercial release. The
On the issue of the implementation of
documentary project involves the Creative Commons licences, Boyko
production of three separate end- believes that their structure is simple
formats: a 90-minute feature, released and straightforward. If problems arise,
to American and European film festivals; he believes, it is due to education:
a 56-minute New Zealand-only separate
edit ‘By Popular Demand’; and over ‘People often labour under
20 hours of raw footage. According the delusion that everything is
to Boyko, the digitised raw footage “all rights reserved” or anyone
can take it and use it, and that
will most likely be released under there’s no middle ground.’
the Creative Commons Attribution-
NonCommercial-Share Alike 3.0 licence, Importantly, Boyko believes that Creative
whereby it will be offered to the New Commons greatly increases the utility of
Zealand film archive, the South Seas a creator’s works:
Film School, and the University of
Texas School of Communication Radio- ‘There’s a chance Following
Television-Film program for educational Alexis West might rot in my
purposes, as well as released online attic, unloved and unsold. But
even if the main work is a
for further historical and other non- failure (and it’s my first movie,
commercial projects. In addition, Boyko so it might well be!) if there
hopes to utilise the new CC+ licence is a derivative utility to which
for commercial use for non-share-alike my work can be used, I want
projects. people to be able to do so.’

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Revver
description: Revver self-describes as being ‘a powerful platform and suite of tools for serving
and sharing media’ whilst forming a community of video lovers and artists who
share in the site’s profits through its advertising structure.
website: www.revver.com
licence used: Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 2.5 Generic,
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5
media: Video
location: Global

Overview and distributed via any method—

website, email, P2P—without losing the
advertisement. Revver software reports
Revver is a video-sharing platform
back to the main website every time
deploying an innovative business
the embedded ad is clicked irrespective
model with hyperdistribution as its core.
of location, prompting the advertiser
88 Differentiating itself from competitor
to be charged a micropayment. The
YouTube by offering per-view revenue,
platform shares the associated revenue
the platform takes advantage of peer-
with the owner of the video on a 50/50
to-peer distribution mechanisms
basis. Revver’s users are able to track
for sharing its hosted videos. When
their video’s performance, monitoring
a user uploads a video to Revver,
how many times the video has been
customised software inserts a brief,
viewed, and the amount of revenue
unobtrusive advertisement at the end
accruing. Sharers are able to earn 20%
of the video stream. At this point, the
of ad revenue for forwarding the videos.
‘Revverised’ video can be downloaded
Revver is therefore founded on the ‘free
Revver homepage, July 2008 and unlimited sharing of content online
in an environment where the creator is
rewarded for his/her work.’

Licence Usage
‘Copyright is complicated stuff.
Our position on it is pretty
simple.’
www.revver.com/go/copyright

Revver’s business model is particularly

noteworthy as it aims to take the
wide-spread sharing of copyright
material that occurs online and turn

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case studies

it into an asset, rather than a reason

for litigation. The site uses Creative
Motivations
Commons BY-NE-ND licences to permit
Recognised as an early adopter of
users to distribute their content (with
next-generation business models,
embedded advertising) verbatim for
Revver is underpinned by the belief that
non-commercial purposes. The only
‘a free and open, democratized media
additional requirement is that the creator
environment is good for everyone. Our
of the video is attributed alongside
goal is to empower video makers and
Revver as host. This revenue-raising
sharers to do what they do best’
strategy not only permits widespread
(www.revver.com/go/faq).
distribution; it relies on it—the more
people who see the video, the more
Support for the balance in copyright
money both the site and the creator earn. law, and alternative options including
Adherence to copyright law is an Creative Commons is further evidenced
important issue for Revver. All uploaded in Revver’s support for open-source
videos are reviewed by a human before communities. Revver acknowledges
being made available online. Reviewers that they have built their products with
look for copyright violations, fraudulent a number of open-source software
tagging, and any inappropriate content projects including Python, Twisted,
which would violate the site’s member mySQL, PostgreSQL, Xen, Java, PHP,
agreement (www.revver.com/go/tou), Apache, Lighttpd, and Django
such as content deemed obscene or (www.revver.com/go/faq/#api1).
hateful. If the site’s reviewers detect In return, Revver has made the
possible copyright violations, the ‘ActiveRevver’ and ‘Sparkline’ pieces
uploader is emailed, and asked to of software available for usage, 89
document their ownership of the item modification, and distribution under
in question, be it the video footage, the MIT licence. Developed by the
background music or other content. Massachussetts Institute of Technology,
Revver’s copyright statement the MIT licence is a permissive licence
(www.revver.com/go/copyright) declares: which means that the software can be
used as a basis for further development
‘At Revver, we staunchly
without any real restrictions. (This
support copyright laws. Our
mission and business is goes further than CC BY because
firmly rooted in the idea that the licence does not require explicit
artists deserve to control attribution.) Revver’s Developer Centre
and be rewarded from their (http://developer.revver.com) provides
intellectual property. We access to the Application Programming
also believe strongly in the Interface (API), involving software
protections provided by the developers in the enhancement of the
doctrine of Fair Use, which is platform.
part of US copyright law, and
to comparable protections Given the sharing and fundraising
provided under the copyright
capabilities offered by Revver, Creative
laws in other jurisdictions.
Commons used the platform during
While it is impossible to draw a
hard and fast line between what its initial fall fundraising campaign in
is Fair Use and what is not, we 2006 (http://creativecommons.org/
understand that we are living in weblog/entry/6125) with the video
a remix culture and we support Wanna Work Together (http://support.
an open media environment creativecommons.org/videos#wwt).
that allows creators to lawfully Subsequently they have uploaded a
build on the work of earlier number of films on Revver, including
creators.’ both Mayer and Bettle films.

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Sony eyeVio
description: Sony’s eyeVio is an Internet and mobile service in Japan that provides a high-
quality video-sharing platform for people to share videos with family and friends.
website: http://eyevio.jp
licence used: Various Creative Commons licences
media: Video
location: Japan

Overview recommended videos and channels. A

key feature of eyeVio is the ability to
Sony eyeVio is an Internet and mobile connect directly with Sony hardware
service in Japan that offers high- devices, such as mobile phones,
quality videos for friends and families the PSP and Sony video Walkmen.
90 to upload and share. Described by Highlighting interoperability, users are
Sony CEO Sir Howard Stringer as able to upload files in a wide variety of
a primary element in the company’s formats, and are able to specify who can
‘quiet software revolution’ (www.dtg.org. view their content, and how long a video
uk/news/news.php?id=2402), eyeVio will remain available on the service.
strategically complements
Unlike most video-sharing sites such
Images: (Top to Bottom) Stills from Episode 2 of the short film series あしたのモモ, http://eyevio.jp/movie/120188

existing Sony Group assets

and businesses. Launched as YouTube, which relies on a policy of
on 29 April 2007 as a ‘wait-and-see,’ eyeVio’s staff monitor
Japanese-language video- and review every upload to the site and
sharing platform, the eyeVio delete any material they consider to be
site makes use of DHTML, in breach of copyright laws. This is a
AJAX, and a selection significant selling point for businesses
of web 2.0 techniques, in assuring the legitimacy of the content,
with content divided into thereby minimising their exposure to risk.

Licence Usage
The eyeVio licence selector gives the
uploader the ability to choose between
all six of the Creative Commons
licences, as well as standard all rights
reserved copyright. eyeVio’s approach to
let users directly apply the six Creative

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case studies

Commons licences to their videos makes flexible copyright options to manage the
transferring videos between multiple distribution of their content to take better
devices a worry-free experience. advantage of new business models based
on the building of reputation and audience
The site’s software also uses the licence through recommen-dations and word-of-
choice to determine the appropriate mouth.
functionality for each video, so that only
those videos under a Creative Commons
licence can be downloaded. This avoids
the legal uncertainty that surrounds
so much of the downloadable material
available online, and ensures that both
creators and downloaders are clear on
how the material may be used.

Motivations
Integrating Creative Commons into
eyeVio has helped solve the copyright
management issue faced by many user-
generated content services. Creative
91
Commons provides eyeVio with a tool
to give media consumers the freedom
to take content across devices while
maintaining the rights for media producers
to keep control of their creations. As
Sir Howard Stringer puts it: ‘It’s an
opportunity to transmit user-generated
video anywhere you want to, anytime
to anybody, in a protected environment’
(http://www.dtg.org.uk/news/news.
php?id=2402). This gives eyeVio an
advantage over other similar sites, which
only allow limited functionality (such as
embedding in blogs) or ‘lock’ downloads
to particular devices.

This enables eyeVio to embrace the web

2.0 values of portability and flexibility.
This increases the appeal of the site
to, for example, advertisers, who wish
to ensure that their content is viewed
by the maximum number people. It
also increases the utility of the site
for video creators, who can use its

Creative Commons & Moving Images

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VIDEO SLAM: 5 Smiles

description: VIDEO SLAM was an experiment in time-limited, collaborative, open-licensing film
production.
website: http://openchannel.org.au/blogs/videoslam
licence used: Final film: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 2.5 Australia, http://creativecommons.
org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/au; incorporated elements: BY, BY-NC and BY-NC-SA
material
media: Video
location: Melbourne, Australia

Overview emphasis on the moving image’ (www.

pdf.anat.org.au/Filters/Filter65_This is
Inspired by Open Channel’s Free Screen not Open Source.pdf).
Culture forum at Arts Law Week Victoria
2006 (http://creativecommons.org/ Held over a period of 48 hours from
92 weblog/entry/5897) and the international 10am Sunday May 13 to 8pm Monday
iSummit 2006 (http://icommons.org/ May 14, 2007 at digital arts bar Horse
isummit06) held in Rio de Janeiro, Bazaar (www.horsebazaar.com.au) in
VIDEO SLAM was a key event during Melbourne, the inaugural VIDEO SLAM
Arts Law Week Victoria 2007 which incorporated the artistic efforts of 22
attempted to discover, first-hand, how filmmakers, writers, programmers,
practical Creative sound artists and videographers.
Commons really Working in five groups, the creators
is for creative ‘slammed out’ a 10-minute digital
collaboration. short largely from content under
Through Creative Commons found online.
Image: A still from 5 Smiles, CC BY-NC-SA 2.5 Australia, www.engagemedia.org/Members/

observing Rights management was not the only

filmmakers restriction; however, the teams also had
engaged in to respond to the themes of tolerance,
sampling inclusion, diversity, freedom, and
works within a access. The result of this effort was a
production, the film titled 5 Smiles (www.engagemedia.
org/Members/openchannel/videos/
openchannel/videos/oc_5smiles_transcoded.avi/view

team could see

how CC licences oc_5smiles_transcoded.avi/view),
could be ‘utilised which incorporated over 110 Creative
within a cross- Commons-licensed works including
arts production photographs, video footage, sound
environment. effects and music tracks.
Not one, but
many samples With observations of the event blogged
with a particular live by VIDEO SLAM producer Andrew

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case studies

Garton, in the journal entry ‘Slam goes

on…’ (http://openchannel.org.au/blogs/
Motivations
videoslam/?p=23) on Monday 14 May
Andrew Garton, who was interested in
2007 he writes:
the useability of open content material,
initiated the VIDEO SLAM event to
‘It’s incredible how we managed
test Creative Commons practical
to find just about everything we
needed, right down to obscure
application. Importantly, he envisaged
cables and adaptors, tripods, a new work which would be shared
extra cameras and mice, according to the same licences from
computers and torches… we which the content was sourced, thus
borrowed, shared… shared! giving back to the community from
Everyone was so totally cool, which the material came and creating
supportive, encouraging, calm a vibrant cultural domain for Australian
and inventive!’ artists. Importantly, the artists needed to
understand the licensing system:

Licence Usage ‘Despite, or perhaps because

of, the steep learning curve
‘Because some CC material the VIDEO SLAM proved to
has restrictions on how it can be an extremely valuable
be licensed once it has been experience for all involved.
remixed, the licence chosen All the filmmakers involved
for the final product would went away with a much better
determine what content can understanding of their licensing 93
be used in the film. Reliable and content options in the
sources of CC material had to digital age.’
be located, to make sure their Elliott Bledsoe and Jessica Coates,
material was compatible with Filter 65: This is not Open Source
this licence.’
Elliott Bledsoe and Jessica Coates, As observed by Andrew Garton
Filter 65: This is not Open Source in the wrap-up to the event (http://
openchannel.org.au/blogs/
On advice from Elliott Bledsoe and videoslam/?cat=7):
Jessica Coates of the Creative
Commons Clinic, it was decided that ‘This project would not have
the VIDEO SLAM production would been possible had it not been
be released under CC’s most popular for the participation of the
licence, the Attribution-Noncommercial- Creative Commons Clinic team
ShareAlike 2.5 Australia licence his who teamed up with OPEN
meant that video slammers were able CHANNEL and worked with
to use any material released under CC us and our team of artists
Attribution, Attribution-Noncommercial to ensure all content was
and Attribution-Noncommercial-Share accurately attributed.’
Alike licences. Although this excluded
material from some popular sites, it
would give the filmmakers access to the
largest possible pool of contents. The
film also incorporated material shot by
the filmmakers in and around Melbourne
for the event.

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VIDEO SLAM 02: Appropriate Original

description: VIDEO SLAM 02: Appropriate Original was an experiment in time-limited,
collaborative, open-licensing film production in response to the first VIDEO SLAM
event.
website: www.openchannel.org.au/artslaw
licence used: Final CC Films: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 2.5 Australia,
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/au; incorporated elements: BY,
BY-NC and BY-NC-SA
media: Video, Audio
location: Australia

Overview are guided through the processes of

designing and creating a short film
over a 48-hour workshop held at
Following the success of VIDEO
Horse Bazaar, Melbourne’s digital arts
SLAM’s 2007 debut, OPEN CHANNEL
bar. The results were screened at the
presented the second collaborative
VIDEO SLAM Forum, where they were
94 film project as part of Arts Law Week
also re-appropriated into the VIDEO
Victoria 2008: VIDEO SLAM 02:
SLAM live remix event. There a panel
Appropriate Original (http://wiki.apc.
of hybrid arts practitioners including
org.au/index.php?title=VIDEO_SLAM).
filmmakers, lawyers, audio-visual artists,
Spanning two days of workshops and
producers and curators combined to
culminating in a screening,
generate two-and-a-half hours of digital
forums and live remix event,
sound and video remixing madness.
VIDEO SLAM brought together
Following this a panel of new media
filmmakers and lawyers to
practitioners assembled to discuss
create a sound and video
appropriated hybrid artworks and the
work exploring appropriation,
legal frameworks they reside in.
remixing and the use of public
space in electronic arts.
With the production process informed by
The project draws purely from
Elliott Bledsoe from Creative Commons
Creative Commons-licensed
Image: A still from John So Arbitary, www.engagemedia.org/Members/

Australia and the outcome judged by

content, where participants
Shaun Miller from Marshalls and Dent,
key concepts addressed at VIDEO
SLAM 02 Appropriate Original include:
openchannel/videos/VS02_TEAM-01.ogg/view

ß Appropriation in the arts and

how it contributes to the work
of an artist;
ß Appropriation and culture in
the digital age;
ß Legal frameworks protecting
artists and the works they
consume;
Still shots from Team 1’s John So Arbitary (included copyright breaches)

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case studies

Image: A still from My Bro, www.engagemedia.org/Members/openchannel/videos/VS02_TEAM-03.ogg/view

and The John S(h)o(w), www.engagemedia.org/Members/openchannel/videos/VS02_TEAM-04.ogg/view.
The stills above are from Team 3’s film My Bro. The stills to the right are
from The John S(h)o(w) by Team 4. Both of these teams were limited
to using only original content they created as part of the project and
compatible Creative Commons-licensed material..

ß Creative Commons licences TEAM-01.ogg/view) and So

and other tools and delivery Hard (www.engagemedia.
platforms assisting artists org/Members/openchannel/
to remix and reappropriate videos/VS02_TEAM-02.

Both CC BY-NC-SA 2.5 Australia

cultural content (such as ogg/view). Teams 3 and 4
ccMixter, Freesound and worked on My Bro (www.
EngageMedia). engagemedia.org/Members/
openchannel/videos/VS02_
Operating as both a rights management TEAM-03_Final.ogg/view)
and production workshop, VIDEO and The John
SLAM poses the question of whether S(h)o(w) (www.engagemedia.
artists can make films using legitimate org/Members/openchannel/videos/ 95
samples, and whether there is enough VS02_TEAM-04.ogg/view), ensuring
content out there that’s appropriately their videos were entirely compliant with
licensed to assist creators in this copyright law which entailed logging
endeavour. VIDEO SLAM’s Remix every sound, photo and video they used
Forum, held on 22 May 2008, examined in a Google spreadsheet. Each sample
both legitimate and illegitimate uses of was then individually checked to ensure
appropriation in the arts, inviting video there were no copyright breaches and
artist Emile Zile (www.emilezile.com) to that the correct Creative Commons
talk about the dynamics of disregarding licensing was applied. Strong acclaim
copyright, and Shiralee Saul (www.a- for both teams was felt by throughout
website.org/memory) who spoke on the 80-member audience, with Andrew
curatorial responsibilities of traditional vs Garton concluding:
new media.
‘As an Arts Law Week Project,
Sixteen participants located in four I believe it was another
VIDEO SLAM teams produced two- outstanding success with a fair
minute videos over a 20-hour period complement of lessons learnt
using both legitimate content (two and tangible outcomes.’
teams) or ‘whatever they liked from
wherever they liked’ (two teams). The These deliverables are documented
subject matter of the film was Melbourne within Andrew Garton’s report on the
Lord Mayor, John So. Teams 1 and event for OPEN CHANNEL, available
2 created the free-reign videos john on the VIDEO SLAM 02 wiki (http://
so arbitrary (www.engagemedia.org/ wiki.apc.org.au/index.php?title=VIDEO_
Members/openchannel/videos/VS02_ SLAM_02).

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Licence Usage Screen Culture. We discussed

the pros and cons of flexible
licensing within the context of
Content sourced for VIDEO SLAM 02
filmmaking, in particular the
was licensed under any of the following
increasingly popular Creative
Creative Commons licences: BY, BY-
Commons suite of licenses.’
NC or BY-NC-SA. All materials created
for VIDEO SLAM 02, including briefing http://openchannel.org.au/blogs/
videoslam/?p=5#more-5
papers and the OPEN CHANNEL
report prepared by Andrew Garton are
Andrew observes that despite the
licensed under a Creative Commons
concerns raised by Australia’s collection
Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike
societies in relation to CC licences,
2.5 Australia licence, as encouraged
interest in them has not declined in the
by OPEN CHANNEL. All photos taken
least:
during the event by Andrew Garton
(www.flickr.com/photos/andrew-garton/
‘As such, it was considered that
sets/72157605168747340) are hosted
during the next Arts Law Week
on Flickr under the Creative Commons
we would, rather than talk, we
Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike
would “make something”! And
2.0 Generic licence.
we would do so with content
(video, sound / music, photos
and text) available under “some
Motivations rights reserved” provisions of
96 flexible licenses such as Creative
As a production initiative solely devoted Commons for re-use.’
to Creative Commons licences,
VIDEO SLAM is one of Australia’s
most innovative open source creative
collaboration events.
Andrew Garton discusses
the genesis of the VIDEO
SLAM project in the blog
dedicated to the initiative:

‘The idea for VIDEO

SLAM grew from the
Image: A still from So Hard, www.engagemedia.org/Members/openchannel/

2006 forum we held at

Arts Law Week, Free
videos/VS02_TEAM-02.ogg/view

Still shots from Team 2’s So Hard (including copyright breaches)

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 k
E exhibition
open!

Creative Commons & Visual Arts

In both traditional and digital spaces, the visual
arts benefit from the exposure that Creative visual arts
Commons provides. From major international
platforms such as deviantART and Flickr, to case studies
individual Australian artists working from small
studios such as West Australian graphic designer
and illustrator Ali J, the case studies profiled in Ali J Art & Illustration 99
this section demonstrate a desire to showcase Artabase 102
works across a range of media and formats.
ccSalon Australia Flickr Pool 104
This desire springs from a range of motivations.
For the Australian site 60Sox, CC is a strategic
deviantART 108
element in its arsenal of tools designed to merri randell 111
develop pathways from graduate to professional
for Australia’s emerging artists. Artabase, which Monkeyc on Flickr.com 113
aims to provide a social networking and exhibition Picture Australia:
space for artists, galleries and art lovers, similarly
endorses CC as an appropriate option for its
Click n Flick 115
users. For New Zealand’s UpStage platform, 60Sox 118
CC is fundamental to its operation as an open-
source space for live artistic interaction as UpStage 120
‘cyberperformance.’ Underlying all these projects
is a core focus on the creation of communities
of practice, providing resources and exhibition
spaces as a way of building networks among partnering with the photo-sharing site Flickr to
individuals. explore the potential of Web 2.0 strategies such
as crowd-sourcing via folksonomies to develop
Auspiciously, even bastions of the traditional the national collection.
gallery sector, such as the National Library
of Australia (NLA), have come to recognise Given its prominent support for CC licensing,
the value of CC as they seek to expand the Flickr has emerged as a primary community
boundaries of their institutions to embrace new in which to produce and from which to source
technologies and communities. Through its artistic endeavour. Brisbane-based animator
Picture Australia Click n Flick project, the NLA is Merri Randell uses the platform to source images
 building an
australasian
commons

for her artworks, using Ultimately, the need to maintain an open

Modification by Bernard Winter, http://60sox.org.au/contents/bernardwinter/679. All CC BY-NC-SA 2.5 Aus.
Images: (Top to Bottom) xDilecis. by jordesign, http://60sox.org.au/contents/jordesign/1663, Illustrated Girl – digital paint
by jaspardo, http://60sox.org.au/contents/jaspardo/1566, Sorry by ivan, http://60sox.org.au/contents/ivan/787 and Gene

CC images which allow and vibrant space in which to express

derivatives. As assembled artistic endeavour is widely called
for the inaugural ccSalon for. Creative Commons is perceived
in Australia, held at the as the vital element in keeping this
QUT Creative Industries conversation flowing.
Precinct in Brisbane in
November 2006, local Flickr
photographers have become
ardent advocates of the
commons.

To quote MonkeyC, a
contributor to the event:

‘The Creative
Commons license
is a perfect
example of the
sort of copyright
changes the
modern world
needs to come
98 to grips with in
the digital age,
information should
be free to all.’
John Harvey, ‘monkeyc.net’
www.flickr.com/photos/monkeyc

This image on Artabase depicts one part of Heliotropia, a 14-part solar-powered

installation by American artist Sarah Nicole Phillips.

Image: Heliotropia Detail by Sarah Nicole Phillips (http://sarahnicolephillips.com),

CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 Generic, http://artabase.net/artist/252-sarah-nicole-phillips

A sample of works from the 60Sox

website: xDilecis, a photograph
by jordesign, Illustrated girl -
digital paint by jaspardo,
Sorry by ivan and a still shot
from Gene Modification, an
animation film by Bernard Winter.

Exhibition Open!
 creative
commons
case studies

Ali J Art & Illustration

description: Ali J is an Australian artist and illustrator whose stunning portraits of modern female
figures are housed in private and public collections worldwide.
website: www.alijart.com
licence used: Website: Creative Commons BY-ND 2.5 Australia, http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by-nc/2.5/au, Flickr: Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 2.0 Generic,
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0, deviantART: Creative Commons
BY-NC-ND 3.0 Generic, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0
media: Design, Visual Art
location: Perth, Australia

Overview ‘I like to surround myself with

characters and creatures that
continually open up more paths
Ali J (aka Alicia Rosam) is an Australian
to [my imagination].’
artist and illustrator based in Perth,
Western Australia. Her portraits are www.aussiepatches.typepad.com/
held in public and private collections aussiepatches/2008/03/inspirations-ev.html
worldwide. Ali J frequently works with 99
mixed media on canvas, incorporating Rather creatively, she believes that her
patterned paper, pages of text and date Matryoshka dolls share stories with each
stamps from vintage books, as well as other as they come to life at the end of
items such as translucent buttons. She her brush.
also creates Matryoshka dolls, designs
earrings, sews brooches,
makes magnets and selects The Blue-est Sea (right) is a
stationery such as greeting fashion illustration created by
cards to feature her designs. Ali J as part of an exhibition. It

The Blue-est Sea, www.flickr.com/photos/aussiepatches/1840512974. Both CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Generic.

Celebrities, fashion and

Images: (Left to Right) LoveGeek Submission, www.flickr.com/photos/aussiepatches/1302534690,

is a combination of pencil
shopping often inspire her work. and water colours on paper.
Izabella Awaits (below) was a
Ali J graduated from college
commissioned work
in 2002 with a Diploma of
which accompanied an interview
Fine Art and a Certificate in
Interior Decoration where with Ali J in the first issue of the
she specialised in realistic online zine LoveGeek,
charcoal drawings with a www.lovegeek.net
strong conceptual outlook.
She works in a space
surrounded by the artworks of
Catherine Campbell, LaMaga,
Erin Paisley Stueber, Bec
Winnel, and Alexandra Lening
amongst others, also taking
inspiration from images from
The Black Apple and postcards
from Frankie magazine.

