Technology Blog

Details to follow later today, but when you add our offline campaign to the online campaign (and assuming we solidify some pledges made in the final week), we will have bested our goal of $300,000 by some $200,000 — raising over $500,000 in total. Stay tuned for some interesting surprises (and feel free to give some more in the meantime.)

source: CC Campaign: We broke the thermometer!

Angela Gunn of USAToday on YouTube, MySpace and CC.

source: this is very smart

I am very proud to report (and not because I used to be a conservative) that Tom Delay has launched a blog, with a new CC license. There’s not much I agree with Tom Delay about — except the freedoms he means his words to carry. Bravo.

source: And who said CC was just for the Libs?

The best news is the stuff that just happens. Here’s an example: As reported by Lisa Williams on Jay Rosen’s site, GateHouse Media, a conglomerate “that owns 75 daily and 231 weekly newspapers” has rolled over 96 of its newspaper sites to a Creative Commons license.

source: GateHouse removes the gate on 96 newspapers

Creative Commons turns four tomorrow. On December 16, 2002, in San Francisco, we launched this licensing project. Within a year, there were a million licenses. Within two years, 12m. Within three years, around 40m. At four, Google reports us close to 150 million licenses. I’m in Portugal to launch the 34th country ported — with Willem (age 3), who proudly marched around the event with a sticker on his shirt, explaining to everyone that it meant “ke-ative koms.”

I’ll be in Second Life at the CC pod at 10pm San Francisco time (6am Portugal time) to join the party, and make at least one announcement. But meanwhile, enjoy this fantastic card from one of CC’s better ideas — iCommons.

source: Happy Birthday, CC

Creative Commons is turning 4 on December 16. To celebrate, there are a host of parties springing up around the world. You can read about it on this blog entry. I’ll be in Portugal to launch CC Portugal, but will be getting up early to make a Second Life appearance at the San Francisco event. If you can’t make it to a physical party, come virtually. I’ll be making a pretty significant announcement (for me at least) at the party.

source: Think globally, party locally (or virtually)

My CC fundraising letter this week describes the launch of CC Labs — a test bed for new CC technologies. There’s a new licensing engine that emphasizes more clearly the freedoms you’re enabling. Toggling through the options gives you a very clear sense of the contours of the CC licenses.

The most important experiment, however, is also the hardest to describe. We’ve begun testing an architecture that will enable people to specify (in the metadata attached to the license) where to go for rights, or stuff, beyond those specified in the license. Thus, for example, if you’re a Flickr snapper, and license your photos under a noncommercial license, you can specify in the metadata who or where someone should go to clear commercial rights. (See, e.g., Scoopt)

So here’s an example. Gary New Vision’s got a mySpace page. On that page, you can download some of his music. That music is licensed under a CC BY-NonCommercial license. But if you click on the CC icon, the Commons Deed now tells you where you can go to license the music commercially.

As I explain in the extended entry, this “rights beyond” link need not be to commercial rights. It could be a tip jar, or t-shirts, or even another CC license. Thus, anyone offering content under a CC-NC license should, in my view, offer an alternative licenses as well — CC-BY-SA — which would mean the content could also be included within copyleft projects. But more on that soon …

The tech here has been tricky, no doubt. But the hardest part will be to begin to make clear the potential this added capacity adds. Read below, and if you’ve got any great ideas, I’d be eager to hear them.

(continued)

[CC-lessigletter: 12.7.06] CC-Labs

From our last letter:

“CC has come to be about much more than just licenses, and certainly much more than any of us dreamed.”

The story continued:

So this week we launched a fresh face to the Creative Commons website. Built within WordPress, we hope the site will make it easier for people to understand and use our tools. Most noticeable are the new CC license icons, which expressly indicate the terms of the particular CC license used.

But with this letter, we also launch a new page at the CC site — labs.creativecommons.org. At CC Labs, we begin to demo some cool new innovations that the CC team has been working on. In this letter, I’ll describe three of these innovations. The most important — by far — is an extension to the CC model that I first described in these letters last year. I suspect nothing will be as important in spreading the CC model as this critical extension.

First, however, let me describe the other two innovations.