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 building an
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Her works are sold Melbourne and New York and a solo
in the Etsy online exhibition in Perth.
store (www.
aussiepatches. Ali J’s artwork and illustrations reside in
etsy.com), private collections spanning 23 countries
where they including Ireland, Italy, Poland, Portugal,
have been Mexico, Spain, Brazil and Wales, as well
recognised as the United Kingdom and the United
as ‘A Thing States. The public collections housing
of Beauty’ Ali J’s work are the City of Joondalup
www.flickr.com/photos/aussiepatches/863409590

(www.thing- Art Collection, and the Town of Vincent

of-beauty. Library.
Image: moytoy, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Generic,

com/100-
great-artists- Her image Babydoll Letters (www.flickr.
etsy-you- com/photos/aussiepatches/1154044695)
might-want-to- was featured in the April 2008 Australian
visit), being voted edition of Marie Claire magazine. In the
in the top 100 same month, her work was featured in
artists on the site. Xpress Magazine (www.xpressmag.
Ali J’s earrings have com.au) in Perth.
also been listed with Leeloo
at the Shop Til You Drop E-boutique Ali provides advice on the marketing of
(www.shoptilyoudrop.com.au/eboutique_ products, noting that anyone can sell a
products.htm?brand=132&pid=2955). product; however, generating a repeat
sale takes nous, emphasising that it is
100
Ali J’s exhibition schedule is now tightly best to under promise and over deliver
packed, with the most recent event (www.aussiepatches.typepad.com/
being the Perth College Art Exhibition aussiepatches/2008/03/marketing-your.
from 4 to 6 April 2008 where she has html).
explored a maritime theme. Over
the last two years Ali J has exhibited
in a number of shows, including Statistics
group exhibitions in Perth, Sydney,
The following are a sample of
observations Ali J gathered at the
Unwrapped Designer Market on Mends
‘Creative Commons gives St in South Perth on 16 March 2008.
(Full statistics are available on her blog,
me the added assurance www.aussiepatches.typepad.com/
aussiepatches/2008/03/unwrapped-
that I will be credited for lowdo.html):

my images , and it allows ß Her average sale was

$25-$30 and included on
them to be displayed average 3 items;
ß Her sale range went from
and used instead of just $2.50 to $107.50;
ß Her lowest priced product
sitting in a file.’ was $2.50 and the highest
was $550 for an original
Ali J in email interview painting;

Exhibition Open!
 CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Generic, www.flickr.com/photos/
Image: A derivative work of Rough Seas,

aussiepatches/551100365. Derivative
made with permission.
creative
commons
case studies

Images: (Top to Bottom) A derivative work of Growing Wild, www.flickr.com/photos/aussiepatches/2345037852,

made with permission, and Kinship, www.flickr.com/photos/aussiepatches/2309266897. Both CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
These works by Ali J represent the diversity of her creative practice and
use of media. Rough Seas (above) is pen and ink on paper, whereas
Growing Wild (top, right) is acrylic on canvas and Kinship (bottom,
right) is painted directly onto a canvas of collaged paper.

ß The average customer was

female aged between 8 -
Motivations
45; Ali J explains that she
ß 20% of the traffic were first heard about Creative
repeat customers; and Commons through the
ß Of the 30 products Ali J photo-sharing site Flickr.
offers, most of which have Initially, she says in an email
between 6 - 15 design interview in December
variations, 6 products 2007 with Rachel Cobcroft
proved to be her most from Creative Commons

Generic.
popular items. Australia, she didn’t really
understand it too much;
however,
On 4 March 2008, Ali J employed
the free web tracking software called 101
‘It looked like a good way to
StatCounter (www.statcounter.com) for
help protect my images and get
her blog, which revealed that visitors
credit for when people display
came from 18 countries, as well as 105
my images on their site. I
from unspecified countries which she
found out about CC in more
conjectures may be the moon!
detail on deviantART when I
was a little more concerned

Licence Usage about plagiarism because

it is quite high on that site. I In early 2008, Ali J
read up a little more about CC was commissioned by
Ali J licenses her collections on Flickr Portuguese band Mesa
and decided to display the
(www.flickr.com/photos/aussiepatches) (www.mesa.pt), who
disclaimer on my blog as a
under a Creative Commons Attribution- are signed to Sony/
preventative measure and a BMG, to develop the
NonCommercial-NoDerivatives
way to protect my creations. entire artwork for their
2.0 Generic licence. These include
Creative Commons gives me album Para Todo O
illustrations, art, exhibition work, and Mal (below). The two
the added assurance that I will
content featured in print publications. main band members
be credited for my images, and
Her collections hosted on deviantART were transformed into
it allows them to be displayed
(www.aussiepatches.deviantart.com), Ali’s characters, with
and used instead of just sitting the female’s signature
which currently number 79 ‘deviations,’
in a file.’ crazy hair moving
are licensed under a Creative through out the entire
Ali J, in email interview, December 2007
Commons Attribution-NonCommercial- design.
NoDerivatives 3.0 Unported licence.
Both platforms allow downloads. Ali J
adds a subtle watermark ‘aussiepatches’
to her deviantART stock.

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Artabase
description: Artabase is a beta social
networking site for artists, galleries
and art lovers, creating a ‘one stop
shop’ for news of exhibitions and
events.
website: http://artabase.net
licence used: Some images under Creative
Commons 3.0 Unported suite
media: Images
Artabase homepage, July 2008
location: Australia

Overview installation experts amongst others. The

Artabase site is also able to be filtered
by region and browsed by alphabetical
Artabase is a beta social networking
listing.
site for artists, galleries and art
lovers, dedicated to the promotion
102 and archiving of artistic exhibitions
and events ‘because people love art.’ Statistics
Operating from Australia since 2004
and with an online presence since 2007, In January 2008 Artabase had:
Artabase speaks to and creates a global
community: by nominating a region of ß 2993 unique visitors
interest, users can be kept up-to-date ß 972 registered users
with up-coming events in their vicinity.
Subscribers to the site are encouraged ß 350 email list subscribers
to create a free online profile ß 269 exhibition listings
showcasing their visual works, giving ß 255 artist profiles
artists and galleries an opportunity to
ß 121 gallery profiles
promote exhibitions in advance and to
Despite being in archive their activities. This creative
beta stage, Artabase database is available for use by art Other web traffic details are available via
received an honoree historians, journalists and collectors Alexa, an online web traffic monitoring
mention in the underscoring the site as enabling a site (www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_
Arts category in collective definition of history. details/artabase.net).
the 2008 Webby
Artabase’s ‘Arts Opportunities’ email
Awards, the ‘Oscars
for the Internet.’
lists announce arts jobs, competitions,
calls for proposals, and funding
Licence Usage
It sat alongside rounds. Community discussions cover
nominations such Artabase announced its decision to
topics such as online arts resources
as The Tate Online allow images to be licensed under
and new gallery spaces. A ‘random’
and a Pulitzer browse through artists featured on the Creative Commons in October
Foundation For site reveals ‘videopoets,’ multimedia 2007 (http://creativecommons.org/
The Arts exhibition practitioners, photographers, and weblog/entry/7761). According to
website.

Exhibition Open!
 creative
commons
case studies

Rebecca Cannon, Director of the site, In addition, Artabase is a ‘big-time

approximately 12% of the images supporter’ (http://artabase.net/public/
uploaded to Artabase to date have a love) of open source software. It
Creative Commons-licensed image. employs Ruby on Rails for site
Creative Commons Attribution- development. At this stage, there is no
ShareAlike is the most common licence Ruby on Rails Creative Commons API,
chosen. The site explains the reasoning so they are setting about developing
behind its allowance of CC: their own, and intend to release it back
to the world when ready.
‘We… assist art fans and
reviewers by offering Creative
Commons licensing options
on images which are uploaded
Motivations
to our website. This provides
Before commencing Artabase, Rebecca
visitors to our website with
an instant indication of the Cannon was involved in DIY creative
re-use rights available on any productions, making video and hardcopy
images they are interested print zines amongst other projects.
in, thus making it easier to
display an image on another ‘Like many postmodern
website, or in a research article, artworks much of the material
or even in the new artistic, was appropriative too, so we
appropriative works, or even for needed to free up the re-use
commercial purposes, without 103
rights of our own work to
first confirming permission from
respect the greater gene pool
the artist – where the artist has
of creative materials we were
indicated that those re-use
rights are freely available.’ sampling. Creative Commons
was a direct result of activities
http://artabase.net/public/about_loving
_not_quite_art like this that we
could all use and
Reflecting on the application of Creative relate to.’
Commons licences on the site, Rebecca

Image: By Paul J Kalemba, CC BY-NC-ND Unported 3.0, http://artabase.net/artist/378-paul-j-kalemba

Cannon comments in an email interview
with Rachel Cobcroft from Creative
Commons Australia:

‘Philosophically I’m all for

any copyright holder having
In Paul J. Kalemba’s Artabase
the freedom to use Creative profile, he declares his
Commons licences, but as belief that supported and
a business owner I do worry unrestricted artistic practice
that we might be putting is integral to, and inseparable
ourselves at risk as image from, any healthy human
hosts if our users chose society. He believes an artist
Creative Commons without not only has the right to
fully understanding the legal practice, but a responsibility
ramifications, as has happened to themselves and humanity
at large to give shape and
on other websites.’
meaning to both through
their artistic practices.

Creative Commons & Visual Arts

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ccSalon Australia Flickr Pool

description: The inaugural ccSalon Australia Flickr exhibition was established to showcase the
work of local photographers licensing their material under Creative Commons.

website: www.flickr.com/groups/ccsalon

licence used: Creative Commons 2.0 Generic suite

media: Images

location: Australia

‘The future of creativity

Overview of every sort relies
The inaugural ccSalon Australia upon sharing’
(http://creativecommons.org.au/
ccsalon) Flickr exhibition took Tama Leaver, www.flickr.com/photos/tamaleaver
104 place on 29 November 2006 at the
Queensland University of Technology
Creative Industries Precinct, Centre of Excellence for Creative
Brisbane, Australia. Established to Industries and Innovation (www.cci.edu.
showcase the creativity of Australia’s au) and Creative Commons Australia
photographers, both (http://creativecommons.org.au). This
professional and amateur, event brought together representatives
Generic, www.flickr.com/photos/shekgraham/241972255 and

the exhibition encompassed of the Australian government, education,

Images: (Top to Bottom) The Kiss! by Shek Graham, CC BY 2.0

a series of CC-licensed libraries and creative industries sectors

images selected from the (including film, music, publishing, and
ccSalon Australia Flickr pool multimedia), to discuss issues and
created for the event. A strategies relating to the implementation
series of stunning images of Creative Commons in Australia.
– artistic, amusing, archi- These representatives were encouraged
tectural, and unmistakably to see ‘what’s happening out there’ by
Australian – was displayed attending the ccSalon following the
on the walls of the Glass discussions.
House and the Block, and
projected into the Precinct’s As a public exhibition of how artists are
Parade Ground, as well as using Creative Commons licences and
made available online. materials in this region, the ccSalon
included a live audio-visual mashup
The ccSalon acted as the of music and Flickr images by Andrew
finale to the CCau Industry Garton (www.toysatellite.org) and music
Forum, hosted by the ARC by Collapsicon (www.collapsicon.net)

Exhibition Open!
 creative
commons
case studies

and the hybrid music

Image: home by lukeroberts, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 Generic, www.flickr.com/

photos/lukeroberts/289358010
ensemble Collusion
(www.collusion.com.au). It
also included an exhibition
of photographs selected
and curated by Creative
Industries PhD researcher
Rachel Cobcroft from the
images in the ccSalon
Flickr group pool.

Licence Usage
‘I use a Creative
Commons licence for
most of my photos on
Flickr since I wanted Flickr, one of the
to use other people’s for a Motivations world’s largest photo
particular project. I found the publishing websites,
‘The future of creativity of every was an early adoptor
number of All Rights Reserved
sort relies upon sharing. In of Creative Commons.
photos to be astounding, and our era of extreme copyright, At time of printing
also, quite disappointing. So I Creative Commons licensing
lets artists, students and
Flickr hosted more 105
changed all of my licensing to than 70 million
citizens across the globe allow
by-nc-sa. The sa rather than others to view, share and remix CC-licensed photos,
nd because I was stymied so in a manner consistent with the searchable by
often, in my search for photos, cutting edge of creativity and licence type at
when I wanted to crop and innovation, not the hampered www.flickr.com/
by the lumbering
couldn’t!’ monstrosity that creativecommons
wiccked, www.flickr.com/photos/wiccked overzealous “all rights
reserved” copyright law
has become.’
All photos uploaded to the Creative
tamaleaver, www.flickr.com/

www.flickr.com/photos/wiccked/309754635 and Go fly a kite! by Lalalian, CC BY-ND 2.0 Generic,

Commons Australia ccSalon Flickr
photos/tamaleaver
pool were required to be licensed
Image: (Top to Bottom) Photographs on the wall by wiccked , CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 Generic,
under the Creative Commons scheme,
showing support for open licensing as A primary aspect of this
well as facilitating the printing of the event was the request that
images for the event. Contributors the Flickr photographers
provide a brief description
were invited to tag their photographs
with ‘CCSalonremix’ if they wished to
have them incorporated into the live
multimedia performance coordinated
www.flickr.com/photos/lalalian/251146537

by Andrew Garton, allowing the images

projected onto the venue’s walls in
concert with the music. Flickr’s lack of
local licences was noted, with the only
option being the adoption of 2.0 generic
licences.

Creative Commons & Visual Arts

 building an
australasian
commons

of why they chose to license under complement that ideal, making

Creative Commons. This request, it easy to share with the masses
endorsed by the QUT Research Ethics but without surrendering the
Committee, resulted in the following rights for that creativity.’
expressions of the importance of yinyang, www.flickr.com/
photos/albertyinyang
free culture, of ongoing creativity and
reciprocity.
‘If we adopt the American
model which treats intellectual
‘Default Copyright is stifling
property the same as physical
our culture. I see Creative
property, we will be left without
Commons Licensing as a
a public domain. That has
means of engaging actively in
serious implications for society,
a copyright debate, of exploring
because all new knowledge
alternatives and encouraging
(creativity, composition,
creativity, cultural exchange
problem-solving) comes from
and growth.’
what went before. Culture
Bettina, www.flickr.com/
(in every sense of the word)
photos/sublimedesign
depends on a lively commons
and I am proud to be part of it.’
‘I love the way the net
encourages respectful sharing shanrosen, www.flickr.com/
photos/pamrosengren
between like-minded people.
Creative Commons gives
me the confidence to share in Professional photographers such
106
the knowledge that I will be as John Harvey (monkeyc.net) also
recognised for my work.’ lend vociferous support through their
woowoowoo, www.flickr.com/
statements:
photos/leprecon
‘The Creative Commons
‘I’ve always liked license is a perfect example of
the idea of Open the sort of copyright changes
Images: (Top to Bottom) bow reflections by woowoowooo, www.flickr.com/photos/leprecon/169497361 and

Source Software, and the modern world needs to

Creative Commons for come to grips with in the digital
photographers seems to age, information should be free
slideshow by wiccked, http://flickr.com/photos/wiccked/309786057. All CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 Generic

to all.’
Rachel Cobcroft selected
photographs from the 245 monkeyc.net, www.flickr.com/
photos deposited in the ccSalon photos/monkeyc
Flickr group to be part of the
‘Australian CC Photographers on Doug Steley (d70dug) another
Flickr’ exhibition at the inaugural
Australian ccSalon.
commercial photographer, references
ability to sustain a business at the same
time as sharing amongst friends:

‘Creative Commons allows me

to display and share my photos
while still allowing me to sell
them on stock libraries.’
d70dug, www.flickr.com/photos/
76729200@N00

Exhibition Open!
 creative
commons
case studies

Having the ability to share with others, source material back into the
and to be recognised for doing so, was community for others to use in
stated as critical to members of this their own experiments.’
group: Misteriddles, www.flickr.com/
photos/misteriddles
‘I use the Creative Commons
licence on my photographs as ‘I tend to license most of
I want my photographs to be my photos with a Creative
seen and enjoyed by others. I Commons licence and have
get enormous pleasure seeing benefited directly from this
my photos on other people’s when a group of photo restorers
blogs, and the attribution used a couple of my older
licence means that I get credit photos as exercises. They then
for my photos. My photos are published the finished items
my way of expressing myself under a CC licence, so I could
in the world and sharing with then use the restored images. I
others.’ also like to see people use my
images, whether in blogs, to
Shek Graham, www.flickr.com/
illustrate articles in wikis, or in
photos/shekgraham
graphical designs.’
As was revealed in the OpenBusiness. RaeA, www.flickr.com/
photos/raeallen
cc report, reciprocity plays a critical
role in the licensing of images under
Rachel reports that feedback from the
Creative Commons. A UK respondent 107
night was incredibly positive, with the
(an illustrator) indicated:
photographers being thrilled to have
their work profiled and recognised
‘I license all of my photography
by peers. The Flickr photographic
on Flickr under CC. I don’t

Image: (Left to Right) Jail Buddies by Pam Rosengren, CC BY-NC 2.0 Generic, www.flickr.com/photos/pamrosengren/126816634
community continues to support the
see why anyone would want to
Creative Commons initiative in Australia
remix or use them for anything
by participating
but I frequently use other
in the Creative
people’s images for ideas and
Commons
I would feel a bit rude if I didn’t

and Untitled by Garton, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 Generic, wwwflickr.com/photos/andrew-garton/78484330.

Australia group
share mine in turn.’
(http://flickr.
UK Artists - Their Approaches to Copyright and com/groups/
Creative Commons, p 12, www.openbusiness.cc/
wp-content/uploads/2006/11/ACEReport.pdf
ccaustralia), in
addition to the
In the ccSalon pool, there was a NLA Picture
similar sentiment expressed by several Australia groups.
participants, expressing a
desire to give back what had
been acquired:

‘As my experiments in
photomanipulation have
increased I have found
access to others’ images
very useful. Consequently,
it is only fair that I put some

Creative Commons & Visual Arts

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commons

deviantART
description: deviantART is an online community
dedicated to showcasing art as
prints, videos and literature.
website: www.deviantart.com
licence used: Creative Commons 3.0 Unported
Suite
media: Images, Text, Videos
location: Global deviantART homepage, July 2008

Overview membership allows a deviant to accrue

10% of revenue gained from the sale of
their artwork in the dA Shop, which was
deviantART (abbreviated to ‘dA’) markets
originally dA ‘Prints’.
itself as the ‘world’s largest, most vibrant
and relevant online community focused
dA allows advertising through its adCast
specifically on ART’ (http://about.
108 deviantart.com/advertising). Founded
service (http://my.deviantart.com/
services/#adcast), with non-profit and
on 7 August, 2000 in California, dA community-related products receiving
today boasts a catalogue of over 36 a discounted rate in view of the site’s
million artworks called ‘deviations,’ commitment to helping artists raise their
from over 4.5 million registered users, profile and share their content. Payment
known as ‘deviants.’ The site features is per click, with 1,250 clicks currently
a wide variety of creative expressions costing $US50. Partners include art
including animations, photographs, web groups, zines, and promoters of skins
skins, films, and literature, which are and themes.
categorised within the customisable dA
gallery according to a comprehensive Website development has occurred in
structure. Members are able to form versions, with upgrades being released
communities of interest through ‘dAmn,’ more or less on an annual basis. A
the deviantART Messaging Network, a recent addition to version 5 in December
real-time chat system which is divided 2007 allowed users to categorise their
into channels in addition to #devart, gallery art into folders.
the official channel, and #help, the dA
assistance channel.

The site is based on a subscription

Licence Usage
model of $US24.95 per year for
a premium ‘Prints’ account. By ‘The best way to avoid
subscribing, the user will earn 50% infringing on the rights of
of the revenue gained from printing another creative person is
canvases, calendars, mouse pads, to use your skill, talent and
postcards, t-shirts, and magnets, for imagination to create your own
example, above a pre-set ‘base cost,’ completely original work.’
such as $0.32 for a 4 x 6 inch print. Free http://about.deviantart.com/policy/copyright

Exhibition Open!
 creative
commons
case studies

deviantART launched a new, Tutorial-Brushes-and-Colors-45664578)

streamlined uploading system on the use of brushes and colours in
incorporating a Creative Commons Photoshop, licensed under Creative
licence generator on 14 November Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 3.0.
2006. As with all generators, deviants
are able to select the licence they wish
to apply through deciding on whether to Motivations
allow commercial use or modifications.
The site specifies ‘none’ as the default. Faced with wide-spread appropriation
By opting for a CC licence, the linked of original artworks published on
CC logo and licence description appear deviantART, the dA community
under the user’s deviation. celebrated the introduction of Creative
Commons licences as a measure
The site includes its copyright policy of protection that goes some way to
relating to submissions and reuse (http:// preventing the practice, or at least
about.deviantart.com/policy/copyright). making others aware of the users’ rights.
This policy emphasises that respect for This option was seen as preferable to
an individual’s original artwork should ‘spoiling’ artwork through the use of
be maintained, creating a ‘beneficial and watermarking technologies.
positive atmosphere for all dA visitors
and members.’ When made aware Announcing the Creative Commons
of copyright violations, by the owner submission process, deviantART beta
of the material or through anonymous tester ‘SeverinaSnape’ further explained
reporting, deviantART administrators the rationale behind the introduction of
will delete the infringing material
109
the licences (http://news.deviantart.com/
immediately under s512 of the United article/23957):
States Digital Millennium Copyright
Act 1998. Parties believing that their ‘“Ripping” is as common as
works have been removed in error have Anime here at deviantART. As
recourse to the filing of a counter notice if deviants
through a help address. didn’t have
enough to
In this way, the dA administrators contend

Image: fusion by *TFDC, CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 Unported, http://TFDC.deviantart.com/art/fusion-90172576

attempt to balance two primary and with from
often conflicting goals: firstly, to allow other, quite
site members to express themselves often naïve
within reason with as few restrictions as deviants
possible while nurturing an environment who don’t
of creativity, learning, and talent; and realise that
secondly, to protect the members of they are
the community, to the best of their not free to
abilities, from infringement of copyright, just take
discrimination, harassment, and one’s work
prejudice (http://about.deviantart.com/ [to] use
policy/etiquette). it as they
wish; we
now have
Downloads of deviants’ tutorials and
to deal with
stock photos are also available. An
international
example is *redheadstock’s tutorial
websites
(http://redheadstock.deviantart.com/art/
dedicated

Creative Commons & Visual Arts

 building an
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commons

~qoucher proposes the

Image: bllnskllr by ploc, CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 Unported,

licences as a way to
prevent work being stolen in
December 2005:

‘[F]rom what
I understand,
a company
called Creative
Commons offers
free tools for
having a copyright
license on your
work. I hear quite
a bit about work
being stolen and
DA having all
sorts of problems
and what-not, so
maybe this just
might help.’
to the art of taking, displaying
http://forum.deviantart.com/devart/
and using our works without our
general/552884
knowledge or permission.

The Ubuntu development community,

Well – dA has a significant new
feature which we should all working on the world’s third most popular
110 desktop operating system, is currently
become very familiar with. It is
much needed ammunition in offering a competition for the deviantART
the battle against digital theft or community to redesign the look and
“borrowing”. feel of the Ubuntu 8.10 distribution, to
be released in October 2008. They
Incorporated into the have called upon artists, illustrators
submissions process is the and photographers to design original
ability to license your work wallpapers that match Ubuntu’s colour
through the use of a Creative palette. These wallpapers must be:
Commons License. Creative
Commons helps you publish
1 beautiful;
your work online while letting
others know exactly what they 2 original artworks, submitted
can and can’t do with your by their authors;
work.’ 3 use Ubuntu’s existing
palette;
Reactions to the introduction have been
4 CC licensed; and
positive:
5 be suitable for children and
‘This is very useful, and I’m different cultures.
sure MANY people will enjoy
this. Thanks for doing this.’ ‘Ubuntu 8.10’s theme revamp
layzbutt on 23 November 2006 should engage with the
large community of Creative
Commons artists at DeviantArt.’
Pre-empting the site’s introduction of the https://blueprints.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+spec/
Creative Commons licence generator, deviantart-theme-competition

Exhibition Open!
 creative
commons
case studies

merri randell
description: merri randell is an Australian relational, post-production artist, animator and
designer. Her current doctorial research and creative work focuses on creating
deliberately disturbing animations or ‘impressions’ which critically analyse the
narratives which have contributed to the construction of her identity.
website: www.merrirandell.com
licence used: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 2.0 Generic,
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0
media: Images, Animations, Videos
location: Brisbane, Australia

Overview merri’s alternative narratives are

evoked by the arrangement and
movement of images in her animations.
merri randell is a Brisbane-based post-
The works challenge the audience’s
production artist who creates multimedia
fascination and repulsion to ugliness,
artworks and installations incorporating
an experience known as abjection.
and taking inspiration from Creative 111
These narratives are disturbing and
Commons-licensed material. depict abject moments in the artists
personal experience. By re-creating
She is currently undertaking a doctorate and re-presenting these narratives,
at the Queensland College of Art, embedded within short looping, open-
Griffith University (www.griffith.edu.au/ ended animations, merri challenges the
qca), which focuses on the construction narratives which have contributed to the
of an online space which reuses images construction of her identity.
found through Flickr’s Creative Commons
advanced search (www.flickr.com/search/ merri is using this process
advanced). merri creates new narratives as a method to engage
from found images which, as Nicolas with the persona—
Bourriaud describes is the key practice of almost confessional,
a postproduction artist. collaborative,
inclusive and
‘Postproduction artists invent anti-hierarchical—
new uses for works, including
culture of the web.
audio or visual forms of
By doing this she
the past, within their own
aims to provoke
constructions. But they also
open-ended
reedit historical or ideological
narratives, inserting the
dialogue with her
elements that compose them audience, hopefully
into alternative scenarios.’ stimulating them
to be contributors or
Nicolas Bourriaud in Schneider, C (editor),
Herman, J (translator) (2002) Postproduction:
as she refers to them,
culture as screenplay: how art reprograms the co-participants. Co-
world, New York: Lukas & Sternberg, p 39 participation is a relational

Creative Commons & Visual Arts

 building an
australasian
commons

aesthetics term which describes an expansion of the psychological

equal, anti-hierarchical relationship with and relational horizon that
people (Flickr community) who contribute defines one’s life. In this way,
to and experience merri’s work. ugliness succumbs to beauty.’
George Hagman (2005) Aesthetic Experience:
In today’s remix culture, audiences Beauty, Creativity, and the Search for the Ideal,
are no longer passive receivers and Amsterdam: Rodopi, p122
through a critical dialogue with these
co-participants, merri believes we can
all participate in helping construct a Licence Usage
more inclusive culture. Through a critical
dialogue with these co-participants, merri is using a collaborative, practice-
merri believes we can all participate in led approach in her research and
the construction of culture. creative work – a process which
includes using images from her
merri has worked nationally and childhood and taking inspiration
internationally for almost 20 years from images licensed under Creative
as a creative in online, print, film, TV Commons.
and radio at both a community and
professional level. Her current practice She uses Creative Commons
material on Flickr (www.flickr.com/
responds directly to her work as a TV
creativecommons), but is careful to only
producer and as a screenwriter in linear
select images which are licensed to
storytelling. For years she has felt
allow derivative works, as her practice is
112 uncomfortable about the non-interactive based around a reinterpretation of these
and hierarchical process of linear images as cultural signs.
storytelling which privileges information
and audiences.
Motivations
Her current works are also co-contrived
by co-participants because she sources Creative Commons licensing enables
her images from people who have merri to work collaboratively with others
licensed their images under Creative who deliberately wish to share their
Commons. By remixing and re- images by assigning a ShareAlike
presenting these interactive narratives Creative Commons licence to their
contributions. Through this collaborative
to audiences of co-participants, the
process in the creation of her work
co-participants bear witness and the
merri believes she contributes to the
narratives become part of the social
construction of culture and inspires
body of the web and become inspiration others to do the same, as Bourriaud
for further debate about the boundaries notes.
between fascination and repulsion.
Through this process merri hopes to ‘Artistic activity is a game,
achieve her goal and contribute to a whose forms, patterns and
social horizon which becomes broader, functions develop and evolve
more accepting, empathetic and according to periods and social
inclusive. contexts; it is not an immutable
essence.’
‘The struggle to understand and Nicolas Bourriaud in Pleasance, Woods &
empathise with what is at first Copeland (translators) (2002) Relational
considered ugly can result in an Aesthetics France: Les presses du reel, p11

Exhibition Open!
 creative
commons
case studies

Monkeyc – John Harvey

description: Monkeyc.net is the moniker of John Harvey, a Brisbane-based former
photojournalist who licenses his Flickr photo stream under Creative Commons.
website: Website: www.monkeyc.net, Flickr: www.flickr.com/people/monkeyc
licence used: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 2.0,
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0
media: Images
location: Brisbane, Australia

Overview fame, fortune and a living wage

back in the mists of time, now a
sometime amateur photographer
John Harvey, aka monkeyc.net who dreams of the days when
(www.flickr.com/photos/monkeyc), he understood esoteric concepts
is a former photojournalist who now such as depth of field and
uses Flickr to display his photography. aperture as an escape from
John is an active member of the Flickr a life spent dealing with the
113
community, having first uploaded a problems of suffering users and
photo on 26 September 2004 and staff in the world of corporate
currently sporting a collection of close Information Technology.’
to 1,000 images, and encourages
others to engage likewise. Several of The website ‘monkeyc.net: a.life.
John’s photographs have been featured in.motion’ is John’s blog (www.monkeyc.
on Flickr’s ‘Explore’ page (www.flickr. net), and also contains a gallery of
com/explore), as an indication of their pictures. The blog is not Creative
popularity in the photo- Commons licensed.
sharing community. John
is a member of over 180
groups within Flickr, ranging Image: corkscrewed by monkeyc.net, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 Generic, www.flickr.com/photos/

from ‘Australian Images’

(www.flickr.com/groups/
australia) to ‘Mundo Uno’
(www.flickr.com/groups/
mundouno_).

John describes himself, in

his Flickr profile page (www.
flickr.com/people/monkeyc)
as follows:

‘Monkeyc is a former
monkeyc/1239230060

photojournalist who fled

the bright lights and
dingy darkrooms for

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commons

‘The Creative Commons license is a perfect example

of the sort of copyright changes the modern world
needs to come to grips with in the digital age,
information should be free to all.’
John Harvey, photographer

Licence Usage popularise Creative Commons.

Whilst interested in selling his
works commercially, he uses
Monkeyc.net’s Flickr images are Creative Commons to share his
licensed under the Creative Commons work non-commercially.’
Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike
2.0 Generic licence. His collection
currently stands at 971 photos, divided
into 44 sets. John’s Flickr statistics can Motivations
be found here (http://bighugelabs.com/
flickr/dna.php?username=monkeyc. John entered several of his pictures
net), care of the Big Huge Labs ‘DNA’ into a photo pool for the first Australian
application (http://bighugelabs.com/ ccSalon (http://creativecommons.org.
flickr). au/ccsalon) held in Brisbane on 29
114 November 2006. In doing so, John
Bjorn Bednarek of Creative Commons described why he had embraced
Australia observes in Unlocking the Creative Commons for his photos:
Potential Through Creative Commons
(http://creativecommons.org.au/ ‘The decision to license my
unlockingthepotential) that as a former work as creative commons was
professional photojournalist,
Images: (Top to Bottom, Left to Right) abstractions in steel, www.flickr.com/photos/monkeyc/166358317, controlling

an easy and almost automatic

John’s choice to license all one – my work is for personal
visions, www.flickr.com/photos/monkeyc/218965399. Both by monkeyc.net. Both CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 Generic

of his works under Creative enjoyment and I want others to

Commons is encouraging: be able to enjoy my work and to
incorporate it into their visions.
‘By putting trust in
Today I find photography is a
the licences, and
personal pleasure, I no longer
actively advocating
them within the have to make a living from my
Flickr community, camera – it’s just my vision
John is helping to of the world – a unique vision
legitimise and to me but with CC it’s also
something you can take and
turn into something from your
world – the scope is infinite and it
sets the images free in so many
ways – The creative commons
license is a perfect example of
the sort of copyright changes the
modern world needs to come
to grips with in the digital age,
information should be free to all.’

Exhibition Open!
 creative
commons
case studies

Picture Australia Click n Flick

description: Click n Flick is a National Library of Australia initiative to open Picture Australia to
photographic contributions from the general public.

website: www.pictureaustralia.gov.au/contribute/participants/Flickr.html

licence used: Creative Commons 2.0 Generic Suite

media: Images

location: Australia

Overview image collections there too, so

we all play a part in telling the
full story.’
Click n Flick is a National Library
Fiona Hooton, National Library of Australia, www.
of Australia (NLA) initiative to open nla.gov.au/nla/staffpaper/2006documents/Big-
their online pictorial gateway, Picture Vision.pdf
Australia (www.pictureaustralia.gov. 115
au), to contributions from the Australian Picture Australia was launched in 2000,
public. Launched in January 2006 in and aims to be the definitive pictorial
collaboration with photo-sharing site website for and about Australians and
Flickr, Click n Flick enables individuals Australia, providing one simple search
to contribute their own images to three for many collections. It began with
dedicated Flickr image pools: ‘Picture a few thousand images from seven
Australia: Ourtown’ (www.flickr.com/ organisations, and has since grown to
include over 1.1 million images from
groups/pa_ourtown), ‘Picture Australia:
the collections of 45 organisations and
People, Places and Events’ (www.flickr.
now individuals via Flickr. Participating
com/groups/PictureAustralia_ppe), organisations include a range of
and the recently launched ‘Re-Picture local, state and federal government
Australia’ (www.flickr.com/groups/ organisations
re-pictureaustralia), dedicated to the and both Picture Australia homepage, July 2008
reinterpretation of historic Australian large and
images in the public domain. small
institutions
‘At Picture Australia, we’ve from
approached the challenges of across the
the digital age with a big vision Australian
– believing it should be possible cultural
to search a comprehensive sector (ie
pictorial record of Australian galleries,
history and endeavour from museums,
one place. More than that, and
though, the vision is to invite all libraries).
Australians to place their own

Creative Commons & Visual Arts

 building an
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commons

‘Using one simple search statement regarding Creative Commons

facility, Picture Australia licensing:
provides access to many
collections that offer an insight ‘While this is not a condition for
into the artistic, social, cultural, contributing to this group, we
historical, environmental and suggest you consider licensing
political life of Australia.’ your images with a Creative
Fiona Hooton, National Library of Australia, Commons like “Attribution-
www.nla.gov.au/nla/staffpaper/2006documents/ NonCommercial”. Picture
Big-Vision.pdf Australia selects Creative
Common licensed images
The Click n Flick project arose from when producing audio visual
displays for National events
a survey which found that people
and festivals e.g.: National Folk
wanted more contemporary images to
Festival or the upcoming 2008
be available on the Picture Australia National Photography Festival.
service. Flickr was suggested as an Because of the amount of work
easy way to let the public upload and involved in rights clearing, it is
provide metadata for their images, which not feasible to use “all rights
the library could then harvest. This reserved” images for audio
approach also ties in well with the NLA’s visual display purposes. You
Strategic Directions, which includes the can find further details about
objectives to ‘ensure that Australians the 6 Creative Commons
have access to vibrant and relevant licenses on the Flickr Creative
information services’ and to ‘ensure our Commons page.’
relevance in a rapidly changing world,
116 participate in new online communities After positive experiences with voluntary
and enhance our visibility.’ While the Creative Commons licensing with
NLA does mediate the collection, to the original Picture Australia groups,
guarantee the appropriateness of the ‘Australia Day’ and ‘People, Places
photographs, they rarely need to censor and Events,’ when the NLA launched
the material. the new ‘Ourtown’ group in January
2007, they decided to experiment with
making Creative Commons licensing
Image: Queen Victoria Building by kdt, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 Generic, www.flickr.com/photos/hmkdt/2630009127

compulsory. However, in August

Licence 2007 the NLA reversed this decision,
Usage reverting to optional licensing for its
remaining Flickr groups (‘People,
As part of this Places and Events’ and ‘Ourtown’). This
project, Picture change was made at the prompting of
Australia several members of the photography
encourages community, and was intended to
people to make ensure that photographers could retain
their material maximum control over how they chose
available in the to license their work.
archive under
the Creative The most recent Flickr group, ‘Re-
Commons Picture Australia,’ emphasises users’
licences. ability to creatively reuse, reinterpret
The current and ‘re-picture’ Australia’s national
Flickr group collections (www.nla.gov.au/pub/
sites contain gateways/issues/90/story05.html).
the following Making a series of public domain images
available for download from December

Exhibition Open!
 creative
commons
case studies

2007 as donated by a selection of

www.flickr.com/photos/32491696@N00/384438789 and hot ‘n dry by Leonard John Matthews, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Picture Australia’s participants (www.

Images: (Top to Bottom, Left toRight) William Jolly Bridge by greenplasticdave, CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 Unported,
pictureaustralia.org/contribute/
participants/index.html), the group
encourages artists to mashup these
high-resolution photographs, thereby
‘bringing fresh significance to the
historical collection material available in
Picture Australia.’ The new works are
uploaded to the Re-Picture Australia
group with appropriate descriptions
and tags indicating their origins. Whilst
in mind the public benefit

Generic, www.flickr.com/photos/mythoto/535754014
Creative Commons licences are not
of providing maximum
compulsory, they are encouraged. In
access to content as part
particular, CC works will be able to
of Australia’s national
be incorporated into events within
collection’.
Picture Australia’s 2008 Vivid National
Photography Festival (www.nla.gov.au/
Ms Hooton has also
vivid), which will include the production
indicated that the NLA’s
of a DVD of CC images interspersed
decision to use Creative
with a series of short interviews with
Commons licensing was
Picture Australia researchers, Flickr
in part motivated by the
group members and collection curators,
benefits open content
to be launched as part of a multimedia
licensing provides for the users of
display at NLA on 14 July 2008. 117
Picture Australia. Because of the
prohibitive cost of obtaining copyright
clearances for such a large pool of
Motivations material, most of the photographs
available through Picture Australia are
As the above Flickr group statement listed as ‘all rights reserved’. Although a
shows, the NLA adopts Creative number of the participating institutions
Commons licensing in part because have general policies permitting ‘private
of the practical benefits it provides, by and domestic’ use of their images,
ensuring that the library has the rights it many pictures in the collection require
needs to harvest, maintain and promote permission to be sought from the
the collection, while still allowing the owner institution for reproduction. By
individual to retain control over how requiring creators who upload their own
their image is made available. In an photographs through Flickr to open
interview published in the program of license their material from the outset,
the iCommons iSummit 2006, Fiona the NLA is hoping to ‘develop a pool of
Hooton, manager of PictureAustralia, Creative Commons licenced [sic] images
indicated that the Creative Commons which can be generally used without
licences were first suggested by needing to seek additional permission.’
PictureAustralia’s web manager for this
reason.

However, the NLA also has

philosophical motivations for promoting
Creative Commons. As Ms Hooton
puts it, Creative Commons licensing
‘encourages content contributors to
think in terms of a librarian keeping

Creative Commons & Visual Arts

 building an
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commons

60Sox
description: 60Sox is a multimedia portfolio and
networking site providing a central
focal point for emergent creativity in
Australia and New Zealand.
website: www.60sox.org.au
licence used: Creative Commons 2.5 Australia suite
media: Animation, Design, Film & Video,
Interactive Media, Music & Audio,
Photography, Visual Art, Writing

60Sox homepage, July 2008

Overview original creative content, with highly-

rated and selected items obtaining
60Sox is an online network aimed heightened exposure on the main
at connecting emergent creative display pages of the website. It is also
practitioners and industry professionals user moderated, with a ‘dodgy’ button
in Australia and New Zealand. By where members can flag any item that
118 providing a home to showcase their they consider might have inappropriate
digital wares, 60Sox gives creators the or infringing content.
60Sox’s forum of opportunity to generate exposure, make
industry contacts, and receive feedback What sets 60Sox apart from the crowd
industry experts
and critical appraisal from peers and is the ‘2bobmob,’ a forum of high-profile
(the ‘2bobmob’) and successful industry professionals
industry experts, with an aim to improve
includes author John their chances at getting paid for their who provide constructive feedback
Birmingham, DJ Kid work or collaborating with people and advice to 60Sox members. These
Kenobi, musician possessing complementary skill sets. professionals comment on six items
from each category per month, and are
Gotye, designer able to provide their own ratings to boost
The network is divided into eight creative
Gary Emery, games categories: Animation, Design, Film & material to the front page.
CEO Robert Murray, Video, Interactive Media, Music & Audio,
Nickelodeon’s Mick Photography, Visual Art and Writing. Conceived in Brisbane, Australia, by
60Sox uses a combination of website senior researcher and experienced
Elliot and Simon Cahill
curation and member ratings to sort the industry producer Justin Brow, the
of Sony/BMG.

Statistics
Default licences chosen by 60Sox members: Licences chosen for individual works:

Attribution 41 Attribution 21
Attribution-Share Alike not available Attribution-Share Alike 1
Attribution-Noncommercial not available Attribution-Noncommercial not available
Attribution-No Derivatives 1 Attribution-NoDerivatives 3
Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 197 Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 401
Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivatives 12 Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivatives 14
All Rights Reserved 110 All Rights Reserved 343

Exhibition Open!
 creative
commons
case studies

60Sox project launched in August

2007. It is a collaboration of the
Motivations
Institute for Creative Industries and
Innovation (iCi) at the Queensland 60Sox’s producer, Justin Brow, says
University of Technology (QUT), the about using the Creative Commons
Australian Research Council (ARC), licences:
the Queensland and South Australian
Governments, the Australian Interactive ‘CC allows creators of
Media Industry Association (AIMIA), the
original creative digital
Southbank Institute of Technology and
the Billy Blue School of Graphic Arts. material to determine
how they are prepared
for their work to be used.
This creates a very
Licence Usage encouraging platform for
the sharing of creativity
‘60Sox is very proud to be and development of
flying the CC banner.’ innovation. I liken this
Justin Brow, Producer/Curator, 60Sox “passing-on” of creativity
to cultural development
As an important part of its ethos of in a digital world.’
sharing as a vital part of promotion
and creativity, 60Sox encourages Justin was initially inspired to
creators to upload their materials under adopt the CC licences after
a Creative Commons licence using
meeting Lawrence Lessig
its flexible, and easy-to-follow upload
system. This best-practice system uses in Brisbane in 2005. Lessig
conveyed his point with a 119
the CC Attribution–NonCommercial-
ShareAlike 2.5 Australia licence as its punch: if everything gets
default for uploads, but gives users the locked down in copyright
option to change this default to another laws, it really only serves
CC licence, or all rights reserved if the gatekeepers of content
they wish. By doing so, 60Sox actively

contents/tanjadear/1373, T-shirt by midnightsnack, http://60sox.org.au/contents/midnightsnack/1928. beach

rather than the general

pavillion elevation by woodimp, http://60sox.org.au/contents/woodimp/1645 and woman by xodesign,

Images: (Top to Bottom) Screenshot of Tanja_Dear_Desire_Island_Portfolio by tanjadear, http://60sox.org.au/
promotes the exchange of artistic works populace. Justin felt that
in the digital domain and encourages if the 60Sox site could
creative interaction (e.g. through encourage innovation in
remixing), but at the same time retains
Australia and New Zealand,
creators’ freedom to choose a licensing
model to meet their own preferences. it would put the nations in
a better position to improve

http://60sox.org.au/contents/xodesign/2183 All CC BY-NC-SA 2.5 Aus.

The user interface clearly displays international competitiveness
and explains the default licence, which in the digital content
creators can choose to bypass to the industries.
main CC licence generator. Members
can set a default licence for all of their Presenting original material
works, and are reminded of this licence showing broad creative
and given the option to change it each skills, this not-for-profit
time they upload. Further, they can network places Australian
choose a different licence for individual
and New Zealand’s young
items and change the licence on a work
creators in a prime position
at any time.
to collaborate and critique
As the statistics table shows, the work which is innovative and
majority of members of 60Sox have inspired, and moreover, to
embraced the CC option, which is be richly rewarded for their 60Sox hosts a diverse set
hugely encouraging. talent. of creative works.

Creative Commons & Visual Arts

 building an
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commons

Upstage
description: UpStage is a web-based venue for live online performance
website: www.upstage.org.nz
licence used: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 2.5,
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5 and
GNU General Public Licence (GPL), http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html
media: Text, Images, Video, Audio, Text2speech
location: New Zealand, with global application

Overview second grant from the NZ Government’s

Digital Strategy Fund in 2006 enabled
the development of UpStage V2 which
UpStage is a purpose-built web-
was launched in June 2007. Partners
based application for live online
artistic performance ‘cyberformance’. in the development of UpStage include
Distributed players manipulate pre- MediaLab, CityLInk and the Auckland
120 loaded media (images, text, audio, live University of Technology, and the project
web streams, etc) in real time to present has been fortunate to have the ongoing
performances to an online audience who services of lead developer Douglas
can interact with the work via a text chat. Bagnall, who is also a digital artist.
UpStage is live performance software
UpStage is a server-side application; made by artists, for artists.
players and audience need only a web
browser (with the Flash player plug-in) Currently UpStage is unfunded,
and an Internet connection. This makes and ongoing development is being
it very easy for audiences – there is no undertaken on a voluntary basis Bagnall
need to download, install or learn new and a team of software development
software as everything is delivered to students from AUT. During 2008,
the web browser. The server application the UpStage development team will
is freely available for anyone who wishes
implement new features and in August will
to create their own UpStage, and the
hold the 080808 UpStage Festival – the
project operates a server which is used
by a number of artists who do not have second festival of performances in UpStage
their own. (the first being 070707, in conjunction
with the launch of UpStage V2).
The vision for UpStage was
developed by the globally-distributed
cyberformance troupe Avatar Body
Collision, whose members began
Licence Usage
creating live performances using free
chat software in 2000. Funding for the The UpStage server application is
first version of UpStage came from the licensed under Creative Commons
Smash Palace Collaboration Fund in Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
2003 (a joint venture between Creative 2.5 licence and GNU General Public
New Zealand and the NZ Ministry for Licence. Those creating work in
Research, Science and Technology). A UpStage are also encouraged to adopt

Exhibition Open!
 Smith, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Generic, www.flickr.com/photos/upstage/762955211
Image: Baba Yaga is a still of a performance of the same name by Rebekah Wild and Vicki
creative
commons
case studies

Creative Commons licences for their Helen Varley Jamieson, UpStage’s

content. All media uploaded to the Project Manager and ‘creative catalyst,’
open UpStage server (which is used explains:
by numerous artists) are available to
anyone with a log-in to that server; ‘For these reasons, and
therefore, the UpStage development because we believe in open
team asks participants to be open to source as a fair and equitable
sharing media at the same time as philosophy, we chose the
respecting others’ work. Creative Commons Attribution-
NonCommercial-ShareAlike
To date, no problems have been 2.5 License; we also adopted
experienced with the use of UpStage the GNU General Public 121
with respect to these licences. Licence (GPL) to ensure that
all released improved versions
of UpStage continue to be free

Motivations software. Our lead programmer

was able to advise the project
team on which licences were
One of the motivations for creating
appropriate for UpStage.’
UpStage was the impending
obsolescence of The Palace graphical
chat application (www.thepalace.
com). The Palace was developed by General
Communities.com from 1995 to 2000,
at which point the company ceased While UpStage itself is open source
its development. As it was not open and most of the other software tools
source, the future looked grim as The
it requires are also open source, it is
Palace became increasing incompatible
with newer versions of operating not quite an end-to-end open source
systems. In creating UpStage, the solution: users must have the Flash
development team was determined to player plug-in for their browser, which is
make software that could be developed a proprietary application. The UpStage
by a community, that would grow in the development team has investigated
directions the user community wanted the feasibility of using Gnash as an
and needed, and that would not become open source alternative to Flash, but it
obsolete as long as there was someone was thought that at this stage it would
who wanted to continue its development. compromise UpStage’s functionality to
They also knew that funding and
resources were limited; therefore open such an extent that it is not viable. It is
source seemed the most likely route for hoped that in the future, UpStage will be
sustainability of the project. able to be open source end-to-end.

Creative Commons & Visual Arts

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alive!

B
I
Creative Commons, Cultural &
Governmental Institutions
‘Why is open access to public sector
information important for innovation? …
because knowledge and information flows
government &
underpin creativity and innovation. It is institutional
especially important in a small country
economy like Australia because of the case studies
relative scope and scale of public sector
information.’
Terry Cutler, 2007, Innovation and open access ABC Pool 125
to public sector information, p 9
Brisbane Media Map (BMM) 127
‘Open access to government copyright Dictionary of Sydney 129
material is increasingly being recognised
on an international scale as important not Government Information
only as an element of open democracy, Licensing Framework (GILF),
but as ‘a key driver of social, cultural and
economic development’
Queensland Government 132
Fitzgerald, 2006, www.oaklaw.qut.edu.au/ Powerhouse Museum,
files/LawReport/OAK_Law_Report_v1.pdf
Sydney 135
With the emergence of digital technologies that
enable dissemination of government material at
low cost, copyright law is now the last significant
barrier to truly open government. Where large release of publicly-funded materials – benefits
amounts of publicly-funded creative, educational to its economy, its industry, and its citizenry. The
and scientific materials are owned by government Queensland’s Government Information Licensing
institutions, there exists an enormous opportunity Framework (GILF) project is investigating the
to unlock this material for re-use in the name of many affordances of Open Content Licensing as a
innovation and education.
means to support economic activity in the private
sector whilst achieving concurrent social, cultural,
For Australian government entities, the task
educational and environmental aims. GILF
is now to identify best-practice models that
advocates that open access should be the default
maximise the benefits to Australia from the
 building an
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commons

setting for government information. In this

they are supported by many of Australia’s
leading thinkers, including Dr Terry Cutler
in his 2007 Innovation and open access to
public sector information address.