One very difficult issue we’ve faced from the start is making understandable the freedoms our licenses are intended to provide. We’ve made that task more difficult by emphasizing in the names we’ve given to our licenses the limits on the freedoms, rather than the freedoms themselves. Thus, we talk about the CC-BY license – which says you must give attribution, but doesn’t say “you have the freedom to share and remix this content.” For people who get it, this isn’t a problem. But for people not yet on this page, emphasizing requirements, or restrictions, doesn’t seem very free.

One step towards solving this problem is a tool to give people a more intuitive sense of the freedoms they’re allowing, and the conditions they’re imposing. That’s the aim of our Freedoms License Chooser.

When you open the page, you’re presented with four puzzle pieces that are interlinked. The top two – in green – specify the freedoms you can select to apply to your creativity: the freedom to Share, or the freedom to Remix, or both. On the bottom, there are two limiting conditions — in red — that you can select to restrict the freedoms you have granted: NonCommercial, or ShareAlike, or both. Not all combinations are possible. (For example, if you don’t give the freedom to Remix, you can’t require that others ShareAlike, since ShareAlike is a restriction on remixes or derivative works.)

As you toggle the freedoms and limitations, the resulting license is displayed in the center of the puzzle. Click through all the options and you begin to get a much more intuitive sense of the shape of the commons.

The second example of CC Labs is also a licensing engine, again designed to make it easier to understand and implement CC licenses. It begins with the same questions that the Freedoms License Chooser has — select the freedoms and select the limitations. More insistently than before, it also asks you to give more information about your work, so that the metadata attached to your work makes the license more valuable.

But then this License Generator gives an option we haven’t had before. In the current version, it asks where the license will be applied — on a web page, or (and this is the cool part) in MySpace.

If you select a web page, then, as always, the tool gives you the code to paste into the web page. But if you select MySpace, then it asks you to select a style, and indicate whether you want a floating license or a license for your profile. If you select a floating position, then the CC license governing the content on your MySpace page will live at the bottom of the screen.

Ok, so these innovations are designed to do a bit better what we’ve always done. The last innovation on CC Labs, however, will radically change the scope and reach of CC licenses.

You might not think so given the title of this innovation — “Metadata Lab.” It’s the nature of tech-types to be understated. But I don’t think we could overstate the importance of this new innovation. And in the few words left in this letter, I want to introduce you to this potential.

As you know, CC licenses are nonexclusive. That means the terms of the CC license are general, offered to anyone in the world. But they don’t limit the author’s right to enter into other deals.

So for example, my book, Free Culture, is offered under a CC BY-NC-SA license, meaning anyone is free to take and modify the work, but only for noncommercial purposes. Yet I also have another deal with my publisher that permits it to sell the book (something that’s not permitted by the NC license). That deal is not inconsistent with the CC license, since again the CC license is not exclusive. The CC license says, “Here are the terms that anyone in the world can take.” But you’re always free to strike different deals with particular people.

Some people don’t want to strike different deals. They want their CC license to specify all terms for everyone. My blog, for example, is offered under a CC-BY license. That’s an invitation to anyone to commercialize my content without worrying about contacting me. Some have. CNET Japan, for example, was translating my blog and selling advertisements around it. That’s perfectly fine with me, given the license I selected.

But some people are quite happy to strike deals that complement their CC license. A Flickr photographer, for example, might post her photos under a BY-NC license. But she’d be happy to license the photo to a magazine for commercial purposes — so long as the magazine asked.

So far that second step has been somewhat difficult. Of course, it’s often easy to go from a CC licensed work to the original author, just because the work is online, and links are easy. But it’s been hard to integrate the CC license into other applications. And very hard to specify upfront just what the terms of a different license would be.

Soon, this will no longer be the case. What the Metadata Lab demonstrates is a particular example of a much more general facility that we will enable very soon. Using our licensing engine to add the appropriate metadata, users will be able to specify rights or applications beyond those specified in the license itself. Those rights, or applications, might include commercial rights, or things people can buy, or, as I describe more below, other CC licenses.

So for example, the CC license might say CC-BY-NC. But when wrapped in the appropriate metadata, the CC Commons Deed could have a link to an agent, or just a web site, where commercial uses could be negotiated.

Or alternatively, the CC license might say CC-BY-NC. But the metadata would indicate a tip jar, where a donation could be made.

Or where you can get a CD of the music offered under a NC license.

Or one of the band’s t-shirts.

Thus, the general facility this innovation will provide is a simple and automatic way to say,”the CC license gives you these rights automatically, but go here to get different rights, or different applications.”