For cultural institutions, whose organising

principle has always been the provision
of public access to creative materials,
Creative Commons presents the
opportunity to engage with the public
consciousness on a new level. In
Australia there is increasing recognition
of the importance of opening these
cultural archives for both contribution
and comment. For projects such as the
Powerhouse Museum’s Photo of the Day
blog, the National Library of Australia’s
Picture Australia Click n Flick endeavour
(see CC Visual Arts) and ABC Pool, CC
offers an opportunity for these traditional
cultural organisations to not only to
source material collaboratively from the
Australian public, but also to enable the
124 Australian people to interact with their
creative properties, encouraging them
to ‘download, mash-up and reload with
new meaning’ (www.flickr.com/groups/re-
pictureaustralia).

Meanwhile, new community-consultative

projects such as Dictionary of Sydney
(DoS) and the Brisbane Media Map (BMM)
are building public resources founded from
their outset on principles of open access
and reuse, ensuring they return benefit to
the Australian community from which they
source their information. In doing so, they
reap rewards for both their collections and
the public they serve.

Archives Alive!
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case studies

ABC Pool
description: Pool is an online experimental collaborative
media publishing platform operated by the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
website: www.pool.org.au
licence used: Creative Commons BY-NC, http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0
and BY-NS-SA 3.0 Unported, http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-
sa/3.0
ABC Pool homepage, July 2008
media: Various – includes Video, Audio, Text, Picture, Design and
Interactive Media.
location: Australia

Overview ß Film and video

ß Music and audio
Pool is an experimental collaborative ß Visual art and photography
online media platform under development ß Animation
125
by the Australian Broadcasting ß Design
Corporation (ABC), in association with ß Interactive media
various Australian tertiary institutions and ß Website design; and
members of the digital media community. ß Text.
The initiative began in 2007 under the
administration of ABC Radio National (RN). The site also contains a forum where ideas
It has been developed with the assistance can be shared and relationships forged.
Artists can use Pool as a place to connect
of University of Technology, Sydney (UTS),
and collaborate on common creative
Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology The next stage of Pool
projects, as well as build community
(RMIT) and University of Wollongong, and interest in the digital industries. will involve two new
received feedback from various digital additions to the site.
media workers and artists acting as beta Having recently concluded its initial trial, They will expand on
testers. The project aims to foster local, the project is still in the research and the existing licensing
regional and university partnerships development stages. Pool was re-launched options to include the
with the ABC and promote Australia’s in April 2008 and continues to progress full suite of standard
as its userbase expands. While Pool’s Creative Commons
burgeoning creative digital industries.
content was accessible by the public licences.
during the trial, content contributions were
The Pool website has been designed by invitation only. When fully launched the Pool will also begin
to operate as an online community to official site will extend contribution rights to clearing and releasing
facilitate the sharing of a variety of media, the Australian public.
content from the ABC’s
in a manner primarily connecting the
archives, creating a
creative content community with the ABC. Importantly, because Pool is part of the
ABC it is subject to ABC editorial policies space to remix and
Contributors can publish, download, remix
and guidelines. This means that although repurpose bits from
and share media in such forms as: the ABC and from
contributors are encouraged to voice
other users.

Creative Commons, Cultural & Governmental Institutions

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their views, this must occur in a manner When contributors were offered the
where all members of the community choice of allowing derivatives of their
are treated respectfully. To this end, the content during the trial, most chose
site must publish content based upon non-derivative licences. It is assumed
four fundamentals: honesty, fairness, contributors are wary of allowing their work
independence and respect (ABC Editorial to be altered or remixed, as most wish to
Policies, www.abc.net.au/corp/pubs/ guard their artistic integrity. In moving
edpols.htm). towards promoting greater collaboration
and creative interactions, the Pool team
In December 2007, Pool was intend to embed an education process
commissioned for a further six-month into the licensing system to better equip
development cycle. At present the Pool users to determine which licence is best
team continue to call for comments and for them. As the site technology develops,
suggestions relating to the operation and the inclusion of in-built licence selection
direction of the project. Meanwhile the features should further assist contributors
experiment continues to shape the future in determining which licence is most
of public media. suitable to their needs.

Licence Usage Motivations

The Pool trial has adopted two Creative Pool aims to widen the scope of creator
Commons licences under which and consumer experience, create new
126 contributors can choose to publish their audiences, uncover opportunities and
content. Currently the default licence for encourage innovative and enriching
content uploaded to the site is subject teaching and learning processes. Creative
to a Creative Commons Attribution-
Commons licences offer a clear path
NonCommercial-NoDerivative 2.5
towards facilitating these goals. Media co-
Australian licence. Contributors may also
use the Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 creation and sharing has been a founding
licence. When launched, the official Pool concept for the project, leading the Pool
site will increase the choice of licences to team to choose Creative Commons as the
include the full CC suite. licensing system that could best enable
such interaction, while allowing
contributors to retain creative
Image: Still from a music video clip Spoof Fairytale by Harriet Macdonald, CC BY-NC-ND 3.0

control over their works.

As the ABC moves towards

Unported, http://pool.org.au/image/harriet_macdonald/spoof_fairytale

liberalising their traditional

copyright policies and
strengthening their underpinning
ethos as a publicly funded
non-commercial organisation,
Creative Commons has assisted
the Pool team in presenting
alternative public licensing
solutions to the broadcasting
organisation.

Archives Alive!
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Brisbane Media Map

description: The Brisbane Media Map (BMM) is an
online database of Media and Creative
Industry organisations servicing or
based in Brisbane, Australia.
website: http://bmm.qut.edu.au
licence used: Creative Commons Attribution-
NonCommercial-No Derivatives 2.1
Australia Licence
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by- Brisbane Media Map homepage, July 2008
nc-nd/2.1/au
media: Text, Images
location: Australia

Overview empirically identifies industry hot-spots

and documents the extent to which
The Brisbane Media Map (BMM) is a the creative industries permeate the
comprehensive online database and guide Brisbane demographic. The inclusion of
commentary and essays on topical issues
127
to the businesses, service-providers,
communities, organisations and regulators affecting the industry provides a framework
that make up and/or service Brisbane’s to the 500+ industry organisations profiled.
media and creative industries sectors.
Clusters in the database include: Initiated in 2000 and hosted by the
Creative Industries Faculty at the
ß Audiovisual; Queensland University of Technology
ß Broadcast; (www.creativeindustries.qut.edu.au), BMM
is maintained by the faculty’s final-year
ß Community and culture;
undergraduate and post-graduate Media
ß Music;
and Communication students (www.
ß Print media; creativeindustries.qut.edu.au/courses/
ß Media services; and study-options/media-comm/index.jsp) .
ß New media. Operating with a focus on learning further
enables the project to provide student
In a bid to address the general lack contributors with the opportunity to engage
of economic value attributed to local vocationally with their local Media and
Creative Industries, the project aims to Creative Industry communities.
draw attention to the depth of contribution
generated by the various creative and The database acts a valuable source of
media sectors in Brisbane. The BMM information for anyone with an interest
achieves this by mapping industry in the Brisbane media and creative
activity locations (using Google Maps), sectors including students, emerging or
paired with organisation synopses established industry professionals and
and contact information. The result potential investors.

Creative Commons, Cultural & Governmental Institutions

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Licence Usage Licensing BMM under Creative Commons

was a result of student initiative and
With the exception of those marked with checking the licences for compliance
the © (copyright – all rights reserved) logo, and alignment with CC frameworks and
all text and photographic content on the developments remains one of the core
BMM website is licensed under Creative tasks associated with student maintenance
Commons Attribution-NonCommercial- of the site.
No Derivatives 2.1 Australia licence. The
technology (database and code) through
which the Brisbane Media Map operates Motivations
is also licensed under the same CC-BY-
NC-ND 2.1 model. This means that the The Brisbane Media Map team recognises
information and images on the BMM site that new approaches to copyright
can be readily shared and distributed, to management must be considered in
facilitate the dissemination of information order to exploit the enormous potential
that the project encourages. for knowledge distribution offered by the
Internet. Creative Commons licences
The site has now over 6,000 visitors per complement the BMM’s role in supporting
month, from a total of 122 countries. Brisbane’s expanding media and creative
This demonstrates the extent to which communities.
the site can promote local industry
on an international scale. Importantly,
128 Creative Commons licences facilitate
this in allowing BMM users to share and
distribute information from the database,
while ensuring author attribution and non-
commercial requirements. The licences
protect the authors’ integrity while ensuring
the information is viewed by as many
people as possible.

The Brisbane Media Map organises media

and creative industries businesses, service
Image: A Google Map representing the entries in the music cluster for the Brisbane CBD
providers, communities, organisations and
regulators into clusters for navigation by
category. Each cluster has a number of
subcategories which return results when
clicked on, including the entry’s name,
locale and grouping.
and surrounding suburbs on the Brisbane Media Map

If you click on an entry you are taken to that

entry’s listing which includes a summary,
contact details, and recruitment and
historical information. It also plots the entry
on an embedded Google map.

Alternatively, you can plot all the entries

within a cluster of a category. This map
plots all the entries in the music cluster,
zoomed in to the Brisbane CBD and
surrounding inner-city suburbs.

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Dictionary of Sydney
description: The Dictionary of Sydney (DoS) is a project to establish a digital encyclopaedia of the
history of Sydney, Australia.
website: www.dictionaryofsydney.org
licence used: Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 2.5 Australia
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.5/au
media: Audio, Video, Images, Text, Spatial
location: Sydney Basin plus Blue Mountains, Australia

Overview The Dictionary’s vision is to allow its

content to grow over the coming years,
‘If it happened in Sydney, then bringing to life the characters, political
it belongs in the Dictionary. players, writers, dreamers, sports people, 129
Through richly interconnected and even criminals who have made the
text, multimedia and maps, the
city what it is today. The project will record
Dictionary will tell the story of
Sydney’s history and make it urban myths, discussing major themes and
available through a wide range of debates in Sydney’s history.
digital possibilities.’
www.dictionaryofsydney.org ‘The Dictionary of Sydney,
“born digital” to take advantage
The goal of the Dictionary of Sydney of the latest developments
(DoS) project is to build a self-sustaining in information engineering
repository of historical information on and technology, will be an
Sydney, Australia, assembled from interconnected web of text,
newly commissioned entries as well maps and multimedia,
as underlying multimedia and spatial accessible on your computer
information. There is no one name to anywhere in the world or through
your mobile device as you move
cover the Dictionary’s ambit, according to
through the city it describes.
its information package: it is concurrently
The Dictionary will interest,
a dictionary, encyclopaedia, atlas,
educate, entertain and inspire.’
guidebook, and gazetteer. It represents
http://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/ojs/index.php/
Sydney ‘then’ and Sydney ‘now,’ from
sydney_ journal/announcement/view/10
convict settlement to global metropolis,
embracing the city in its natural and built
Contributions to the Dictionary are sought
forms, its botany and geology, with a
from academics, writers, and members
canvas stretching from Pittwater to Port
Hacking and out to the Blue Mountains. of the general public, through community

Creative Commons, Cultural & Governmental Institutions

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exposed in other ways – mobile,

web service, print-on-demand,
Image: Sydney Opera House.. by Sir Mervs, CC BY 2.0 Generic, www.flickr.com/photos/

and so on – whether as part of

this project or by other parties
given access to the repository.

The project is run under the

auspices of the not-for-profit
Dictionary of Sydney Trust.
DoS is supported financially
and in-kind through the City
of Sydney, and by a number
sir_mervs/2624488638

of Sydney-based cultural
institutions. In 2005 the project
was awarded an Australian
Research Council (ARC) grant
through the cooperative efforts of
groups such as historical societies and
the University of Sydney, together with the
local libraries. Drawing together a range
City of Sydney, University of Technology
of entries, the Dictionary of Sydney will
Sydney, the State Library and State
include:
Records, New South Wales.
130 ß Short targeted pieces of
information;
ß A vast range of topics suitable
Licence Usage
for quick reference;
The Dictionary of Sydney’s Copyright
ß Longer contributions involving
and IP Policy (www.dictionaryofsydney.
new scholarship;
org/www/html/149-copyright--ip.
ß Oral histories, photographs, asp?intSiteID=1) specifies three key points:
maps and artistic
representations; and
ß ‘Authors keep copyright in their
ß Audio recordings and moving
work.
images.
ß Authors are responsible for
Specialists will employ cutting-edge ensuring that they do not submit
technology to store and present the material for which copyright
information, defining best practice for clearance has not been obtained.
digital archiving. According to DoS Project ß The Dictionary reserves the
Manager, Stewart Wallace, the Dictionary right to reformat material to take
will preferably be managed by an ontology advantage of the possibilities of
(or at least a sophisticated taxonomy) digital presentation. We will not,
which will provide organisation, context of course, do anything to alter
and navigation for the site’s users and
the substantive meaning of an
contributors. Material in the Dictionary’s
author’s words and authors will
repository will be presented initially as
always be acknowledged.’
a website; future plans exist for it to be

Archives Alive!
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case studies

Whilst the Dictionary’s project team has

no experience with open content licensing
to date, they envisage use of the Creative
Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 2.5
Australia licence (http://creativecommons.
org/licenses/by-nc/2.5/au/) for Dictionary-
commissioned text. Rights on multimedia
materials will vary depending on the
source.

Motivations
The Dictionary of Sydney project has
considered the adoption of open content
licensing to enable broad reuse of material
hosted in the Dictionary. DoS Project
Manager Stewart Wallace has expressed
this philosophy in an email interview with
Rachel Cobcroft from Creative Commons
Australia:
131
‘We are seeking an open but
manageable regime which will
encourage the widest possible
deployment of the material in
the Dictionary, at times through
third-parties, while maintaining
sufficient protection for
contributors through appropriate
attribution. We are not in a
position to support a very
complex rights system.’

‘The Dictionary of Sydney, “born

digital” to take advantage of the
latest developments in information
engineering and technology, will
be an interconnected web of text,
maps and multimedia.’
http://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/ojs/index.php/sydney_journal/
announcement/view/10

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Government Information Licensing

Framework (GILF), Queensland Government
description: The Queensland Government Information Licensing Framework (GILF) seeks to create
and implement a new standardised Creative Commons-based information licensing
arrangement for all Queensland Government information, providing on-demand access
to accurate, consistent and authoritative public sector information (PSI) to support a
range of Government initiatives.
website: www.qsic.qld.gov.au
licence used: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 Licence
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/au/
media: Text
location: Queensland, Australia

Overview other legal or policy constraints. In

the project’s Stage 2 Report produced
in 2006, titled (http://www.qsic.qld.
The Queensland Government Information
gov.au/QSIC/QSIC.nsf/CPByUNID/
132 Licensing Framework (GILF) (http://
FDC06236FADB6814A25727B0013C7EE)
www.qsic.qld.gov.au/QSIC/QSIC.nsf/C
Government Information and Open
PByUNID/6C31063F945CD93B4A2570
Content Licensing: An Access and Use
96000CBA1A) was established in 2006
Strategy (http://www.qsic.qld.gov.au/QSIC/
by the Queensland Spatial Information
QSIC.nsf/0/F82522D9F23F6F1C4A257
Council (QSIC) (http://www.qsic.qld.gov.
2EA007D57A6/$FILE/Stage%202%20
au/qsic/QSIC.nsf/navigators/Inside%20
Final%20Report%20-%20PDF%20Format.
QSIC) to review international trends in the
pdf?openelement), GILF concluded that a
transaction of public sector information
significant majority (e.g. 85%) of PSI to be
(PSI), and to formulate best practice for
suitable for use with Creative Commons
the business environment. GILF seeks to
licences.
create and implement a new standardised
information licensing arrangement for all
The Stage 2 Report sets out:
Queensland Government information,
providing on-demand access to accurate,
ß Open Content Licensing and
consistent and authoritative public sector
Information Management
information (PSI) to support a range of
principles being developed
Government initiatives.
nationally and internationally;
After consultation with State, Federal, ß A gap analysis undertaken
and local government agencies together between various existing non-
with the private sector, GILF has standard licences in use and the
recommended that State Government Creative Commons licences;
agencies move to an information licensing ß The review undertaken of the
framework based on Creative Commons Digital Rights Management
for information that carries no concerns (DRM) component of the GILF to
relating to privacy, confidentiality or electronic tag licensed data;

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ß A roadmap to implement the movement increasingly gaining

framework in pilot agencies. momentum and the GILF project
A preliminary draft toolkit is is internationally acknowledged
included to assist with pilot as making an important and
agency implementation including innovative contribution in the
addressing policy, technology content of government information
and legal issues. (PSI) including geospatial
(mapping) information.’
In a subsequent conference report for
the Australian National Summit on Open Neale Hooper, Principal Counsel, Office of
Access to Public Sector Information (www. Economic and Statistical Research,
qsic.qld.gov.au/QSIC/QSIC.nsf/CPByUN Queensland Treasury
ID/9BC99135C76C3C04A2572EA0023
AD60), held in Brisbane on 13 July 2007, In its Stage 2 Report, GILF endorses the
GILF observed on page 24 that: application of the Creative Commons
licensing suite to its pilot projects proposed
‘A broad consensus emerged for Stage 3. To date, the Creative
in favour of the benefits to Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5
be derived from government Australia licence has been applied to
both reports relating to the GILF project.
implementing an open access
Notification of the CC licence has been
policy, subject to proper protection
applied as part of the PDF format of both
of private and other restricted files.
information, and the use of
Creative Commons (CC) open The CC BY-SA 2.5 licence was selected
content licences for the majority as OESR wanted State copyright to be
of PSI which is unaffected by acknowledged but wanted others to
133
privacy or other restricting factors. be able to benefit from and build upon
Conceptually, open access to its findings and work. The ShareAlike
PSI leads to the realisation of the provision was considered to facilitate that
information’s full social, cultural, outcome.
environmental, civil society, and
Application of CC to data products and
commercial potential.’
services will occur as part of the trial within
The full scope of the GILF project covers OER.
policy, technology and law (eg licensing).
The project is ongoing, and trials are
currently underway relating to OCL,
together with collaborations with Federal
Motivations
Government agencies also considering
GILF operates as a project of the Office
the potential application of CC licences
to a significant proportion of their data of Economic and Statistical Research
and information. Stage 3 of the project (OESR) (www.oesr.qld.gov.au), being
specifically aims to test CC licences in the Office of the Queensland State
multi-agency and whole-of-Government Government Statistician within the
arrangements. GILF also has international Queensland Treasury (www.treasury.qld.
connections with the UK and EU. gov.au). In order to perform the statutory
functions of the State Government
Statistician, OESR must be able to secure
Licence Usage efficient and effective access to, as well
as the rights to reuse, PSI located across
all State Government departments and
‘Open access (OA), including
agencies, in addition to other relevant
the use of open content
information external to the Queensland
licences (eg CC) is a global

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‘Social, cultural, educational and environmental benefits

will also be realised with the greater access to and re-
use of public sector information facilitated under the
GILF project which includes use of CC licences for the
significant majority of public sector information.’
Neale Hooper, Principal Counsel, OER

Government. With this objective in mind, of Technology in 2004 which included a

OESR, as part of GILF, has assessed the satellite link presentation by Professor
applicability of the Creative Commons Lawrence Lessig who discussed the
licensing scheme for PSI, concurrently scheme. Whilst CC was developed initially
ensuring that proper protections are in for creative/artistic works protected by
place to protect individuals’ privacy, and to copyright, the officers considered there
respect the confidentiality of information, may well be potential to apply the same
whether commercial-in-confidence or licences to government information
owing to statutory constraints or other databases and products which are also
restrictive considerations. protected by copyright under Australian
copyright law.
134 Creative Commons licences facilitate
open access to and re-use of PSI whilst ‘Government holds major
ensuring attribution of State copyright repositories of public sector
ownership of information, protection of information. Greater access to
the IP of the State, and the significant and reuse will facilitate better
limitation of any potential legal liability decision making generally by the
for the State in making such information public sector, the private sector,
available on line. The value or potential including the business community.
of PSI lies in its maximum reuse and CC
Increased access and rights of
licences facilitate such reuse.
re-use provided under the GILF
Neale Hooper observes that owing project if implemented will also
to Creative Commons’ status as an assist in promoting economic
international movement, and its recognition activity in the private sector.
as a standard for flexible copyright Social, culture, educational and
licensing, the government can gain environmental benefits will also
significant leverage from adopting CC. be realised with the greater
access to and re-use of public
‘Creative Commons is an sector information facilitated
international movement and under the GILF project which
maximum reuse of government includes use of CC licences for
information is facilitated by the significant majority of public
adopting an already developed sector information. More limiting
internationally accepted licensing licences will need to be used
system. No point in needlessly re- where restrictive issues such as
inventing the wheel.’ privacy, statutory constraints and
other confidentiality obligations
Creative Commons was first introduced are present.’
to the OESR when officers attended a
Neale Hooper
seminar at the Queensland University

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Powerhouse Museum, Sydney

description: Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum (PHM) offers an iconic collection of Australian cultural
artefacts whose images are captured in PHM’s Photo of the Day, plus a suite of
educational materials under the banner of Play.
website: Play materials: http://play.powerhousemuseum.com,
Photo of the Day images: http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/imageservices and
Flickr Commons images: www.flickr.com/commons
licence used: Play materials: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 2.5 Generic, http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5, Photo of the Day images: Creative Commons BY-NC-ND Works
2.0, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0 or full copyright and
Flickr Commons images: ‘No known copyright restrictions’, http://www.flickr.com/
commons/usage
media: Educational Materials, Images.
location: Sydney, Australia.

Overview to its vast collection. Shot by PHM’s

professional photographers for a variety
The Powerhouse Museum, Sydney of purposes – documenting PHM’s
(PHM) is one of Australia’s premier public events, programs and exhibitions,
to behind-the-scenes operations – the 135
cultural institutions, housing collections
which express the nation’s innovation images form a rich archive of life in New
and creativity in the fields of science, South Wales and beyond, as well as
technology, and the arts. With 22 detailing aspects and activities of the PHM
permanent exhibitions, as well as 250 hitherto unseen. A selection of these
interactive displays, over 388,000 photographs is hosted on Flickr (www.
historically-significant objects are curated flickr.com/photos/16870059@N04).
by museum staff across an area
of 20,000 square metres, the
Circular Quay taken somewhere between 1884-1917
equivalent of three international
competition soccer fields. PHM
Powerhouse Museum, Sydney. No known copyright restrictions. www.flickr.com/photos/
was opened to the public on 10 Image: Bird’s eye view of Circular Quay, part of the Tyrrell Photographic Collection,

March 1988, with the vision that

‘celebrates human creativity
and innovation in ways that
engage, inform and inspire
diverse audiences’ (www.
powerhousemuseum.com/about/
aboutMuseum.asp).

PHM’s history and exhibitions

powerhouse_museum/2667030434

are captured in the Museum’s

Photo of the Day (www.
powerhousemuseum.com/
imageservices), a blog which
features photographs pertaining

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On 7 April 2008, PHM announced ‘The Powerhouse Museum

(www.powerhousemuseum.com/ initiative shows that the NSW
imageservices/?m=20080408) its Government is a leader in
collaboration with Flickr to create ‘The increasing public access to
Commons’ (http://www.flickr.com/ Australian cultural collections.
commons), becoming the first museum These evocative images of
in the world to release publicly-held historic Sydney and early
historical photographs for access on the Australian life will greatly appeal
photo-sharing platform. PHM selected to people from around the world,
as well as Australians.’
its Tyrrell Photographic Collection (www.
powerhousemuseum.com/tyrrell) for
Play at Powerhouse (http://play.
display, an extensive series of glass plate
powerhousemuseum.com) is PHM’s
negatives taken by photographers Charles
Kerry (1857-1928) and Henry King (1855- education program for children. It provides
1923), showing Sydney life in the late 19th a resource designed for children aged
and early 20th century. up to 10 years, and involves parents and
carers. Play includes information about
The initial Flickr collection (www.flickr.com/ visiting the PHM with children, and offers
photos/powerhouse_museum) consisted of activities and games around the topics of
200 black and white Tyrrell images, which science and design to engage children
are now available for public tagging and at home. These can be downloaded
comment. PHM’s curators continue to and completed independently, but are
upload 50 new images every week (www. clearly designed to enhance a visit to the
powerhousemuseum.com/dmsblog/index. Museum. The project is overseen by the
136 php/2008/04/16/50-new-images-on-the- Web Service Unit at the PHM, headed by
commons-on-flickr) from the collection’s Sebastian Chan.
7903 images, and, where possible,
add geotags to create an interactive
map documenting the position of the
photographic content (www.flickr.com/
Statistics
photos/powerhouse_museum/2376052141/
PHM’s website received over 7.6 million
map/?view=users).
unique hits in the 2006-7 financial year.
This was in addition to seeing in excess
New South Wales Minister for the Arts
of 621,000 visitors on site, and 426,000
Frank Sartor said in response to the
through the travelling exhibitions. The
announcement:
Museum hosts over 385,000 objects in
the fields of science, technology, industry,
history, decorative arts, music, transport
and space exploration. Icons and artefacts
are displayed over 11 kilometres of gallery
space as well as online.

According to Sebastian Chan’s blog

posting on fresh + new(er) (www.
powerhousemuseum.com/dmsblog/
index.php/2008/04/09/24-hours-later-
powerhouse-on-the-commons-on-flickr),
the reaction to PHM’s Flickr Commons
initiative has been remarkable. In the day

PHM’s Photo of the Day blog, June 2008

Archives Alive!
 creative
commons
case studies

following PHM’s public announcement, the ShareAlike 2.5

Tyrrell collection received ‘plenty of views Licence. According
(4777), and stacks of tags (175) - in such a to PHM’s web
master Sebastian
‘It’s great to see our
images displayed,
short time.’ In the first week of the Tyrrell
Chan, the intention
Collection being hosted on Flickr (www. in licensing under

acknowledged,
powerhousemuseum.com/dmsblog/index. Creative Commons
php/2008/04/16/50-new-images-on-the- was to allow school

accessed and
commons-on-flickr) PHM received nearly children and
20,000 views and ‘an enormous amount of teachers to use
these resources in
tagging and ‘favouriting’ activity combined
with many congratulatory messages and
a multitude of ways
whilst balancing
appreciated by so
support for the Museum’s release of these
images into the Commons.’
PHM’s internal
needs. many passionate
In late November enthusiasts...’
2007, selected
Licence Usage images from Photo
of the Day were Geoff Friend, Powerhouse Museum
The rights and permissions pertaining similarly licensed. Photography Manager
to PHM’s content are clarified online The Museum’s
(www.powerhousemuseum.com/ photographers were
imageservices/?page_id=157), which involved to a large part in the discussions
about licensing for this project, with
specifies that materials housed at the
all agreeing to the use of CC. Having
Museum fall into three categories: full Creative Commons licensing on certain
copyright, ‘no known copyright,’ and images was felt potentially to encourage 137
‘Creative Commons Attribution-Non- interest and sales of the All Rights
Commercial-NoDerivatives.’ Reserved photos, and to enable the
collection to be seen and used to a greater
In relation to the application of the Creative degree.
Commons BY-NC-ND licence, the site
In relation to images displayed on Flickr
explains:
Commons, the ‘no known copyright’
category indicates that the Museum
‘This licence is used on some is unaware of any current Copyright
parts of our website. Examples restrictions on this work: ‘This can be
are our own photography in the because the term of Copyright for this work
Photo of the Day blog and also may have expired or that Copyright does not
for children’s activities on our apply to this type of work.’
Play at Powerhouse website.
This license means that you can
republish this material for any
non-commercial purpose as Motivations
long as you give attribution back
to the Powerhouse Museum as Creative Commons Australia has
the creator and that you do not been excited to follow the progress
modify the work in any way. A of PHM’s initiatives, and has spoken
more detailed explanation of the to the respective members of PHM’s
license is available from Creative development and curatorial teams over this
Commons.’ period. Sebastian Chan, head of PHM’s
Web Service Unit, expressed the following
In April 2007, Play’s downloadable
materials were licensed using the Creative opinion about Creative Commons licensing
Commons Attribution-NonCommercial- on 17 March 2008:

Creative Commons, Cultural & Governmental Institutions

 building an
australasian
commons

using this licensing tool

www.flickr.com/photos/powerhouse_museum_photography/2740099339
Image: Underwater at Enfield by Jean-Francois Lanzarone. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Generic,

for our blog Photo of the

Day to support non-
commercial use of our
images.’

In addition, Paula directed

us towards Geoff Friend,
PHM’s Photography
Manager, who supports
the move towards Creative
Commons licences:

‘Creative Commons
offers a flexible addition
to the standard copyright
symbol we’ve been
using for many years
and the great thing is it
allows photographers
Swimming at Enfield pool in Sydney. Photographed for the exhibition Modern Times:
the untold story of modernism in Australia. and other creators
to choose different
‘Creative Commons provided licensing options. It’s
the perfect licensing for the craft great to see our images displayed,
138 activities on our children’s website acknowledged, accessed
– http://play.powerhousemuseum. and appreciated by so many
com. We wanted to ensure that passionate enthusiasts that we
children, parents and teachers can engage with on our favourite
could download, duplicate and subject, and hopefully so others
reuse all the craft activities on can learn from our images.’
the site whilst protecting the
Museum’s authorship. Creative
Commons also provides a means
for us to encourage the use of
these in schools without teachers
needing to be fearful of paying
CAL fees for their use.’

Paula Bray, Manager of the Powerhouse’s

Image Services, agreed with this
sentiment:

‘It is great to be able to use the

Creative Commons licensing
tool so our audience can clearly
see what the conditions of use
are for Powerhouse Museum
Photo of the Day images. This
informative licensing model will
hopefully educate people on the
often complicated conditions
surrounding copyright. We are

Archives Alive!
 remix my lit

TM
Creative Commons & Written Word
:
In defining ‘web 2.0,’ Tim O’Reilly espouses
the remixing of multiple sources of information, written word
including the personal, to create rich
user experiences (http://radar.oreilly.com/ case studies
archives/2005/10/web-20-compact-definition.
html). Aduki Press – Stick This In Your
Memory Hole 141
Nowhere is user participation in the creation of
meaning more lauded than in the blogosphere. The Age Blogs 144
Bloggers are recognised to be among the
Australian Network for Art and
first groups truly to embrace the CC scheme,
and remain some of its strongest proponents.
Technology (ANAT) – Filter
As exemplars in this field, Human Resources Magazine 145
consultant Michael Specht and Malaysian free On Line Opinion 148
culture advocate Aizat Faiz build their writings
around the desire to foster open source and free A New Leaf Media – The Pundit 150
content. This advocacy is driven by the desire to John Quiggin’s Blog 152
cultivate new voices and alternative viewpoints,
challenging the enduring corporate dominance of Michael Specht’s Blog 155
mainstream media, as aided by CC. As blogger Mike Seyfang 156
Robin Good puts it:
Remix My Lit 159
‘Web 2.0 is turbo-charging our capacity
to re-establish this vibrant, participatory,
people-driven, creative culture. But
we nevertheless face greater threats Nevertheless, as shown in these case studies,
than ever to our cultural liberties, as the use of CC licensing on blogs is not always
corporations in league with legislators uncontroversial. Prominent Australian economist
dream up new ways to monetize and
John Quiggin sparked a debate on the value of
fasten down the media being created
CC licences to blogging, when he introduced the
online.’
licensing on his eponymous blog johnquiggin.
www.masternewmedia.org/news/2006/12/14/
remixbased_readwrite_culture_vs_the.htm com (http://johnquiggin.com/index.php/
archives/2005/07/01/creative-commons-license).
 building an
australasian
commons

Similarly, Australian
‘We have now a “Read-
education consultant and
web 2.0 exponent Mike
Write” internet – a world in
Seyfang prompted a
debate on Attribution only
which content is bought, but
versus Noncommercial
licensing (http://mseyfang.
not simply to be consumed’
edublogs.org/2008/05/07/
why-i-license-ccby). Lawrence Lessig
Creatives face a closed Net, http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/
The proliferation of d55dfe52-77d2-11da-9670-0000779e2340.html
CC licences through the
blogosphere has led to its and Tonic, which regularly reproduce
adoption by increasing numbers of new CC-licensed photographs from Flickr,
media organisations. The Australian even mainstream media are exploring
Network for Art and Technology (ANAT), the value the CC licensing system adds
Australia’s peak industry body for artists to online reporting in the digital age.
working across science and technology, Perhaps most notably, in the lead up
commenced licensing their triannual to the Australian Federal election in
publication Filter under CC BY-NC-SA November 2008, Melbourne boutique
2.5 Australia licence with Issue 65: publisher Aduki Press released Tristan
This is not open source. Melbourne Clark’s Stick This in Your Memory Hole,
publisher A New Leaf Media, which aims recognised as the first Australian book
140 to provide an opportunity for young and licensed by a publisher under Creative
emerging writers to publish work in a Commons. Comprising thirty-seven
professional capacity, has embraced essay-style chapters which take the
CC for its Melbourne International Film reader on a satirical journey through
Festival publication, The Pundit, as a the political, environmental, social
way of increasing its reach and engaging and cultural issues of contemporary
with audiences. Through blogs such as Australia, the book presents a challenge
The Age newspaper’s Chew on This to mainstream thinking, in addition to
the traditional ‘all rights
reserved’ copyright model.

Even so, the full potential

for open licensing text is
Image: text by fantomdesigns, CC BY 2.0 Generic, www.flickr.com/photos/

only new being realised.

Recognising the importance
of establishing an interactive
web 2.0 presence for writers
online, the Remix My Lit
project (www.remixmylit.
com) encapsulates the
potential for CC writing,
fantomdesigns/2124600894

seeking to engage with

Australian artists to develop
interactive and cross-
platform narratives for the
21st century.

Remix My Lit
 creative
commons
casestudies

Aduki Press – Stick This in Your Memory Hole

description: Stick This in Your Memory Hole, comprising thirty-seven essay-style chapters, is
the first Australian book licensed by a publisher under CC.

website: www.aduki.net.au/content/view/16/29

licence used: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 Australia Licence

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.5/au

media: Text

location: Melbourne, Australia

Overview the publication’s release coincided

with Australia’s 2007 Federal election
Launched by Melbourne-based boutique campaign. Clark’s commentary
publisher Aduki Independent Press on characterises the growing dissent
1 November 2007, Stick This in Your against government and mainstream
thinking, tackling a range of issues 141
Memory Hole is the work of first-time
author Tristan Clark. Significantly, including politics, economics, media,
the book sets a benchmark in being consumerism, resources, logging and
Aduki’s first publication to be released transportation. The title is a reference to
under a Creative Commons licence, George Orwell’s 1984, with the ‘memory
and moreover is believed to be the first hole’ being a disposal shoot through
title in Australia to be distributed by a which documents deemed to be in
publisher in this manner conflict with ‘official truths’ were sent.
(http://creativecommons.
org.au/node/132).

Stick This in Your

Memory hole presents
‘I don’t believe that licensing the book
a biting critique of
Australian politics and
under CC has negatively impacted
society, wielding wit and on sales of the book. On the contrary,
humour to evoke issues
and encourage serious I think that having the entire text
debate by audiences not
necessarily engaged
online for readers to preview has
with Australia’s political actually helped to sell more books .’
arena. Appropriately,
Emily Clark, Publisher, Aduki Independent Press

Creative Commons & Written Word

 building an
australasian
commons

As the book’s blurb states:

‘Intended to elicit both laughter

and indignation Stick This
in Your Memory Hole is an
unprecedented attack on an
atrophied political system,
corporate lechery and the
ideological sycophants that
comprise and support it.’

Aduki Independent Press specialises

in non-fiction books, essays and
magazines with a particular interest in
community, environment, migration,
politics, social justice, food and travel.
As a commercial publishing venture,
Aduki receives no outside funding.
Wishing to conduct a ‘fair and reputable The cover of Tristan Clark’s Stick This in Your
business,’ Aduki’s philosophy (http:// Memory Hole, published by Aduki
www.aduki.net.au/philosophy.html) is Independent Press
expressed as follows:

142
ß Produce quality written works.
Licence Usage
ß Seek to represent varied
and distinctive authors and
Stick This in Your Memory Hole has
material.
been published both in print and digital
ß Fostering of Australian talent
form (online) under a Creative Commons
and support within publishing
Attribution–Noncommercial 2.5 Australia
industry.
licence. Both versions carry appropriate
ß Offer contracts that are fair
licensing information. The online
and balanced between the
signing parties. version has been downloaded over 1000
times since its release in November
ß Fair payment for author work
and general services. 2007. As of April 2008 the print
ß Conduct business in a version had sold over 500 copies. The
sustainable way, avoiding publishers report that using the CC-BY-
unnecessary use of energy, NC licence has been an overwhelmingly
paper and materials. positive experience.
ß Only print books and
magazines on 100 per cent ‘I don’t believe that licensing
recycled paper. the book under CC has
ß Use the most energy efficient negatively impacted on sales
print processes available. of the book. On the contrary, I
think that having the entire text
ß Strive to maintain a ‘no
online for readers to preview
pulping’ policy.
has actually helped to sell more
ß Promote values of fairness, books’
diversity, individuality and free Emily Clark, Publisher,
speech. Aduki Independent Press

Remix My Lit
 creative
commons
casestudies

Aduki reports that it intends to release to the book to those who

Tristan’s second book under the same could afford a print copy. We
Creative Commons licence in 2009. also hoped the work would
be shared and reference and
wanted the audience to know

Motivations that they were able to do that

without contacting us.’

‘We really like the idea of giving

Aduki’s publication met with
people easy access and the
right to use the work without considerable excitement from the team
seeking our permission as at Creative Commons Australia, who
the book has an important expressed their support for its open
message that needs to be distribution as follows:
shared.’
Emily Clark, Aduki Independent Press, ‘Breaking out from the pack
http://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/7714 and taking the plunge into open
content licensing isn’t an easy
Aduki’s manager Emily Clark was decision for a small publisher
exposed to the idea of Creative to make, and Aduki deserves to
Commons at the 2007 Melbourne be congratulated. But, as they
Writers Festival (www.mwf.com.au/2007/ say in their press release, with
content/print.asp), where she heard its strong message in support
successful science fiction writer Cory of free speech “Stick this in
Doctorow (http://craphound.com) speak
143
your memory hole is the perfect
about his positive experience with book to begin with.”’
the licences, together with Creative http://creativecommons.org.au/node/132
Commons Australia Project Manager
Jessica Coates. This discussion was
later broadcast on The Law Report on
ABC Radio National on 20 November
2007 (www.abc.net.au/rn/lawreport/
stories/2007/2095456.htm). Impressed
with the enthusiasm of the presenters,
Emily reveals that she discovered an
excellent publishing option: licensing
under Creative Commons was the
perfect way to reconcile Aduki’s
commercial requirements with the
author’s moral and philosophical
objections to copyright. In an email
interview with Emma Carroll from
Creative Commons Australia, Emily
offered the opinion that:

‘The content of the book, I feel,

is really important and needs
to be shared. The author and
I did not want to limit access

Creative Commons & Written Word

 building an
australasian
commons

The Age Blogs

description: Melbourne’s The Age newspaper blogs The Tonic and Chew On This regularly use
Creative Commons-licensed Flickr photographer.

website: The Tonic: http://blogs.theage.com.au/lifestyle/thetonic and Chew On This:

http://blogs.theage.com.au/lifestyle/chewonthis

licence used: Various Creative Commons 2.0 licences

media: Images

location: Australia

Overview graphs to illustrate their entries

regarding health and lifestyle. A blog
Melbourne’s The Age (www.theage. discussing dietary tips and tricks, Chew
com.au) newspaper offers readers a on This is presented by Walkley-award
number of blogs (www.theage.com. winning health writer Paula Goodyer
au/blogcentral) on modern life, from to overcome the confusion on ‘what’s
144 healthy to eat?’ The Tonic is a blog
share-house hints to cinema reviews
through to travel advice. Readers are by Terry Robson driven by ‘a desire to
encouraged to post comments and spread the word that health is more than
questions in response to the journalistic the absence of disease.’
entries, which are often humorous but
helpful reflections. In participating in
these fora, readers are bound by the Licence Usage
usual Terms and Conditions (www.
theage.com.au/articles/2006/07/27/1153 Both Age blogs use Creative Commons-
816297484.html). licensed images from Flickr for
illustrative purposes. For example,
In particular, in the 1 February 2007 blog entry in
two Age The Tonic (http://blogs.theage.com.
The Age Chew on This blog, June 2008
blogs, au/lifestyle/thetonic/archives/2007/02/
Terry sexy_sprays.html), the photograph Kiss
Robson’s by Flickr user ‘SomeRiot’ (http://flickr.
The Tonic com/photos/riot_/192144697) licensed
and Paula under a BY-ND 2.0 licence, while Salade
Goodyer’s Nicoise by Flickr user ‘Vidiot’ (http://
Chew flickr.com/photos/vidiot/44726750), also
on This, under a CC BY-ND licences, was used
feature in the post http://blogs.theage.com.au/
Creative lifestyle/chewonthis/archives/2006/12/
Commons- does_your_salad.html.
licensed
Flickr
photo-

Remix My Lit
 creative
commons
casestudies

Australian Network for Art and Technology (ANAT) –

Filter Magazine
description: Filter magazine is the triannual publication of the Australian Network for Art and
Technology (ANAT), Australia’s peak industry body for artists working across
science and technology.
website: www.anat.org.au/print_and_blogs/filter
licence used: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 2.5 Australia,
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/au
media: Images, Text

location: Australia

Overview ANAT is funded by the Australian

Government through OZCO, the
The Australian Network for Art and Australia Council (www.ozco.gov.au),
Technology (ANAT) is a non-profit by the South Australian Government
organisation based in Adelaide, South through Arts SA (www.arts.sa.gov.
Australia. Incorporated in 1988, ANAT au), and is further assisted through 145
is Australia’s peak advocacy body the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy, an
for artists working with science and initiative of the Australian, State and
technology, promoting emerging and Territory
experimental media, and audio and
Governments.
art-science practices across mobile
and portable platforms both locally
and globally. The organisation fosters
ANAT
organises ‘We believe artwork
collaboration, innovation and enterprise,
presenting new opportunities for its
residencies,
master
is created to be
members to engage with their audiences
and industry, and to sustain their cutting-
classes and
summer
shared not owned.’
edge creativity. schools, Amanda Matulick, Managing Editor, Filter
and provides
ANAT publishes Filter magazine
financial
(www.anat.org.au/pages/forumspubs/
support to its members through the
forumspubs.html) three times a year as
an essential guide to art and technology Professional Development Travel Fund.
projects and current trends in new media
creativity. Each issue contains feature
articles, reviews, listings of professional Licence Usage
development activities, in addition to
members’ profiles. It is provided free Some issues of Filter magazine have
to ANAT members and is distributed to been licensed under a Creative Commons
selected arts agencies across Australia. Attribution-NonCommercial Share
Filter’s current Managing Editor Alike licence. Issue 61 (www.anat.org.
Amanda Matulick. au/print_and_blogs/11), covering the

Creative Commons & Written Word

 building an
australasian
commons

period from November The thematic basis for Issue 65

2005 – January 2006, was emerged from the 2007 ANAT still/
dedicated to an examination open labs (www.anat.org.au/stillopen/
of the ‘Creative Commons blog), a series of workshops that were
Revolution,’ and was guest- held in Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth
edited by Elliott Bledsoe as part of the organisation’s emerging
from ccAustralia. The issue technology labs program. Facilitators
featured articles by Andrew Alessandro Ludovico, Andy Nicholson,
Garton on the creation of Beatriz da Costa, and Elliott Bledsoe
an Australasian commons, from CCau discussed with audiences
Mia Garlick on opening up the practice and theory of open source
creative dialogue, and Nic culture and its application through
networked art, software development,
Suzor, with ‘Remix, Reuse,
print and online publishing and in the
Recycle.’ Elliott writes in his
scientific arena. After many discussions
editorial,
with Elliott on the topic of open source
and free culture, ANAT staff made
‘Creative a move to use Creative Commons
Commons is about licences as widely as they could.
choice. It has
turned the blanket
ban tradition of Motivations
146 copyright on its
head. It takes the ANAT’s initiatives emphasise connection
concept of “all and collaboration, enrichment
NC-SA 2.0 Generic, issue 65, CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 Unported, and issue 61, CC BY-NC-SA 2.1 Aus.
Images: (Top to Bottom) The covers of Filter issue 67, CC BY-NC-SA 2.5 Aus, issue 66, CC BY-

rights reserved” and inspiration, and research and

and splices it into development across art, culture, science
manageable parts and technology. When asked by Rachel
in order to create Cobcroft from CC Australia about
a “some rights ANAT’s motivations to employ Creative
Commons licensing for Filter, Managing
reserved” system.’
Editor Amanda Matulick responded:
Filter began using a Creative
‘We believe artwork is created
Commons licence on a
to be shared not owned and
permanent basis during the
hence we aim to use a licence
publication of Issue 65: This
we felt would offer options
is not open source (www.
for future and further use of
anat.org.au/print_and_
work, whilst ensuring correct
blogs/7), themed around
acknowledgments are made
free culture, information
to the creator. We hope that
sharing and interaction
ANAT first released Filter under a by using a licence that is
between networks. The
CC licence with Issue 61: Creative protective yet encouraging, we
publication discussed
Commons Revolution. They may increase the functionality
later released Issue 65: This Is the intrinsic elements of
of the work, generate future
Not Open Source under an the growth of the cultural
use and dialogue around the
Attribution-Noncommerical- movement of sharing.
Share Allike licence on trial, which works.’
they have subsequently adopted.

Remix My Lit
 creative
commons
casestudies

Amanda notes further that open source

culture raises many opinions and
questions including: How open is open
source culture? Is it user friendly or
financially beneficial? How might artists
make use of this cultural movement?

Andrew Lowenthal writes in his article

Free Beer, featured in Issue 65:

‘The one-to-many model is

being usurped by the many-
to-many, the masses are
being replaced by the network,
command by collaboration.’

It is in a collaborative framework that

ANAT continues to operate, hoping
that the discussion about open source
and free culture continues well into the
future.

147

Creative Commons & Written Word

 building an
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commons

On Line Opinion
description: On Line Opinion is a not-for-profit e-journal that aims to provide a forum for public
social and political debate about current Australian issues.
website: www.onlineopinion.com.au
licence used: Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0
media: Text, Images
location: Brisbane, Australia

Overview On Line Opinion is based in Brisbane

and was founded by Graham Young,
On Line Opinion is an e-journal that has who, as the journal’s Chief Editor and
been online since April 1999. Its stated publisher runs the day-to-day operation
aim is to ‘provide a forum for public of the site full-time with Editor Susan
148 social and political debate about current Prior. Owned by the Australian public
Australian issues’ (www.onlineopinion. company National Forum Ltd (http://
com.au/display.asp?page=about) portal.nationalforum.com.au), the
and seeks to achieve this goal by journal operates on a not-for-profit
publishing articles from a wide range of basis, meaning that contributors are
contributors. The current Prime Minister not paid for their articles. Graham
Kevin Rudd and his predecessors, John Young observes in an email interview
Howard and Paul Keating, are among with Steven Gething from Creative
those who have featured in the pages Commons Australia in March 2008, that
of On Line Opinion (www.onlineopinion. ‘Advertising and sponsorship revenues
com.au/author.asp). The journal is not are providing enough to pay for other
limited salaries and infrastructure.’
On Line Opinion home page, June 2008 to only
political
debate; Licence Usage
articles are
On Line Opinion applies the Creative
published
Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-
on
No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic licence
economics, to submitted articles, but not to the
sport, remainder of the website which reserves
technology all copyright.
and the
environ- Graham Young offers his experience
ment. with the site’s choice of Creative
Commons licence to date:

Remix My Lit
 creative
commons
casestudies

‘We’re happy with the way

the licence works. The major
benefit to us is that there is a
common copyright agreement
available for those wanting to
republish. This should mean
that it is easier for not-for-
profits and private individuals to
deal with material.’