Here are some examples from companies we’re beginning to work with. Click on the CC License icon to see how the “Rights Beyond” is handled.

Now as I indicated last year, CC is not hosting these different applications. We’re not in the business of selling content, or (other peoples’) t-shirts. So this is not an architecture to enable CC to become commercial. Our stuff is still free (well, not our t-shirts). Our tools will always be free.

Instead, what this innovation does is to give people a simple way to point to places beyond the CC license for uses or applications that the CC license doesn’t itself provide.

Must these uses be commercial? No. In my view, perhaps the most important case for using this “rights beyond” facility is to specify alternative CC licenses.

For example, let’s say you offer your content under a CC-BY-NC license. But you’d be happy to have your content included within Wikipedia. One solution would be to dual license your content. But a simpler solution would be to use this “Rights Beyond” facility. You can specify your primary license as the NC license. But offer as an alternative, through the “Rights Beyond” facility, the same content under a CC-BY-SA license. And assuming we fix the problem with CC/FDL interoperability — assuming, wink, wink — that would mean your creative work could be included within Wikipedia (or other copyleft projects), even though the general license you offer is a NC license.

But won’t this innovation encourage people to mark creativity with BY- NC when they would otherwise just make it free? It may, for some. It will also encourage many to use CC licenses who otherwise wouldn’t. But if it does push some to adopt a NC restriction where you believe they shouldn’t, then you should join us in arguing against that restriction.

I believe, for example, with the Public Library of Science, that scientific journals should be freely available. All PLoS content is licensed under a CC-BY license. If some other scientific journal started to make its content available under a CC-BY-NC license, then you should join me in arguing that that model is inconsistent with the ethics of science. The CC licenses give us a vocabulary to make that argument. But it is up to us to actually utter the words of the argument. Code has no ethical obligation to do ethical politics. We do.

There are more details to this important innovation. But the general message is clear: Using this technology, you can specify rights beyond those granted by the CC license. Any rights, or any applications, however the adopter chooses. I trust as you think through this innovation, you’ll see why I think it is the most important change we’ve introduced since we introduced CC.

Remember the hybrid economy from this year’s first post. Here are the tools to help this hybrid flourish.

source: CC Labs

From CC:

Today, Creative Commons launched the first CC Swag Photo Contest on Flickr to promote our Annual Fundraising Campaign. The photo must be of CC Swag (t-shirts, buttons, stickers, etc. — all available from the Support the Commons store) and the winners will have their photos used on Creative Commons’ informational postcards, which will be distributed internationally to promote CC and the winning photographers. Winners will receive 100 copies of the postcard with their photo. The winners will also be able to choose a Creative Commons board member to record a personalized outgoing voicemail announcement — that’s right, your friends can be greeted by Jimmy Wales every time they call you! For more information, please visit the contest page and read the rules.

source: CC & Flickr Photo Contest

So we’ve launched a hack of the advertising system to try to raise funds for CC a bit differently. This is a new CC video (3 minutes). It’s been Revverized — meaning at the end is an ad. When people watch the video through to the ad, we get paid. Thus, by spreading and watching our video, you can help CC. And if this technique works, maybe others as well.

You can see all our videos here. All of them have now been Revverized, though of course, we also make them available in an ad-free way. But the more who watch the Revver version, the more we raise.

So if you’d like a simple (and cheap) way to help CC, please use the email form to send the videos page to your 10,000 best friends. Ask them to send it to their 10,000 best friends. And them, to their 15,000 best friends. And soon we’ll be finished with the fundraising for the year.

Or again, alternatively, click here to donate $300,000 and we can call the whole thing off.

source: Hacking the advertising system to fund nonprofits

So I decided this year I would respond personally to everyone who has donated to CC. Each Paypal donation sends a copy to me, and I write a note in response. (An official tax-ready thank you gets generated by some machine later, but I wanted the first cut at the thanks).

It is an amazing process. I had expected I would know most who would donate; I know practically no one. They come from across the world, in every amount, some sometimes give twice.

I can’t express adequately how grateful I am to those who support us. Partly that’s the technology — most imagine the emails must be machine-generated; partly that’s the limits to language — we practice overusing “thank you”; how can we mean it when we really do?