Motivations
Having first heard about Creative
Commons licences from the Australian
research team at the Queensland
University of Technology, Graham Young
explains what motivated his choice of
licence:

‘It gave us an easy way of

signalling to non-commercial
users that they could re-use
the material, as long as they
acknowledged us. We hoped 149
that this would encourage
others to use our material and
build awareness of the site.
We also hoped that it would
cut down on the amount of
work involved in explaining
and negotiating with potential
republishers.’
‘As a not-for-profit we
are happy for work to be
disseminated widely. We
don’t pay authors for their
material directly, but one
of the benefits that they
get is publicity. The more
we can provide the better
rewarded they are.’
Graham Young, Chief Editor, On Line Opinion

Creative Commons & Written Word

 building an
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commons

A New Leaf Media – The Pundit

description: The Pundit was a Creative Commons-licensed publication of reviews, news, and
interviews distributed as a free magazine as part of the Melbourne International
Film Festival in 2006.
website: www.anewleaf.com.au/the-pundit/the-pundit-miff-06
licence used: Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Australia
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/au/
media: Text
location: Melbourne, Australia

Overview The Pundit’s MIFF edition was released

as 56-page, A4 portrait format with
The Pundit was a free publication a print run of 10,000 copies and
released as part of Melbourne distributed around Melbourne outside
International Film Festival (MIFF) 2006 the five main MIFF cinemas in addition
150 (www.melbournefilmfestival.com.au) by to official venues. It was also available
A New Leaf Media (www.anewleaf.com. in PDF format from the website, with
the articles and reviews available
au), an independent Australian publisher
individually in HTML.
and ‘word pedlar’ (www.anewleaf.com.
au/about). Edited by Tim Norton, Lefa
The publication was produced with the
Singleton, Jane Watkins, and Paul
support of The Foundation for Young
D’Agostino, The Pundit included reviews,
Australians (www.youngaustralians.
news and interviews contributed by
org), Crumpler Bags Australia (www.
an extensive and enthusiastic writing
crumpler.com.au), RMIT Union Arts
team sourced from local student
(http://union.rmit.edu.au), the Melbourne
media outlets, such as SYN FM (http://
International Film Festival (www.
syn.org.au), Is Not Magazine (www.
melbournefilmfestival.com.au), and the
isnotmagazine.org), Express Media
Melbourne City Mission Slingshot (www.
(www.expressmedia.org.au), Vibewire.
slingshot.org.au/slingshot/index.php).
net (www.vibewire.net), The Big Issue
(www.bigissue.org.au), Arts Hub (www.
Based in North Fitzroy, A New Leaf
artshub.com.au/au/default.asp) and
Media operates as a niche media
other youth media. The publication
company which strives to create
was designed to not only be insightful,
alternative independent media produced
entertaining and informative, but to be
by emerging media-makers. It focuses
an opportunity for young and emerging
on publishing review magazines for a
writers to publish work in a professional
variety of Melbourne’s arts and cultural
capacity.
festivals. In the future, The Pundit will

Remix My Lit
 creative
commons
casestudies

be released to coincide with various

Australian arts and cultural festivals
offering comprehensive guides,
spreading their words from Altona to
‘Licensing The Pundit
Alphington.
under Creative Commons
Licence Usage
enables us to utilise... work
without needing to take all
creative rights away from the
A New Leaf Media decided to license
both the print magazine and the PDF
digital version of The Pundit under a
Creative Commons licence that allows individual author.’
content published in the magazine to be Tim Norton, Editor, A New Leaf Media
republished, so long as the articles are
not changed and the republication is for
non-commercial purposes: i.e. under
the Creative Commons Attribution-
Noncommercial-No Derivative Works
2.5 Australia licence. This licensing
facilitated the republishing of much of
the magazine’s content on blogs during 151
the festival, giving the writers far more
exposure than A New Leaf Media on
their own could provide.

Motivations
Tim Norton from A New Leaf Media
spoke at the 2006 Creative Commons
Australia Industry Forum (http://
creativecommons.org.au/ccforum), in the
session for Creative Industries. Tim’s
own blog, ‘Stop the world Mummy, I
want to get off…’ (http://monkeyjedi.
blogspot.com) is also licensed under
Creative Commons.

Creative Commons & Written Word

 building an
australasian
commons

John Quiggin’s Blog

description: John Quiggin is an Australian economist and academic who writes a blog dealing
with local and global issues from a social-democratic perspective.
website: http://johnquiggin.com
licence used: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 2.1 Australia http://creativecommons.org/licenses/
by-nc-sa/2.1/au
media: Text
location: Australia

Overview School of Economics at the University

of Queensland in St. Lucia, Australia.
The Age Media Blog (http:// Commenced in June 2002, John
blogs.theage.com.au/mediablog) Quiggin’s blog has since attracted
acknowledges Professor John Quiggin considerable attention, and none more
152 as ‘One of the elder statements of so than his option to license his posts
the Oz blogosphere.’ His eponymous under Creative Commons.
blog, John Quiggin, hosts material on
a range of topics, spanning academia,
economics, Licence Usage
John Quiggin politics, and
On 1 July 2005, John Quiggin
Australian
announced that his blog was to be
culture. A
licensed under the Creative Commons
contributor to
Attribution-NonCommercial-Share
the collective
Alike 2.1 Australia terms. This Quiggin
blog Crooked
believed to be the ‘default rule’ for
Timber (http://
bloggers, expressing their standard
crookedtimber.
expectations:
org) and
commentator for
‘Anyone can use as much as
Image: ‘John Quiggin’ by Rachel Cobcroft, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

the Australian they like for a non-commercial

Financial purpose, as long as they
Review, John allow others to do the same
Quiggin is with the derivative work, and
an Australian acknowledge my original
authorship, either by name or
Research
with a link back to the original
Council post.’
Federation http://johnquiggin.com/index.php/
Fellow at the archives/2005/07/01/creative-commons-license

Remix My Lit
 creative
commons
casestudies

This declaration gave rise to what He also reflects

copyright academic and commentator
Kim Weatherall, of Weatherall’s Law
on the position of
freely-distributed
‘I’m not sure I want
(http://weatherall.blogspot.com),
termed the ‘Great Blog Licensing
software before
Linux changed to
to dictate to people
Debate’ (http://weatherall.blogspot.
com/2005_07_01_weatherall_archive.
the GPL. what they want to
html#112038088651934888), also noted
as the ‘Australian Blog Licensing Frenzy’
Interestingly, do with their stuff,
even if their stuff
on Rusty’s Bleeding Edge page (http:// a party to
ozlabs.org/~rusty/index.cgi/IP/2005- this debate,
07-05.html). The issue for Weatherall
was one of whether there should be
David Starkoff,
relicensed his incorporates some
ShareAlike terms, and additionally for
Rusty as to whether Non-Commercial
blog Inchoate
(www.dbs.id.au/ of my stuff.’
terms were appropriate. Weatherall took blog) in July
the ShareAlike provision to task: 2005, opting Kimberlee Weatherall
for the Creative
‘I’m not sure I want to dictate Commons
to people what they want to do Attribution-Noncommercial-No
with their stuff, even if their stuff
Derivative Works licence (http://ozlabs.
incorporates some of my stuff.’
org/~rusty/index.cgi/IP/2005-07-05.
http://weatherall.blogspot.com/2005_07_01_
weatherall_archive.html#112019921242554242 html).

Thinking of utility, Rusty agrees with

153
this sentiment: by not stipulating that Motivations
other users behave in the same way as
the creator, the usefulness of the work Positioning himself in contrast to John
is maximised, rather than locking up Dvorak’s confusion surrounding the
downstream uses. Creative Commons initiative (www.
pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1838244,00.
Considering non-commercial terms, asp), John Quiggin writes a glowing
Rusty says that to lament others’
appraisal of the ideas expressed
success is pointless, where their gains
in these open content licences. In
don’t deprive the creator of any benefit:
particular, he defends his choice
‘When your neighbour wins
of the non-commercial, attribution,
the lottery, do you complain it’s share-alike version of the Creative
unfair? After all, you might have Commons licence, which allows
won the lottery if they didn’t! anyone to reproduce the work from
Or do you congratulate them the blog, with attribution and for non-
and ask to borrow the Ferrari commercial purposes, as long as they
on weekends? If the latter, and share it under the same conditions.
you’re not making money on Quiggin states that he has selected this
your blog, I’d suggest dropping licence, ‘not because it’s necessarily
non-commercial from your CC the best option in all, or even most
license, and wishing those who
cases, but because it’s the best default
try to make money all the luck
rule’ (http://johnquiggin.com/index.
in the world...’
php/archives/2005/07/20/the-creative-
http://ozlabs.org/~rusty/index.cgi/
IP/2005-07-05.html commons-as-a-default-rule):

Creative Commons & Written Word

 building an
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commons

‘Anyone who wants to use

material from the blog in this
way can do so without asking
me. And share-alike is a good
feature for a default option,
because it means that re-use
is similarly free under the same
conditions. But if Hollywood
wants to use bits of the blog
in the forthcoming hit movie
Crooked Timber of Humanity,
they are not confined to the
CC license. They’re free to
fly me to LA, and make a
stupendously generous offer
for the commercial rights.
Similarly, if someone wanted to
use the posts without attribution
for some good reason, they
could always approach me
and ask for permission. More
generally, if someone wants to
do things differently they can
154 propose a contract with me.’

The default is positioned historically:

whereas once it was the public domain,
since it was necessary to make a
specific claim for copyright, it is now ‘all
rights reserved’ copyright. Introducing
Creative Commons seeks to restore a
balance between these points.

John Quiggin’s blog, June 2008

Remix My Lit
 creative
commons
casestudies

Michael Specht’s blog

description: Michael Specht provides a blog exploring technology, management and Human
Resources issues from both an Australian and international perspective.
website: www.specht.com.au/michael
licence used: Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia Licence
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/au
media: Text
location: Australia

Overview Michael has also discussed projects

employing Creative Commons on
his blog, such as Microsoft’s Simple
Michael Specht is a Senior Project Sharing Extensions (SSE), which
Manager for Nortel’s Shared allows asynchronous replication of
Services Solutions in Asia. His items among two or more parties via
eponymous blog provides readers RSS feeds. See his post titled ‘Sharing 155
with insight gained from over 15 years’ Content in a Web 2.0 World’ (www.
experience in operations specht.com.au/michael/2005/11/28/
and applications roles in the Human sharing-content-in-a-web-20-world).
Resources (HR) industry both in
Australia and overseas. Established on
23 June 2004, the blog deals Motivations
with technology and management
issues, particularly for the Inspired by the works of Cory Doctorow
enterprise, and occasionally and Lawrence Lessig, Michael Specht
expresses ‘other random thoughts.’ commented in a 2008 email interview
Michael is an advocate of social with Rachel Cobcroft from ccAustralia
software such as Twitter (http://twitter. that he opted to license his blog under
com/mspecht), which he updates on an Creative Commons from its start in 2004:
hourly basis.
‘I chose the licence partly due
to my understanding of the
limitations of copyright law, ie
Licence Usage allowing people to syndicate
content & reference was
Initially licensing his blog under Creative technically not allowed. I also
Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0, wanted to allow others to freely
reuse, reference and share my
Michael recently learned about the more
writings without the boundaries of
recent suite of 2.5 Australian licences, [all rights reserved] copyright law.’
and changed his site to be under
the Creative Commons Attribution- Michael has been contacted by several
Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 commercial organisations for reuse of
Australia Licence. his work.

Creative Commons & Written Word

 building an
australasian
commons

Mike Seyfang
description: Mike Seyfang is an Australian education consultant, ICT strategist, amateur
musician and father of teenage children who emphasises the importance of instilling
read/write culture through his blog Learning with the Fang.
website: http://mseyfang.edublogs.org
licence used: Blog: CC Attribution 2.5 Australia, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/au
Flickr photos: CC Attribution 2.0 Generic, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/
by/2.0
media: Text, Images
location: Adelaide, Australia

Overview and tricky to license appropriately’

(hosted on blip.tv: http://fang.blip.tv/
Mike Seyfang is an Australian education file/105776).
consultant and advocate of open
systems, emphasising opportunities for Mike’s edublog Learning with the Fang
156 innovation and creative thinking enabled regularly engages with issues of content
by Creative Commons Attribution distribution and re-use. The most recent
licences. Drawing on over 25 years post ‘Soccer with Stephen’s CONTENT
of ICT experience, the last nine spent Cat’ (http://mseyfang.edublogs.
with Microsoft, Mike has been strongly org/2008/06/04/soccer-with-stephens-
influenced by Lawrence Lessig’s content-cat) on 4 June 2008 deals
lectures on Read/Write Culture (http:// with the question of the most effective
public.resource.org/lessig_lecture.html). license scheme for ensuring open
So impressed was Mike by Lessig’s access to free content, with Stephen
talk of ‘free culture’ that he made a Downes arguing for CC BY-NC-SA and
mashup Downes vs. Lessig as a demo
Mike advocating CC BY as ‘more open.’
to the net2blazers group, incorporating
podcasts,
Mike Seyfang’s blog, June 2008 Objecting to the removal of NC
Flickr
images, conditions, Stephen comments:
and
web 2.0 ‘My objection to commercial
use is that it is a business
artefacts
model supported by denying
with the
access to resources. If a
aim of
resource must be purchased
showing
before it may be used, then
‘how
it is not free in either sense.
remixing A person does not have the
many freedom to use, modify, etc.,
elements something he or she must buy.’
is both http://halfanhour.blogspot.com/2008/05/
powerful another-kick-at-free-content-cat.html

Remix My Lit
 creative
commons
casestudies

In conversation with Leigh Blackall them along the way.’ Mike’s children
from Otago Polytechnic, it has been are responsible for the Wholesale
suggested that the NC term be migrated Meat Media Blog (http://mediablog.
to a ‘NRC: No Restrictions through wholesalemeatenterprises.com).
Commercialisation’
to clarify educators’
concerns with
enclosure. ‘I decide to “give away” most of my
Calling upon rights to my digital content in the
Clay Shirky’s
acknowledgment of hope that someone will find it useful
the need for certain
prominent projects to and re-use it to tell their story.’
avoid commercially-
driven harm, Mike Mike Seyfang, http://mseyfang.edublogs.org/2008/05/07/whi-i-license-ccby
characterises these as
belonging to the ‘short
head’ of the power curve distribution. In
response, Mike positions himself within ‘My hope is that this work
the ‘long tail’ of this curve: will help promote positive
conversation about effective
‘It is something I enjoy because use of Creative Commons
I can have real conversations 157
licensing. It contains material
with like minded people. This is
from my kids who I hope will
the power (or jewel) of the long
grow up in a society that values
tail - I am frequently amazed
by the rich and surprising and rewards their creative
connections that develop when efforts.’
I put my stuff “out there”.’ Blip.tv mashup: ‘CreativeCommonsDRM-
ReadWriteCulture-DownesVsLessig’
http://bomega.com/2007/01/29/serendipity-
and-a-farmers-daughter/ http://blip.tv/file/105754

This builds on a post from 7 May

2008 in which Mike discussed why Licence Usage
he licenses under CC Attribution. In
response to Richard McManus’s As discussed above, Mike is a strong
reuse of Mike’s image (www.flickr. supporter of the Creative Commons
com/photos/mikeblogs/305430788) Attribution licence, making his blog
‘ReadWriteCulture-FangMix1’ on Read/ posts available under the Creative
Write Blog (www.readwriteweb.com/ Commons Attribution 2.5 Australia
archives/nevermind_the_recession_ licence (www.processofinnovation.com/
web_will_change_the_world.php), Mike mikeseyfang). His Flickr photographs
observes: ‘This is why only work that are licensed under CC BY 2.0. Mike
is freely licensed with continue to be notes derivative uses of his images here:
relevant in future culture.’
As parent to teenage children who ß http://fang.blip.tv/file/633462 -
will most likely make their living from a presentation that helped me
creating digital content, Mike is ‘keen create an excellent job
to influence law reforms that will help

Creative Commons & Written Word

 building an
australasian
commons

ß http://fang.blip.tv/file/105776 which means reuse must be

- a mashup of Lessig and non commercial and licensed
Downes that they have both in exactly the same way) it is
seen unlikely that anyone would have
found it, let alone re-used it.’
ß www.flickr.com/photos/
http://mseyfang.edublogs.org/2008/
mikeblogs/323586161 - my 05/07/why-i-license-ccby
entry in a creative commons
competition
ß www.flickr.com/photos/
cambodia4kidsorg/
306021623/in/pool-ccswag-
contest06 - an entry by the
winner of that creative com-
mons competition

Motivations
Adopting the Creative Commons
Attribution licence as the representation
of ‘free culture,’ Mike discusses his
decision at several points across his
158 blog. Most recently, he expresses the
following opinion:

‘What I do crave is recognition

(not fame). The most profound
recognition I have experienced
is when someone mashes up or
remixes my work... The biggest
risk to me is that nobody will
ever find my remixable digital
work - or if they do that they
might not have confidence to
use it (ie that they might feel
they need to ask permission
first).’
http://mseyfang.edublogs.org/2008/06/04/
soccer-with-stephens-content-cat

In commenting on the reuse of his work

even for commercial purposes, Mike
observes:

‘Either way I gain more than I

lose by having my work re-
mixed into a new context. Had
I licensed my work in a more
restrictive way (say cc:by-nc-sa

Remix My Lit
 creative
commons
casestudies

Remix My Lit

description: Remix My Lit: Literature is a project designed to explore the potential for remixing
text-based works, creating a word-based culture that is truly Read&Write
website: www.remixmylit.com
licence used: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 2.5 Australia
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/au
media: Text
location: Australia

Overview of works into aspects of the publishing

environment. Remix My Lit is a research
project as an exercise in creative
Most creative disciplines have
practice.
grappled with the concept of remix. For
media such as film and music, entire
The first project of Remix My Lit is
communities of appropriation (legal or 159
a printed anthology of remixed and
otherwise) have emerged. Artists whose
remixable short stories. A group of
creative practice is contingent on the
established authors from around
adaptation of and addition to existing
Australia will contribute a short story
creative products populate this space.
to be published under a Creative
But other creative disciplines have not
Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-
yet embraced this creative technique.
Share Alike licence. These stories will be
hosted on the website where emerging
Read/Write has always been a
writers can create their own remixes
dichotomy in literature; with the author
of them and post them back up on the
on one side of the production process,
toiling away in solitude to produce
the manuscript which is read by Remix My Lit homepage, June 2008
many, in solitude. But is there a more
collaborative space for literature? Can
your pages be Read&Write?

Remix My Lit is a Brisbane-based,

international remixable literature project.
The project aims to apply the lessons
learned from music and film remixing to
literature. Remix My Lit is designed to
explore where remix fits into literature. It
will provide a space within the discipline
to encourage and foster a community
and culture of remix. It will spin out a
number of projects, each of which will
endeavour to embed legal appropriation

Creative Commons & Written Word

 building an
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commons

‘Why isn’t the literati getting The Remix My Lit logo

is a derivative work of a

amongst it? There’s no reason why CC Attribution 2.0 Flickr

image ‘Street Art’ by Kim

writers can’t mix, match, push and

Laughton, aka ‘olivepixel’
(www.flickr.com/photos/

pull content to create remixed works.

olivepixel/154385478).

And that’s why Remix My Lit exists.‘ Motivations

http://remixmylit.com.au
The decision to rely
on a non-commercial
remix licence for the
website. From this body of new works, first project reflects
the best remixed stories will appear in some early observations of the
the anthology alongside the original publishing industry’s reaction to remix
stories. The anthology will be distributed as a concept. Firstly, that the authors
online and in a hardcopy print run. involved in the project were willing to
experiment with new ideas but only
Because all the works and the anthology where the reuse of that material was
will be available under a Creative for non-commercial purposes. Equally,
Commons licence that permits remixing, the Share Alike requirement reflects the
160 need, at least during the seeding stage,
these works will seed the beginnings of
a remixable body of literature. to require ongoing remixability to ensure
the concept is properly propagated into
The remixable anthology project was a creative discipline that as yet has not
initially funded by Story of the Future widely acknowledged and adopted remix
(www.australiacouncil.gov.au/the_arts/ practices.
projects/about_story_of_the_future)
– an initiative supported by the ‘We don’t like buzz words, but
Australia Council for the Arts (www. if we had to use them we’d
australiacouncil.gov.au) in partnership probably say we are a web 2.0
with the Australian Film Television and online collaborative space for
On the Remix My Lit Radio School (www.aftrs.edu.au). This creative people who want to
site, rework Emily funding was matched by the Australian get stuck up to their elbows in
Maguire’s flash fiction Research Council Centre of Excellence remixing!’
character portrait for Creative Industries and Innovation http://www.remixmylit.com
“Cherished,” get (CCi) (www.cci.edu.au) at Queensland
between a girl’s love University of Technology (www.qut.edu.
for her guitar and au).
her girl with Damian
McDonald’s new two-
part short, “Dara’s
Firebird Lovesong,” or Licence Usage
mix up “Renovator’s
Heaven” by Cate Remix My Lit currently uses a Creative
Kennedy. Cate calls it Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-
“a sort of speculative, Share Alike 2.5 Australia licence. Long-
open-ended, little bit term the project is considering allowing
supernatural little bit other Creative Commons licences.
horror short story.”

Remix My Lit
 creative
commons
casestudies

Strange Symphonies Blog

description: The Strange Symphonies blog presents the writing of Aizat Faiz, a Malaysian free
culture advocate working with FLOSS, free content, and open standards.
website: http://blog.aizatto.com
licence used: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
media: Text, Images, Software
location: Malaysia

Overview University where he entered the

eGenting Programming Competition in
2006 (www.genting.com.my/rnd/2006/
Aizat Faiz is a self-proclaimed free
default.htm), and won.
culture advocate working with FLOSS,
free content, and the development
‘As can be seen, the freedom
of open standards in Malaysia. An
to let me just take code online,
161
undergraduate student enroled in a read it, study it, remix it, hack it,
Bachelors Degree in Computer Science has been extremely beneficial
at the Malaysian campus of Monash to me in terms of my education.’
University, Aizat chronicles the effects http://blog.aizatto.com/2007/05/23/
which free culture and FLOSS has had why-i-support-free-culture
on his education and employment.
Aizat, aka ‘aizatto’, ‘zatto’ or the Given his strong skills in software
‘Malaysian Free and Open Source development, Aizat has been employed
Software junkie,’ maintains an interest by the United Nations Development
in developing open standards, XHTML/
HTML and the Open Document Format, Strange Symphonies blog, June 2008
in addition to programming using PHP
and Ruby on Rails. He is a member
of MyOSS, the Free and Open Source
Software Society of Malaysia (http://foss.
org.my), the Malaysia National Computer
Confederation Open Document Format
Special Interest Group, was rapporteur
at the 7th AsiaOSS Symposium, and
has had some involvement in the
Malaysia-United States Free Trade
Agreement. After spending a year
studying at the Asia Pacific Institute
of Information Technology (APIIT) in
Kuala Lumpur, Aizat enroled at Monash

Creative Commons & Written Word

 building an
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commons

‘It’s like making everyone a kid with Commons are found

at http://blog.aizatto.

scissors and glue, and letting them com/category/free-

culture/creative-

make their own collages from what commons, which

discuss advantages
is already out there.’ and disadvantages of
licence information and
various events held
Aizat Fiaz, http://blog.aizatto.com/about/commons at Creative Commons
Malaysia, such as
Program International Open Source the photography workshop
Network to work on the DocBook and organised by Lensa Malaysia in 2007
WikiBook conversions. (http://blog.aizatto.com/2007/04/28/
creative-commons-malaysia-
photography-workshop-co-organized-
Licence Usage by-lensa-malaysia).

As a free culture advocate and ‘This is not just about the

programmer, Aizat lists numerous software. Even leading
resources for FLOSS development institutions such as MIT are
on his blog, with posts at http://blog. releasing their coursework
aizatto.com/category/free-and-open- under a Creative Commons
162 source-software outlining the latest in license.’
programming as well as Asia-based http://blog.aizatto.com/2007/05/23/why-i-
events pertaining to open source support-free-culture

initiatives. Many meetings consider

FLOSS licensing and support plus
provide broader overviews of software Motivations
and services in business contexts.
Throughout his blog, Aizat celebrates
The majority of content on the Strange the fact that free culture has given him
Symphonies blog is licensed under the ability to ‘remix, to hack, to build
the Creative Commons Attribution upon, to enhance, to study, to learn off
existing works.’ Taking the definition
3.0 unported licence. The site uses
of ‘Free Cultural Works’ from http://
graphics from the Tango Desktop
freedomdefined.org/Definition, he
Project (http://tango.freedesktop.org/
emphasises these four key points:
Tango_Desktop_Project), which seeks
to develop a consistent graphical user ß the freedom to use the work
interface experience for free and open and enjoy the benefits of
source software. Several of Aizat’s using it;
presentations on FLOSS released under ß the freedom to study the
the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 work and to apply knowledge
Generic licence are listed at http://blog. acquired from it;
aizatto.com/resume, and encompass ß the freedom to make and
introductions to GNU/Linux, the LAMP redistribute copies, in whole
platform, Ruby on Rails, and privacy/ or in part, of the information or
anonymity with Tor. Specific Strange expression; and
Symphonies blog entries on Creative

Remix My Lit
 creative
commons
casestudies

ß the freedom to make changes

and improvements, and to
distribute derivative works.

All of these, Aizat maintains, are

beneficial to a person to let them learn
on their own and experiment, as he
has done throughout his studies and
career, programming in C, OpenGL,
SDL, Python and Ruby. Discussing his
attachment to the philosophy of free
culture and open source software at
http://blog.aizatto.com/2007/05/23/why-
i-support-free-culture, Aizat provides
a variety of answers to the question,
‘Why do you support open source
technology?’ The one-line answer he
provides is: ‘Because I have benefited
from Free Culture, and I know that
others can benefit as well.’ In addition,
his philanthropic answer is ‘Because
it’s the right thing to do.’ Giving the 163
background to his more detailed answer
concerning free cultural works, Aizat
discusses his education, community
involvement, employment, and other
gains, such as becoming familiar with
legal concepts surrounding copyright,
patents, DRM, and contract law.

‘Want to bridge the digital

divide? Want to help build local
capacity? Want to build the
local economy? I believe that
Free Culture is the solution.
May not be the end all solution,
but it will help to play a large
part.’
http://blog.aizatto.com/2007/05/23/
why-i-support-free-culture

Creative Commons & Written Word

F beyond the
classroom

Creative Commons, Education & Research

The message underpinning Creative Commons
8
is fundamentally concerned with education – education &
for creators, how best to manage their bundle
of copyrights both online and offline; for users, research
how best to reuse and remix these materials
in an appropriately permissioned environment,
case studies
giving rise to a thriving learning experience.
In recognition of this, in 2007 CC launched
Creative Commons Clinic 167
an international educational division, ccLearn
(http://learn.creativecommons.org), which seeks edgeX 169
to support the Cape Town Open Education
Declaration (www.capetowndeclaration.org), to IMERSD e-Learning Projects,
accelerate efforts to promote open resources, Griffith University 171
technology and teaching pedagogical practices.
KCB101: Communication in
In Australia and the region, CC is increasingly the New Economy 174
being implemented by educational organisations
Otago Polytechnic 176
wishing to establish legal frameworks for
collaboration both within and beyond the PLoS African Sleeping
classroom. Following the lead of international Sickness Test 178
initiatives such as Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT) OpenCourseWare The Community Library 181
(http://ocw.mit.edu) and Rice Connexions
(http://cnx.org), the University of Southern
University of Southern
Queensland (USQ) is the inaugural Australian Queensland OpenCourseWare 183
participant in the OpenCourseWare Consortium,
offering sample courses from each of the
University’s five faculties, together with materials
from its Tertiary Preparation Program (www.usq. The Queensland University of Technology (QUT),
edu.au/ltsu/learnsupp/tpp/default.htm) under CC home of ccAustralia, is leading the investigation
Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia licence. and dissemination of CC in Australia. From the
Across the Tasman, New Zealand’s Otago Creative Commons Clinic (ccClinic), which aims to
Polytechnic has gone one step further, promoting foster opportunities for the creative community to
the CC Attribution licence as the default licence take advantage of the potential afforded by digital
for all of its open access courses. technologies, to KCB101: Communication in the
 building an
australasian
commons

New Economy undergraduate course, as a CC-licensed take-home resource

which employs CC to allow students designed to include parents and carers
to develop skills for collaboration in the instruction of up-to-ten-year-olds.
and ethical reuse of content, QUT is In a similar vein, the Community Library
increasingly incorporating the lessons aims to provide CC-licensed and other
of CC into its undergraduate and open materials in a ‘take-home’ form to
postgraduate teaching. QUT’s Faculty those who do not have ready access
of Law has taken the open access to internet resources, reducing the
message beyond the classroom, barriers to accessing knowledge created
creating and distributing two Mayer & by age, wealth and others divide. The
Bettle animations (see ‘filmmakers’), Ipswich-based edgeX project, which
designed to introduce the concepts of seeks to investigate the potential of
CC to primary school children across Web 2.0 to serve communities on a
rural and remote Queensland. A further hyperlocal level, uses CC as a means
Queensland tertiary institution, Griffith of both managing its own copyright and
University’s Conservatorium of Music educating teenagers on their copyright
utilises CC as a fundamental part of its rights and responsibilities in the online
IMERSD – Intermedia, Music Education environment. At the same time, CC
& Research Design – programme, empowers students and teachers alike
which points to productive engagement to give their work and materials a life
between the university and industry beyond the classroom.
partners. Professor Paul Draper,
IMERSD Project Director, advocates an Australian researchers are also
166 appropriate framework for Australia’s prominent amongst their peers
education and research institutions, in releasing their world-leading
ultimately investigative insights under CC licences.
The Cathedral of Learning, the centerpiece of the emphasising the By publishing their research with the
University of Pittsburgh’s main campus in the
Oakland, Pittsburgh. It is the tallest educational
importance of open access Public Library of Science
building in the western hemisphere. access to key (PLoS) journals, Australian scientists
works with which investigating topics as diverse as the
to teach and genome of the Tasmanian tiger (Pask,
from which to Behringer, & Renfree, 2008), and the
Image: Cathedral of Learning by KitAy. CC BY 2.0 Generic, www.flickr.com/photos/kitpfish/481213752

compose. development of a simple blood test

for African sleeping sickness (Njiru,
Educators Mikosza, Armstrong, Enyaru, Ndung’u,
working outside et al., 2008), are making their findings
the tertiary accessible to the world on a whole new
sphere are level.
equally exploring
the potential of
CC as an enabler
of informal
learning. For
younger children,
the Powerhouse
Museum, Sydney
offers its science
and design
Play materials

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commons
case studies

Creative Commons Clinic

description: The Creative Commons Clinic (ccClinic) at Queensland University of Technology in
Brisbane is the primary centre for research into Creative Commons in Australia
website: ccClinic: www.cci.edu.au/ccc and Creative Commons Australia:
http://creativecommons.org.au
licence used: CC 2.1 and 2.5 Australia Suites
media: Educational
location: Brisbane, Australia

Overview and organisations in Australia

seeking to engage with the
Based at the Queensland University Creative Commons; and
of Technology (QUT) Faculty of Law in 2 A more traditional research
Brisbane, and funded by the ARC Centre stream, which focuses on
of Excellence for Creative Industries and documenting and evaluating 167
Innovation (www.cci.edu.au), the ccClinic the progress of Creative
is the primary centre for Creative Commons and other open
Commons research in Australia. Working content licensing models in
closely with Creative Commons Australia Australia and internationally.
(ccAustralia) it aims to evaluate and
promote the implementation of Creative
Commons in Australia and to foster The project also undertakes industry and
opportunities for the creative community government advocacy and training and
to take advantage of the potential participates in the ongoing international
afforded by digital technologies. review of the CC scheme and licences
(www.cci.edu.au/ccr).
The ccClinic is led by Professor Brian
Fitzgerald (Professor of Intellectual Major outputs by the ccClinic research
Property and Innovation, QUT Faculty of team since its commencement in 2006
Law) who also serves as the joint project include developing and running a clinic-
lead of Creative Commons Australia with structured undergraduate unit based at
Professor Tom Cochrane, QUT’s Deputy
QUT, which provides the opportunity
Vice Chancellor, Technology, Information
for undergraduate students to interact
and Learning Support.
with industry experts and to undertake
The ccClinic operates across two main in-depth research on a topic relating
research streams: to OCL and the Creative Commons.
Particular emphasis is placed on the
1 An education and research practical implementation of the CC
program which serves as an model, with students encouraged to
information resource centre for conduct interviews and surveys with
students, teachers, individuals real-world participants in the movement.

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Three key publications produced

by the Creative Commons Clinic
and ccAustralia in 2007:
Open Content Licensing:
Cultivating the Creative
Commons, Unlocking the
Potential Through Creative
Commons and Legal Aspects
of Web 2.0 Activities.

The ccClinic has also published a More recently, the ccClinic produced
book of essays titled Open Content the report Legal Aspects of Web 2.0
Licensing: Cultivating the Creative Activities: Management of Legal Risk
Commons (http://creativecommons.org. Associated with Use of YouTube,
au/ocl). The volume provides a snapshot MySpace and Second Life (www.
of the thoughts of over 30 Australian ip.qut.edu.au/files/Queensland%20
and international experts – including Government%20Report%20-%20
Professor Lawrence Lessig, futurist reformat.pdf) as a consultancy for
Richard Neville and the Honorable the Queensland Government’s
Justice Ronald Sackville – on topics Smart Services Initiative. It identifies
surrounding the international Creative the practical legal risks associated
Commons initiative, to the landmark with activities conducted in online
Eldred v Ashcroft. It is published through participatory spaces.
168
Sydney University Press and released
online under a Creative Commons
Attribution-Noncommercial-No
Derivative Works 2.5 Australia Licence.

In August 2007 the ccClinic published

Unlocking the Potential through Creative
Commons: an industry engagement and
action agenda (http://creativecommons.
org.au/unlockingthepotential). This report
evaluates and responds to outcomes
of an industry engagement forum
hosted by the Clinic in November 2006,
and presents a strategy for continued
research into Creative Commons in
Australia. The report documents the
understanding of and attitudes towards
copyright, open content licensing and
Creative Commons expressed by over
50 representatives of the Australian
government, education and the
creative industries. It is available under
a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5
Australia licence.

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case studies

edgeX
description: The edgeX project provides a site for Ipswich residents to upload creative content,
building a community around collaboration via comments made on users’ work,
competitions, and the development of new skills, knowledge and attributes
appropriate for the digital age.
website: http://edgex.org.au
licence used: Option to choose from CC licences and full copyright
media: Multimedia
location: Ipswich, Australia

Overview commenting, rating, and tagging, allows

the development of specific user groups
which evolve their own self-moderation
The Emergent Digital Grassroots eXpo
structures, and contains a competition
(edgeX) project is a research and
and exhibition space as a central feature.
application initiative which aims to map
Competitions are seen as an optimum
grassroots and amateur content creation, 169
way to generate both interest and
focusing on community engagement
content for the edgeX site whilst building
with new media and strengthening
further community connections.
local identity. Centred around Ipswich,
Queensland (pop. 150,000), the site
explores whether participants’ sense
of local, geographic community can be Licence Usage
enhanced through the use of Internet
technologies expressing local themes. Offering Creative Commons licences
alongside standard copyright and Public
Coordinated by the Institute for Creative
Industries and Innovation (www.ici.qut. edgeX homepage, June 2008
edu.au) at the Queensland University of
Technology (www.creativeindustries.qut.
edu.au), edgeX is a partnership project
with the University of Queensland (www.
business.uq.edu.au) and the Ipswich
City Council (www.ipswich.qld.gov.
au). Launched in 2006, the project is
funded for a three-year period through
the Australian Research Council
(ARC). The first stage of edgeX has
involved the creation of a website which
allows the uploading of multimedia
content, combining the functionality of
a YouTube-style video site, a Flickr-like
photo site, and blogs and podcasts.
The site provides functionality for

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Intellectual Property laws

Image: untitled by danedgex, CC BY-NC-SA 2.5 Aus, http://edgex.org.au/
content/view/321/danedgex

on their own work and on

the work of others as they
encounter it. It highlights
the fact that even for users
who have no intention to
commercialise their work,
protecting their rights as
authors remains important,
while it is possible for them
at the same time to enable
others to share in and build
on their creative work. It is
hoped that the transparent,
reliable, and accountable
rights environment which
Creative Commons licences
establish will help generate
Domain dedications, edgeX encourages strong communities of
users to modify and mash up each content creators, who can collaborate
other’s content where permissions allow. with one another without fear of seeing
A notable feature of edgeX’s multimedia their intellectual property exploited by
content sharing system is its emphasis third parties without consent.
170 on interaction not only through text, but
also via content uploaded to the site. By
offering Creative Commons licences for
original contributions, the site aims to
create a ‘continuous stream of content
evolving over time in the hands of a
varied community of participants’ (http://
snurb.info/files/talks2007/Playing%20
on%20the%20Edge.pdf).

edgeX’s Creative Commons framework

is explained on the site’s Copyright
page (http://edgex.org.au/main.
aspx?page=Creative%20Commons).

Motivations
Creative Commons provides a
crucial basis for the intended content
development, reuse, and remixing
activities in which edgeX users are
invited to participate. In utilising CC
frameworks, edgeX also aims to play
an important educative role, alerting
users to the impact of applicable

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case studies

IMERSD e-Learning Projects, Griffith University

description: The IMERSD project employs new media technologies for e-research content
design, production and publication within the music industry, emphasising the
importance of access to key works with which to teach and from which to compose.
website: www.griffith.edu.au/imersd and www29.griffith.edu.au/radioimersd
licence used: Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 2.5 Australia, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/
by-nc-nd/2.5/au
media: Music
location: Brisbane, Australia

Overview 3 Engagement with Internet

technologies and interactive
media streaming formats
The IMERSD (Intermedia, Music for the development and
Education & Research Design) Project promotion of e-Research and
was established at Griffith University’s e-Learning.
Conservatorium of Music (www.griffith.
edu.au/music) in 2004. Offering facilities 171
which span teaching, research and The second area is Music Education
commercial environments surrounding which also encompasses three
multimedia and music production, programs:
IMERSD emphasises productive 1 QCGU and Griffith Enterprise
engagement between the university (www.griffith.edu.au/
and industry partners. The project commercialisation) partnering
employs new media technologies for in the production of music
e-research content design, production CDs and DVDs, development
and publication across three areas, as of Intellectual Property and
reflected in its name. music law considerations.

Intermedia involves three programs:

Radio IMERSD home page, June 2008
1 Collaborations with the Griffith
Film School (GFS) (www.
griffith.edu.au/faculty/qca/
griffith_film_school) in the
production of film, animation
and music video projects with
QCGU composers, performers
and sound producers.
2 Supervision of Workplace
Integrated Learning (WIL)
opportunities in key areas
including Radio/TV broadcast,
film, recording and multimedia
industries.

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2 Working with record labels, to provide enhanced research

independent artists and the training in honours and
Queensland music industry undergraduate programs.
body Q Music (www.qmusic.
com.au) to develop recording IMERSD emphasises immersion and
industry and support QCGU engagement across diverse art forms.
graduate and alumni career It offers recording studios, a multimedia
development. post-production suite, and an audio
3 Establishing and growing WIL research laboratory. Music technology
links with external industry practitioners and researchers are
through the Music Technology therefore provided with specialised
Industry Affiliates Program multimedia production tools and state-
(MTIAP). of-the-art audiovisual monitoring and
reproduction systems and surrounds.
The third area within IMERSD is IMERSD is designed to offer significant
Research Design. It also has three stand-alone projects or collaborative
programs: undertakings with industry professionals.
1 Partnering with the
Queensland Conservatorium Radio IMERSD broadcasts the project’s
Research Centre (QCRC) digital art outputs in an open access,
(www.griffith.edu.au/music/ multimedia format. These include
queensland-conservatorium- Griffith University’s public speeches
research-centre) in the design and workshop presentations, musical
and production of traditional compositions, performances and sound
and non-traditional research recordings, and commentary and review
172 outputs. to prompt discussion. Radio IMERSD
2 Engaging with interdisciplinary is a key output from the Digital Arts @
projects in collaboration with Griffith project.
Griffith research centres.
Examining the role of public, cultural
3 Promoting exemplars of
and educational institutions with respect
activity, research growth and
music-making in support of to the implementation of broadband
high quality Research Higher technologies is critical. Seeking to
Degree (RHD) completions; support the growth of the creative
industries, the IMERSD
programme contributes
Floor plans of the multimedia production complex at the Conservatorium
to the creative economy
through the provision of:

ß enhanced infrastructure;
ß content production and
commercialisation;
ß up-skilling for current
employees and
businesses;
ß community engagement
and participation;
ß production of skilled and
creative employees and
small businesses;
ß research, research
design and contribution to
practice-led research.

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 creative
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case studies

Licence Usage As discussed in an email interview

with Rachel Cobcroft from Creative
IMERSD and its associated music Commons Australia, Professor Draper
technology curricula aim to highlight indicates that the primary motivation
aspects of teamwork, workflow, data for IMERSD is to engage with original
management, Intellectual Property and student and staff creative works, to
other such contextual but oft-forgotten disseminate these and engage with new
aspects of excellence in professional public audiences in a parallel partnership
practice. For this reason, the project with Apple iTunes (www.apple.com/
requires that all works on the IMERSD itunes).
Stream be licensed under the Creative
Commons Attribution-NonCommercial- In this way, Creative Commons:
NoDerivatives 2.5 Australia licence.
Contributions to the project must be ß Provides a streamlined and
original works that have neither been easy-to-understand pathway
previously published nor submitted to into basic principles of the
another publisher prior to submission. rights of creators;
IMERSD invites digital music and
sound contributions from academic ß Opens discussion and
staff, professional practitioners, visitors, projects to ideas surrounding
alumni and students of Griffith University. ‘remix,’ creativity, history and
‘standing on the shoulders of
The IMERSD Contribution Guidelines giants’; and
(www29.griffith.edu.au/radioimersd/ ß Helps establish wider
content/view/74/83) provide advice as concepts of matters relating 173
to the adoption of the site’s Creative to ‘corruption’ in some
Commons licence. aspects of media practices,
and allows students to then
Whilst the current CC-licence adopted value their own rights and to
does not allow derivatives, it does allow think more deeply about how
for the posting of the creator’s material they wish to further engage
on a personal server or website, or an in commercialisation and the
institutional server, when a hyperlink entertainment business upon
is given to the material on the Radio graduation.
IMERSD site.
Professor Draper argues that, at the very
least, Australia needs appropriate music
Motivations licensing dedicated to the purposes of
teaching and research. This framework
According to IMERSD project director needs to be made available to the entire
and Head of Music Technology education sector. Many institutions
Professor Paul Draper, Creative regularly record seminar teaching and
Commons begins as a way to unpack research works: key classical pieces
Intellectual Property issues to better from history, important jazz standards,
inform professional artistic decision new works, new interpretations. These
making. Being exposed to the range need to be peer-reviewed, archived
of CC licensing helps students to and disseminated as an important
understand the different kinds of resource with which to teach, research
licensing models and the different kinds and provide adequate resources for
of value-adding that might benefit their young musicians – especially in terms of
careers and personal endeavours. cultural and historical context.

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KCB101: Communication in the New Economy

description: KCB101: Communication in the New Economy is a unit offered by the Creative
Industries Faculty at the Queensland University of Technology which uses Creative
Commons to enable students to build an innovation commons, emphasising
collaboration and ethical reuse of content as skills appropriate for media and
communication professionals interacting in the new economy.
website: http://creativetown.ci.qut.edu.au
licence used: Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 2.5 Australia, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/
by-nc-nd/2.5/au
media: Educational: Text
location: Australia

Overview activities are designed to promote

students’ literacy, advocacy, and oral
and written communication skills in a
KCB101: Communication in the New
collaborative environment appropriate
Economy is an undergraduate unit
for the new, creative economy. Through
offered by the Creative Industries
an iterative and interactive assessment
Faculty at the Queensland University of
174 process, students create an ‘innovation
Technology which encourages students
commons,’ and submit written proposals
to explore the possibilities opened up
for a creative industries project to be
by content reuse and collaborative
funded by the business or local council
frameworks. The unit introduces
of the hypothetical Queensland town of
students to contemporary theories of the
‘Ipskay’.
new economy, examining salient issues
and trends in media
and communication
disciplines, industries,
and professional
‘Media audiences are no
practice. It considers
the emergent
longer merely active producers
challenges of
Intellectual Property,
of meaning. They are now
access and
equity, and ethical
demonstrably interactive.’
professional conduct.
Approximately 250 KCB101 unit outline
students take this unit
each year.
The innovative element of KCB101
Media and communication professions
emerges through the structure of its
(including advertising, public relations,
assessment requirements. Students
journalism, marketing communication,
work in small groups of three to five, to
interaction design and media research)
prepare a project proposal which ‘will
are situated as vital creative inputs
help to extend the cultural, social and
into the wider creative economy. Class
economic benefits of creative industries

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case studies

in Ipskay’ (KBC101 Unit Outline).

Proposals may be for arts or public
Licence Usage
culture initiatives, for creative industries
research and professional development Students’ work in KCB101 is made
programs, for establishing social or available to current and future class
professional networks, or for ‘soft’ or members under a Creative Commons
‘hard’ infrastructure or services which Attribution-Noncommercial-No
enhance the creative industries in the Derivatives 2.5 Australia licence. Written
region. With student consent, these proposals are licensed under CC to
proposals are then released back to the ensure that students are acknowledged
class under a Creative Commons licence for their submissions and to enable the
for use in the final assessment. The
archiving of active documents. Students
web page this which students access
proposals from is called the KCB101 are informed that they are allowed to
Innovation Commons. cite previous project proposals in their
own work (as per normal academic
As their final piece of assessment, referencing requirements) but cannot
students choose a project proposal copy and/or paste from any works
from the KCB101 Innovation Commons published on the site. This referencing
(other than their own) to evaluate. They and review process facilitates the
write a short analytical essay and creation of an innovation commons in
make recommendations to the Ipskay
the classroom.
funding bodies on whether the proposal
should be supported. This assessment
is undertaken individually. Students
are once again invited to return these Motivations
essays to the commons so that they 175
can see which proposals have captured A primary objective of KCB101 is
their peers’ attention, and the range
to provide an applied, practice-led
of student-identified strengths and
weaknesses of proposals. understanding of the importance of
free culture and open education in
Even though open access to the achieving rapid cycles of innovation. By
student work maintained on the KCB101 asking students to engage in the review
Innovation Commons is restricted by of previous intellectual endeavour in
the limits of the Blackboard system the form of past assignments, the unit
(that is, only QUT staff and students demonstrates that creativity always
can gain access), this application of builds on the past and that cultural
Creative Commons licensing provides assets should be made available to
open access to student work in ways
the community. In their application
that have previously been extremely
difficult to achieve. Two additional major for funding, students are especially
advantages arise from open access encouraged to submit pilot projects
being provided to the assessment and feasibility studies which use the
documents. The first is that peer- granted funds as leverage for further
based transparency of student work developments, which therefore also
encourages a design orientation to encourage the combination of incentive
critique insofar as student effort is funding with other sources. In this
directed at identifying and contributing way, the open, iterative process is
to improving good ideas. Second, it underscored. This exercise also provides
allows an archive of students’ previous
students with an opportunity to apply
written project proposals and analytical
essays to be maintained on the unit’s the ethics and norms of co-creative
Blackboard site, allowing students to innovation in processes of interpersonal,
build on the past whilst retaining the organisational and mediated
attribution of others’ work. communication.

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Otago Polytechnic
description: Otago Polytechnic is a tertiary education provider in Dunedin, New Zealand, which
offers a range of open access training courses.
website: www.otagopolytechnic.ac.nz or www.tekotago.ac.nz
licence used: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 New Zealand,
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/nz
media: Educational resources: Images, Video, Text
location: New Zealand

Overview governed by traditional views of

ownership and Intellectual Property.
Key stakeholders were consulted in the
Otago Polytechnic is a publicly-
review, which occurred over the past
subsidised vocational education and
two years, providing feedback that the
training organisation located in Dunedin
institution needed to be more open
176 on the South Island of New Zealand. It
to support creative thinking and the
provides a range of vocational courses,
application of theory to practice. This
offering certificates, diplomas, degrees
culminated in the announcement in
and postgraduate studies in Travel
March 2008 that Otago Polytechnic was
and Tourism, through Automotive
releasing their training materials under
Engineering to Midwifery.
open access terms on Wikieducator.
Taking an open view of teaching,
learning and research, Otago Licence Usage
Polytechnic reconsidered their stance on
access to educational resources, then As stated in its current Intellectual
Property Policy, (www.otagopolytechnic.
Otago Polytechnic homepage, July 2008 ac.nz/index.php?id=281): ‘Otago
Polytechnic wishes to foster research
and development that advances
knowledge and scholarship; and to
support projects where that leads to
marketable products or services.