Anyway, thank you again. (And I apologize if I’m a bit behind. I’ll get through all of them.)

source: pleasant chores

Joi Ito and Paul Twomey meet Ivailo Kalfin, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria. The Bulgarian Foreign Ministry then announces that all its published content is licensed under a CC-BY license, as is the Minister’s blog.

Read all about it: from Veni Markovski; from Joi.

source: Joi carries the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry

With the launch of the second Creative Commons fundraiser, I have begun again a series of letters about Creative Commons.

The first letter is here. (Spanish — thanks to Maria Cristinia Alvite)

The second is here.

The archive of letters (including last year’s) is here.

You can subscribe to them here.

Or you can just donate $300,000 here and we can call the whole thing off.

source: Return of the LessigLetters

At the top of favorite articles about CC, this one by Mark Glaser.

source: Someone gets it: MediaShift on CC

I’m just ending the last insane 3 week period in and for a long time (round the world, and almost back to Berlin), and I’ll be writing more about this early next week when I get a chance to breathe, but this week Creative Commons launches its second annual fundraising campaign. More soon about why we might merit your support, but for those ready to help without the pitch, here’s the code:

<a href=”http://creativecommons.org/support/”>
<img src=”http://creativecommons.org/images/support/2006/spread-3.gif” border=”0″/></a>

source: Another year, another fundraiser

The British Council and Counterpoint has a new publication, “Unbounded Freedom: A Guide to Creative Commons Thinking for Cultural Organizations,” written by Rosemary Bechler. The book will be launched Friday. There’s a discussion page on the author’s blog, which begins with a useful post addressing the question: “So why did I choose to licence my work in this way?”

source: British Council on “Creative Commons Thinking”

So there was a flurry of concern last week because of the announcement that Microsoft’s new Zune would wrap all content in DRM. Turns out that was a mistake. All content is not wrapped by default. The wrapping applies to DRMed content only. Thus, the device would not appear to interfere with the CC anti-DRM clause.

source: The tempest in a Zune box

From Eric at CC:

Visit the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum’s website to download “The Concert,” a new classical music podcast offered under the Creative Commons Music Sharing license. The podcast features unreleased live performances by master musicians and talented young artists recorded from the museum’s Sunday Concert Series. “The Concert” includes music by Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert, and Chopin for solo piano, orchestra, string quartet, and voice. A new podcast will be posted on the 1st and 15th of every month; users can subscribe to receive free, automatic updates delivered directly to their computers or mp3 players. With “The Concert,” the Gardner Museum becomes the first art museum to encourage sharing and free distribution of its online programming by using a Creative Commons license.

You can read more about this exciting news in CC’s press release.

source: News from CC

Creative Commons’ free software project, ccHost, a project that “provides web-based infrastructure to support collaboration, sharing, and storage of multi-media using the Creative Commons licenses and metadata,” has been named the “Best Open Source Solution” at LinuxWorld 2006. ccHost supports ccMixter. See some pictures of those who support ccHost.

source: Best Open Source Solution

CC Salon is happening tomorrow - Wednesday, August 9th - from 6-9pm at Shine in San Francisco. CC Salon is a free, casual monthly get-together focused on conversation, networking, and presentations from people or groups who are developing projects that relate to open content and tools. CC Salon SF is now being presented in conjunction with CopyNight SF.

This month’s line-up of speakers includes Hemai Parthasarathy and Barbara Cohen of the Public Library of Science, Owen Byrne of Digg, and John Buckman of Magnatune. Shannon Coulter will be DJing a set of CC music from Magnatune’s catalogue.

For more information, visit this event’s Upcoming.org listing.

source: Another CC Salon

So I’m back on the grid, after a (never long enough) break with my family. Nothing is as cool as my kid. And though returning is tough, this news was great to return to:

You’ll recall my over-the-top (but completely accurate) praise for Yochai Benkler’s The Wealth of Networks. That was published by Yale University Press, which allowed Yochai to release the book under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license (you must give attribution, you can make only noncommercial uses of the work, and any derivative must be under the same license).

Today, Jack Balkin wrote to say that Yale has now permitted him to release his book, Cultural Software, under the same CC license. Balkin’s book (published in 1998) resolves a plainly more academic debate. But it uses metaphors from computer science to develop a theory of how cultures evolve. Balkin is a friend, and long before a friend, mentor for me. Nothing could make me happier than to see his great book within the CC family.

source: My increasingly favorite academic press