The Polytechnic:

ß Has a preference for the

open sharing of information,
knowledge and resources;
ß Recognises that intellectual
property (IP) is owned by
the creator, unless there are

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case studies

specific agreements
to the ownership of ‘The recognition of Creative
ß
IP by others; and
Wishes to foster
Commons with attribution as
the empowerment
of individuals in
our default position has been
their endeavours
in a protective and/ widely accepted and feedback
or promotional
framework for has been that it has been
individual creators
associated with instrumental in building Otago
Otago Polytechnic.’
Polytechnic’s reputation as an
Otago Polytechnic now offers
its open access courses
educational provider.’
under the Creative Commons
Attribution licence, with the Dr Robin Day, Deputy Chief Executive, Otago Polytechnic
application ‘Creative Commons http://sarah-stewart.blogspot.com/2008/03/
Attribution (Author name) for open-access-education-at-otago.html
Otago Polytechnic.’
collaborating in content development.
Individual lecturers own their intellectual The proliferation of open content and
property. Encouragement and support associated practices has helped to 177
is given by the institution to use CC promote the Polytech as well as the
BY for copyright statements. Where expertise and services of the individuals
the Polytechnic is used to publish or in its employ. A more independent
promote work, a CC BY licence is and participatory culture within the
applied wherever possible. Exceptions organisation is beginning to develop.
are made for works where third-party
content is not or cannot be cleared. Free and Open Source Software first
Other restrictions (if any) are time-based inspired thinking about free and open
and explained. source educational content. The success
of Wikimedia Foundation projects
proved the idea viable. Support from
Motivations many individuals and initiatives such as
Wikieducator has made it possible.
Encouraging open content licenses
at Otago Polytechnic by way of its Otago Polytechnic decided to adopt the
Intellectual Property Policy has assured Creative Commons Attribution licence
employees and contractors that they are so as to ensure a maximum amount of
free to use and develop open content, freedom and flexibility to itself and to
and that they a free to participate in people and organisations sampling its
Open Educational Resource (OER) content. Restrictions like ShareAlike
development initiatives. Many staff and Noncommercial were not an option
have now developed independent as they would have compromised or
skills in publishing and managing their complicated this position.
own content, as well as locating and
reusing third-party open content, and

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PLoS: African Sleeping Sickness Test

description: Murdoch University scientists led by Zablon Njiru and Andrew Thompson have
developed a simple blood test for African sleeping sickness (human African
trypanosomiasis or ‘HAT’) which they’ve published in PLoS Neglected Tropical
Diseases under a Creative Commons Attribution licence, making their findings
accessible to the world.
website: www.plosntds.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pntd.0000147
licence used: Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Generic licence
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5
media: Scientific data; Text
location: Australia

Overview endemic rural area using limited

equipment. What differentiated their
In March 2008, a team of Australian discovery, apart from its ease-of-use and
researchers led by Zablon Njiru and efficiency, is the fact that the findings
Andrew Thompson announced the were licensed under Creative Commons
178 development of an elegantly simple, (http://creativecommons.org/weblog/
low-tech and low-cost blood test for entry/8112), allowing the world costless
identifying African sleeping sickness access to their research.
(human African trypanosomiasis,
or ‘HAT’). Observing the presence In their article titled ‘Loop-Mediated
of infection via a colour change in Isothermal Amplification (LAMP)
reactive liquid from orange to green, Method for Rapid Detection of
the scientists have provided a way Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense,’ the
to test for this deadly disease in an Murdoch University team – comprising
Zablon Njiru, Andrew Mikosza, Tanya
Armstrong, John Enyaru, Joseph
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases journal homepage, July 2008 Ndung’u, and Andrew Thompson –
published their findings relating to a
rapid and robust diagnostic test for
HAT. Significantly, they chose to publish
in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
(www.plosntds.org/home.action), an
open-access journal devoted to the
pathology, epidemiology, treatment,
control, and prevention of neglected
tropical diseases (NTDs), such as
elephantiasis, leprosy, schistosomiasis,
river blindness, and African sleeping
sickness, as well as public policy
relevant to this group of diseases. This

Beyond the Classroom

 creative
commons
case studies

Public Library of Science (PLoS)

(www.plos.org) journal seeks to ‘Scientific works don’t have an
promote the efforts of scientists,
health practitioners, and public- isolated meaning; they exist
health experts from endemic
countries, highlighting the global
only in reference to the broader
public health importance of NTDs
whilst advocating the plight of
scientific community, and the
the poor who suffer from these
infectious diseases.
whole reason you publish them
is so that other people will read
Licence Usage and use them.’
Articles published in PLoS Michael Eisen, Co-Founder, Public Library of Science,
Neglected Tropical Diseases are http://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/7038
made available under Creative
Commons Attribution 2.5 Generic To finance this framework, PLoS
licence, which the Public Library of journals employ a business model
Science designates as ‘CCAL’. Under in which expenses (for peer review,
CCAL, authors retain ownership of journal production, online hosting and
the copyright of their article, whilst archiving) are recovered in part by
allowing anyone to download, reuse, charging a publication fee to the authors
and research sponsors for each article
179
reprint, modify, distribute, and/or copy
articles published in the PLoS journal, they publish. For PLoS Neglected
Tropical Diseases the publication fee is
so long as the original authors and
currently $US2100. Authors affiliated
source are cited. No permissions are
with an institutional member are eligible
required from the authors or publishers for a discount. Moreover, authors who
to use the work in these terms. In do not have sufficient funds to cover
this way, PLoS Neglected Tropical publication fees are offered complete or
Diseases provides a forum for the NTDs partial waivers. Inability to pay does not
community of scientific investigators, influence the decision to publish a paper
health practitioners, control experts, and (www.plos.org/about/faq.html#pubquest).
advocates to publish their findings in an
open-access format.
Motivations
Michael Eisen, co-founder of the Public
Library of Science, explained the Discussing the Murdoch University
rationale behind adopting CCAL: (http://www.murdoch.edu.au)
researchers’ decision to license their
‘We chose the attribution findings under Creative Commons,
license because it ensures Margaret Ruwoldt from the University of
the optimal accessibility and Melbourne observed:
usability while preserving
the one thing that scientists ‘In the Murdoch case, the
value the most: attribution for “public good” factor is a
their work.’ clear winner in the debate
http://creativecommons.org/weblog/
over whether to provide
entry/7038 open access to a university’s

Creative Commons & Education

 building an
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commons

research output: people increasing. Asked why PLoS decided to

in poor and developing employ Creative Commons licensing, he
countries need low-cost responded:
medical and health care,
particularly for endemic ‘Creative Commons and
diseases that don’t occur as PLoS share the common
widely in developed countries goal of strengthening the
(trypanosomiasis is one; science commons, and we
malaria is another).’ want to take advantage of all
http://blogs.unimelb.edu.au/ the work Creative Commons
informationfutures/2008/03/creative- and the growing number of
commons-licence-for-murdoch-uni-
Creative Commons license
innovation
users are doing to create,
defend, and internationalize
Glenn Otis Brown, the then Executive licenses that define the
Director of Creative Commons, commons.’
interviewed Public Library of Science http://creativecommons.org/
co-founder Michael Eisen about the weblog/entry/7038
library’s use of Creative Commons
in 2005 (http://creativecommons.org/
weblog/entry/7038). As a biologist at the
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and UC
Berkeley, Eisen espoused open access
180 (OA) to scientific research:

‘Open access will…

enable scientists to begin
transforming scientific
literature into something
far more useful than the
electronic equivalent of
millions of individual articles
in rows of journals on library
shelves. The ability to
search, in an instant, an
entire scientific library for
particular terms or concepts,
for methods, data, and
images – and instantly
retrieve the results – is only
the beginning.’
http://creativecommons.org/
weblog/entry/7038

Eisen reflected on the early success

of PLoS, noting that 30,000 people
signed an open letter supporting
the open-access organisation, and
that acceptance of OA was steadily

Beyond the Classroom

 creative
commons
case studies

The Community Library

description: The Community Library is a not-for-profit organisation based in Australia with a
charter to provide distributed library services with Creative Commons material to
support meaningful learning for offline and online users.
website: https://glsn.com/?view=community_library
licence used: Various Creative Commons licences with special conditions as necessary
media: Images, Text
location: Australia

Overview Library Services Network (GLSN)

(https://glsn.com) using open and
managed source components that
The Community Library is actively can be deployed at no charge to the
involved in the creation, deployment, individual’s desktop. This is referred to
and management of digital collections to as a Personal Learning Centre (PLC)
remote Australian communities in support and offers a range of functionality
of meaningful and life-long learning.
181
including support for offline and online
‘Remote’ is defined by the project in learning with:
terms of geography, culture, language,
and access to telecommunications. The ß An effective search engine
Community Library responds to the to find items within the
fact that many of the current models individual’s knowledge base;
surrounding open content are not ß The capability to manage
flexible enough to meet the demands of citations ensuring learners
supporting meaningful learning in remote actively manage context;
situations. This is particularly so when
focus is placed on the considerable body The Community Library homepage, June 2008
of potential learners who do not have
the telecommunications infrastructure to
support reliable online access.

Cameron Esslemont, Director of the

Community Library, acknowledges that
there is no one-size-fits-all solution for
the effective packaging and distribution
of information to remote communities.
A complex mix of issues related to
content, connectivity, cost, culture, and
copyright has to be considered, and the
most appropriate option found for each
community.

The Community Library employs a

technology platform supplied by Global

Creative Commons & Education

 building an
australasian
commons

ß Support for multilingual The Community Library generally

thesaurus for learners who adopts a Creative Commons Attribution-
speak several languages; Noncommercial-NoDerivatives licence.
ß Support for copyright When a user electronically extracts
management ensuring: individual pages these are combined into
ß Integration of concept a Personal Thematic Portfolio, which
mapping as a means itself can be shared under a Creative
of managing and Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-
navigating knowledge ShareAlike licence. The project
domains; and intends to upgrade to support Creative
ß Thematic portfolios Commons with special conditions
as the overarching as appropriate to context, actively
envelope with which promoting the managed translation of its
learners can group material for local consumption.
learning assets.

In the pursuit of meaningful learning, the Motivations

Community Library has chosen to use
concept maps in support of its learner- The Community Library selected
centric model. These are used initially the Creative Commons model as
as a means of navigating the libraries,
its supports the project’s desire for
and are also offered under a range of
copyright models, with embedded links extended deployment, in that material
to relevant thematic portfolios. cached at an Electronic Resource
Centre (ERC) can be reconstituted,
The Community Library supports the repackaged and redeployed to more
182 hosting of all media. All library material remote communities through in-country
is catalogued to extended Dublin Core ERCs.
and packaged into libraries or collections
for deployment to Electronic Resource The project’s core belief is that it is
Centres (ERCs). not enough for a publisher to merely
supply Creative Commons material
The project is based in Australia, but on their website; they need also to
intends a global deployment. The think how individuals may want to use
Community Library seeks to engage that material and whether it ultimately
suitable partner communities across
supports meaningful learning. Finally,
different subject areas for content
preparation, establishing knowledge the project adheres to the belief that ‘the
service providers in each country last mile will always be manual’: as most
to assist with local deployment and learning takes place offline, and many
support. learners do not have suitable access to a
computer, the information provided must
be prepared in a manner that allows
Licence Usage dynamic repackaging.

The Community Library manages This is in line with the Community

the transfer of copyright materials Library’s broader project to be started
to the individual’s desktop, seeking in 2008 – Textbooks Without Borders
to coordinate the mix of Creative – allowing for the preparation of
Commons and non-Creative Commons educational material and its deployment
material integrated within its libraries.
to Electronic Resource Centres within
Learning materials are made available
through The Community Publisher, with each country, where individuals can
information catalogued at the page level, review, select and prepare their own
with each page carrying a unique Digital booklets/textbooks for electronic use or
Object Identifier (DOI). for local printing and broader distribution.

Beyond the Classroom

 creative
commons
case studies

University of Southern Queensland

OpenCourseWare
description: The University of Southern Queensland OpenCourseWare (USQ OCW) provides
access to free and open educational resources across several disciplines for
students and teachers worldwide.
website: http://ocw.usq.edu.au
licence used: Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 Australia
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/au
media: Text
location: Australia

Overview in OCW Consortium activities must be

committed to publishing at least 10 courses
The University of Southern Queensland’s in their name in a format that meets this
OpenCourseWare (USQ OCW) provides access definition.
to free and open educational resources (OER)
The University of Southern Queensland 183
for students, academics, and interested readers
(www.usq.edu.au) is a multi-campus institution,
worldwide. USQ OCW contains sample courses
with the main campus located in Toowoomba
from each of the University’s five faculties,
(150km west of Brisbane), a further campus at
together with courses from its Tertiary Preparation
Harvey Bay (300km north of Brisbane), and one
Program (www.usq.edu.au/ltsu/learnsupp/tpp).
at Springfield (30km south of Brisbane). As such,
Currently, the courses offerred openly under
USQ is classified as a regional university. Its
Creative Commons licensing by USQ OCW range
current enrolment sits at approximately 26,000
from CSC2402: Object Oriented Programming in
students (equivalent to 12,100 EFT). Three
C++ to TOU1003: Introduction to Tourism.
quarters of the student body learns through
distance mode. Whilst providing access to
USQ is the only Australian member of the
a selection of its materials, USQ notes that it
OpenCourseWare Consortium
does not grant credits or degrees, and does not
(www.ocwconsortium.org), an international
provide access to faculty members through the
collaboration of in excess of 100 Higher Education
OpenCourseWare programme.
institutions and associated organisations ‘creating
a broad and deep body of open educational
content using a shared model’
(www.ocwconsortium.org/index.php?option=com_
Licence Usage
content&task=view&id=15&Itemid=29). The USQ OpenCourseWare project employs the
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-
As defined by the Consortium, OpenCourseWare Share Alike 2.5 Australia licence. The licence is
is a ‘free and open digital publication applied to ten courses made available as part
of high quality educational materials, of USQ’s membership of the OpenCourseWare
organized as courses.’ Institutions participating Consortium, able to be downloaded on the site.

Creative Commons & Education

 building an
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regional and global communities’ (http://

ocw.usq.edu.au/mod/resource/view.
php?id=113).

USQ Vice-Chancellor Professor Bill

Lovegrove first heard about Creative
Commons through colleagues,
professional contacts and a general
knowledge of developments in the open
educational resources (OER) sector. In
an email interview with Steve Gething
from Creative Commons Australia in
April 2008, Professor Lovegrove wrote:

University of Southern Queensland’s directory of ‘Licensing under OCL

OpenCourseWare home page, June 2008 allowed us to make available
to anyone who might be
Statistics interested in the parts of our
courses for which USQ owns
the intellectual property. The
According to Professor Bill Lovegrove,
Attribution Non-Commercial
statistics show that for the period from
Share Alike licence is used
October 2007 to March 2008, there
184 by most academic institutions
were over 26,000 visitors to the USQ which make resources
OCW site. The most popular course available via a Creative
was Object Oriented Programming in Commons licence as our
C++ (http://ocw.usq.edu.au/course/view. ownership is acknowledged
php?id=13), with significant numbers and our resources are
of visitors going to Creating Interactive made accessible to anyone
Multimedia (http://ocw.usq.edu.au/ anywhere.’
course/view.php?id=15) and General
Science (http://ocw.usq.edu.au/course/
view.php?id=10).

To date, there are no statistics on the

reuse or distribution of the courses
with appropriate acknowledgment or
on whether visitors to the courses have
enrolled as students at USQ as a result
of access to courses on the OCW site.

Motivations
The University of Southern
Queensland sees its membership of
the OpenCourseWare Consortium as
putting into practice their stated Mission:
to ‘develop, enrich and serve [their]

Beyond the Classroom

 creative
commons
case studies

References
Aufderheide, P. & Jaszi, P. (2004). Untold Stories: Creative Consequences of the
Rights Clearance Culture for Documentary Filmmakers. Washington, D.C.: Center for
Social Media. Retrieved June 20, 2008, from http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/
rock/backgrounddocs/printable_rightsreport.pdf.

Bledsoe, E. (forthcoming). The ‘Can’t Touch This’ Effect: Why you can’t use MC
Hammer in a documentary film

Bledsoe, E., Coates, J., & Fitzgerald, B.F. (2007). Unlocking the Potential Through
Creative Commons: An Industry Engagement and Action Agenda. Retrieved June 20,
2008, from http://creativecommons.org.au/unlockingthepotential.

Cheliotis, G., Chik, W., Guglani, A., & Kumar Tayi, G. (2007, August). Taking Stock
of the Creative Commons Experiment: Monitoring the Use of Creative Commons
Licenses and Evaluating Its Implications for the Future of Creative Commons and for
Copyright Law. Paper presented at 35th Research Conference on Communication,
Information and Internet Policy (TPRC), National Center for Technology & Law,
George Mason University School of Law, Singapore. Retrieved June 20, 2008, from
http://wiki.creativecommons.org/images/7/71/Taking-stock-of-the-creative-commons-
experiment_eng.pdf.
185
Coates, J., Suzor, N., & Fitzgerald, A. (2007). Legal Aspects of Web 2.0 Activities:
Management of Legal Risk Associated with Use of YouTube, MySpace and
Second Life. Retrieved June 20, 2008, from http://creativecommons.org.au/
socialnetworkingreport.

Cutler, T. (2007, July). Innovation and open access to public sector information.
Speaking notes from the Australian National Summit on Open Access to Public Sector
Information, Brisbane, Australia. Retrieved June 20, 2008, from http://datasmart.oesr.
qld.gov.au/Events/datasmart.nsf/0/F9C327CB32E974E84A25732F00186486/$FILE/
Terry%20Cutler.pdf?openelement.

Fitzgerald, B.F., Coates, J., & Lewis, S. (2007). Open Content Licensing: Cultivating
the Creative Commons. Sydney: Sydney University Press. Retrieved June 20, 2008,
from http://creativecommons.org.au/ocl.

Fitzgerald, B.F., Fitzgerald, A., Perry, M., Kiel-Chisholm, S., Driscoll, E., Thampapillai,
D., & Coates, J. (2006) OAK Law Project Report No. 1: Creating a legal framework for
copyright management of open access within the Australian academic and research
sector. Retrieved June 20, 2008, from http://www.oaklaw.qut.edu.au/files/LawReport/
OAK_Law_Report_v1.pdf.

Haughey, M. (2004). Creative Commons Applauds the Release of Political Film

Footage on Peer-to-Peer. Retrieved June 20, 2008, from http://creativecommons.org/
press-releases/entry/4401.

Njiru, Z.K., Mikosza, A.S.J., Armstrong, T., Enyaru, J.C., Ndung'u, J.M., & Thompson,
A.R.C. (2008) Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification (LAMP) Method for Rapid
Detection of Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases,
2(2), e147. doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0000147.

Creative Commons Case Studies

 building an
australasian
commons

OpenBusiness.cc. (2006). UK Artists – Their Approaches To Copyright and Creative

Commons: A Survey of Copyright, Creative Commons and the Arts in the UK.
Retrieved June 20, 2008, from http://www.openbusiness.cc/2006/11/28/release-of-
report-on-%E2%80%98uk-artists-copyright-and-creative-commons/.

Pask, A.J., Behringer, R.R., & Renfree, M.B. (2008). Resurrection of DNA Function
In Vivo from an Extinct Genome. PLoS One, 3(5), e2240. doi:10.1371/journal.
pone.0002240. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0002240.g003.

Queensland Spatial Information Council. (2007). Conference Report: Australian

National Summit On Open Access To Public Sector Information. Brisbane: The
State of Queensland (Queensland Treasury). Retrieved June 10, 2008, from http://
www.qsic.qld.gov.au/QSIC/QSIC.nsf/0/D6C8E0616BC7FB414A2573B7000C42E5/
$FILE/Conference%20Report%20-%20National%20Summit%20Open%20Access.
pdf?openelement.

Queensland Spatial Information Office, Office of Economic and Statistical Research,

& Queensland Treasury. (2006).Government Information and Open Content Licensing:
An Access and Use Strategy Government Information Licensing Framework Project
Stage 2 Report. Brisbane: The State of Queensland (Queensland Treasury).
Retrieved June 10, 2008, from http://www.qsic.qld.gov.au/QSIC/QSIC.nsf/CPByUNID/
BFDC06236FADB6814A25727B0013C7EE.

186 Ramsey, N. (2005, October 16). The Hidden Cost of Documentaries. New York Times.
Retrieved June 10, 2008, from http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/16/movies/16rams.
html?_r=1&oref=slogin.

Rooney, D., & Graham, P. (2004). Creative Content and Sustainable Community
Media Organisations: Australian Creative Resources Online. Australian Studies in
Journalism, 13: 80-93.

Building an Australasian Commons

 creative
commons
case studies

Banner Credits
Unless otherwise noted below, images Archives Alive!: Creative Commons,
that are part of a banner header on the
first page of each cluster are licensed
Cultural & Governmental
under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Institutions
Generic licence, http://creativecommons.
org/licenses/by/2.0 Background: Fish by psd, www.flickr.com/
photos/psd/14319064

Bar Association Bulletin by

New Ways of Doing Music umjanedoan, www.flickr.com/photos/
Business: Creative Commons & umjanedoan/497345261
Sound
Background: La Pileta by MR+G, Remix My Lit: Creative Commons
www.flickr.com/photos/
yangping/485669962 & Written Words
Stencil. by Polifemus, www.flickr.com/ Background: Cherry frosted by
photos/polifemus/372217232, licensed joka2000, www.flickr.com/photos/
under a Creative Commons Attribution- joka2000/181513020
Noncommercial 2.0 Generic licence http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0
187
Beyond the Classroom: Creative
Commons, Education & Research
Instilling Alternative Points of
View: Creative Commons & Background: Pink by Zack Klein,
Democratic Change www.flickr.com/photos/
zachklein/54143396
Background: deep purple by
SqueakyMarmot, www.flickr.com/photos/
squeakymarmot/417065481
Thank you also to the free font community.
Our dreams by david drexler, www.flickr. In particular thanks to:
com/photos/drexler/1118548040
ChannelZero, www.angelwerks.com/
channelzero, for Dead Letter Office
Freeing Footage for All: Creative Fifteen, Dead Letter Office Seventeen and
Commons & Moving Images Dead Letter Office Twenty Nine

Background: Orange by 96dpi, junkohanhero, www.junkohanhero.com,

www.flickr.com/photos/96dpi/2537369966 for CKAS, Avain and Tajunnan Tuolla
Puolen

Exhibition Open!: Creative Polenimschaufenster,

Commons & Visual Arts www.polenimschaufenster.com, for
NeoPrint M319
Background: disrupting the pattern by
SophieMuc, www.flickr.com/photos/
sophie-/127875393

Creative Commons Case Studies

 creative
commons
case studies

Index
60Sox ....................................................... 118 International IDEA Publishing ................... 60
A New Leaf Media: The Pundit.................150 Jamendo .................................................... 22
A Swarm of Angels .....................................75 John Quiggin ............................................152

ABC Pool ..................................................125 Jonathan Coulton .......................................17

Aduki Press: KCB101: Communication

in the New Economy ................................ 174
Stick This in Your Memory Hole ............... 141
Knives at Noon ...........................................27
Ali J Art & Illustration ................................. 99
Magnatune ................................................ 29
Ancient Free Gardeners .............................11
merri randell ............................................. 111
Andrew Garton ...........................................13
Michael Specht .........................................155
Architecture for Humanity.......................... 50
Mike Seyfang ............................................156
Artabase ...................................................102
Monkeyc on Flickr.com ............................. 113
Association for Progressive New Internationalist ....................................62
Communication Australia ...........................47
Nine Inch Nails ...........................................32
Audiophile ...................................................16
On Line Opinion .......................................148
Australian Creative Resources Online .......72
OpenDemocracy ....................................... 64
Black brow ..................................................78 189
OpenVoice Free PBX ................................ 43
Brisbane Media Map ................................127 Otago Polytechnic ....................................176
ccSalon Australia on Flickr.com ...............104 Picture Australia Click and Flick ............... 115
Chris Denaro ..............................................81 PLoS African Sleeping Sickness Test ......178
Creative Commons Clinic .........................167 Pocketclock Records ................................. 35
Creative Commons Music Postmoderncore .........................................37
Collaboration Project ..................................19 Powerhouse Museum, Sydney .................135
deviantART...............................................108 Remix My Lit .............................................159
Dictionary of Sydney ................................129 Revver ....................................................... 88
Digital Fringe ............................................. 84 Sony eyeVio............................................... 90
edgeX .......................................................169 Strange Symphonies Blog ........................161
EngageMedia ............................................ 55 The Age Blogs ..........................................144
Filter Magazine .........................................145 The Community Library ............................181

Following Alexis West................................ 86 Topology .................................................... 39

Global Voices Online ................................. 58 University of Southern Queensland

OpenCourseWare ....................................183
Government Information
UpStage ...................................................120
Licensing Framework,
Queensland Government .........................132 VIDEO SLAM: 5 Smiles ............................ 92

Greens Blog .............................................. 53 VIDEO SLAM 02: Appropriate Original ..... 94

IMERSD e-Learning Project, YouDecide2007 ......................................... 66

Griffith University ......................................171 Yunyu..........................................................41

Creative Commons Case Studies

  building an australasian commons 
building an 'Creative Commons is like having 100,000 free publicity officers.'

australasian – Pete Foley, animator

commons Creative Commons licences have had a significant impact

world-wide, with millions of creators opting to share their content
with their peers. Since its inception in 2002, the Creative Commons
initiative has shown stellar growth. Numerous communities have
emerged, inspired and founded on the CC licensing scheme, and
the recognition, collaboration, and commercialisation opportunities
A joint project of it provides.

This book is the first attempt to chronicle the tales of the Australasian
commons. Featuring over 60 case studies, it maps the current
state of play of the Creative Commons and free culture community
in the region. From private individuals to large corporations, the
studies clearly show the mechanisms and motivations to share and
experiment without the restrictions of the pre-digital era. Across

AUSTRALIA
the domains of democratic change, filmmaking, music, visual
arts, libraries, museums, government, education and research,
Australasian creators are making their mark. We encourage you to

shar!,
K

contribute your stories to the Creative Commons case studies wiki:

http://wiki.creativecommons.org/casestudies.

r!mix,
r!us! – y
legay
B
s AUSTRALIA