Interesting info. I totally agree with Rami's input on the importance of legal lobbying. I think this is is key and this is should be the first priority for CC Arabia.
I also hear Howaida on the issue of open content and the importance of defining a strategy for content creation, however, I am not sure what are the tools that CC has for supporting or boosting content creation? Speaking of where I belong, I am a consultant to Wikimedia for Arabic projects, and our focus is on community building in line with content creation. We currently have some info about plans on our wikis, however by next week, solid exact projects will be shared soon. We have the tools of content creation and community building, since this normally how our activities are designed, but the usual problem we face, is when we start talking about open content and open license, and how "shareable" the Wikipedia content is, because people wouldn't understand what that is. Creative Commons isn't localized in many countries (it is translated, but I think the only "localized" version is the Egyptian - Correct me is mistaken). License localization is key. Supporting CC groups in their outreach activities is key. As far as Wikipedia is involved, by default we do promote to CC which by default helps create content, however, however, we need CC's support in legal lobbying and structuring this lobbying across the region. Any strategy how legal and tech teams can work together across the region? What are the countries that lack legal support, i.e. countries with communities of artists and IT, but lacks legal experts? I am open to any support that myself as an individual, or again as far as Wikimedia projects are concerned, can offer, so that we have a significant shift in the near future. Thanks, Moushira On Sat, Mar 24, 2012 at 10:26 AM, Rami Olwan <[email protected]> wrote: > Dear all, > > I usually don't respond but I have to make things clear here for the > record. CC Jordan was the first to adopt and port the CC project for the > Arab world. Ziad and I have been working on this project from its early > stage of international development. CC Jordan did the first launch of the > project (not licenses) and the first CC saloon in the Arab world in > November 2009. There was no other translation done in Arabic and we had to > translate every single word and read other licences specially those similar > to our civil law jurisdiction in Jordan (French and Spanish licences). All > 5 Jordanian CC licenses (version 3) were finalised since August 2010 > before other jurisdictions and you can view a sample licence here > http://staging.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/jo/legalcode. I can > explain the legal changes that we had to make to the first generation of CC > licences (released internationally in December 2002 and based primarily on > Anglo- American legal system different from our legal system). > > What remains for the work to be regarded as complete is an approval from > CC HQ and publishing the licences live on their server website (currently > it sits temporary on their staging site). We have been waiting for this to > happen for years, but unfortunately it didn't take place. The reason that > was given to us for not approving the finalised Jordanian CC licences is > because the MOU (now called affiliation) which we signed in 2003 with CC > international is no longer valid as it ceased to operate, and therefore > there is presently no official CC Jordan to launch the Jordanian licences. > You can visit the CC international page here > http://wiki.creativecommons.org/CC_Affiliate_Network and find that Jordan > is currently not one of the CC countries. > **** ** > I don't think we can advance the development of the CC project in the Arab > world without having the legal platform in place. The experience of other > very successful CC jurisdictions such as CC Brazil and CC Australia tells > us that without having the legal infrastructure (proper copyright system, > CC licences and CC legal experts) in place any CC project could not develop > as it should be. We have also to make sure that we understand the cultural > differences that exist between the CC jurisdictions that can of course have > an implication on the adoption of the CC project by our community and the > public at large. We have seen only in the last few years an increase in the > number of enthusiastic people who want to support CC in the region (many of > them have an IT and internet background). I can explain the many problems > that we encountered specially in Jordan when we started the project and the > porting process. > ** ** > I am aware that CC is working on version 4 for some time now and there is > a lot of discussion and critique taking place on this particular > initiative. We need to consider it carefully in the Arab world, but before > doing so we need to finalise the work that we have started on version 3. I > think it is critically important to make sure that we have the necessary > legal tools that allow people to share legally and effectively in Arab > countries. This would empower local creators (e.g amateurs, artists and > researchers) and increase the pool of creative work that public can use for > their benefit. It would also help in popularising Arabic content and share > it with like developing countries and the rest of the world. > ** ** > I hope I have given a good overview of the development of the project. If > anyone wants to know more about the history when CC started its porting > project not only in Jordan but internationally, I am happy to provide full > background with dates and support. > > Regards, > > Rami Olwan > Postdoctoral Research Fellow, QUT Faculty of Law > PhD (QUT), LLM (Columbia Univ, NY, US) > Phone: +61 731389591 > Fax: +61 731389395 > Mobile: +61 413743395 > Website: http://www.olwan.org > Address: Level 1, 126 Margaret Street > Brisbane QLD 4000 > Australia > > *From:* Moushira Elamrawy <[email protected]> > > *To:* donna d.r. <[email protected]> > *Cc:* [email protected] > *Sent:* Saturday, 24 March 2012 6:33 AM > > *Subject:* Re: [cc-arab-world] How is CC doing, legal wise? > > Hi Dona, > > Thanks a lot for your reply. I am not sure I agree with all the points, > specifically the content creation one. CC isn't responsible for boosting > content creation as much as it is responsible for content creation as much > as it is responsible for promoting the license in an effective way > that guarantees as much available content is possible is under CC license. > > > Every region and language has its specific cultural issues that can slow > down things or direct them to a certain way. If are discussing how > law-abidance and cultural issues in "general" are the main problem for CC > operations. Then probably we shouldn't consider CC Arabic activities at > all. > > My two cents is that we focus on little specific things that can make a > difference on the short term. Community creation is key to any activity, > specially volunteer one, so if you can tell is what is CC's strategy > towards community creation in our specific region, then maybe we can help. > Or if there is a strategy in general for Arab world, in any direction, > whether community or content creation or lobbying, etc, then maybe > interested people can help. > > Thanks a lot, > M > > > 2012/3/23 donna d.r. <[email protected]> > > Hi Moushira > first of all sorry for posting this message only now, actually I `ve > realized only now that it has been pending for some days! > > Very quickly (then I`ll leave others answering to you and giving their > opinions): Jordan had done an advanced work indeed, but for different > reasons didnt get finalized into the proper ported license > > Egypt is very close to achieve this, but the team is waiting for final > comments from HQ on the legal side > > The other official affiliates are not focusing on porting work, you should > know that CC has put the porting work on hold and privileged community > building work. HQ is currently working on 4.0 so for now no more porting > happening (not only in the Arab world: anywhere) > > We can discuss what we need to be done to get the legal work improved in > the Arab world and what`s the reason for it being behind other regions > (whether a financial or poltiical or cultural reason if any) ..but my > feeling is that the Arab world needs to create content before starting > licensing it..and, considering all the political and human rights issues we > are facing now in many places in the region I guess that abiding by the > copyright law is the least problem whereas the major problem is still > abiding by the law in general > > Anyway, every country has a different situation as you know better than > me. I feel it would be good for us to work together on improving the legal > work but, if we can, even more useful would be to work together towards > encouraging content creation, peer-productions and collaborative work > > my two cents:) > I`ll leave the others respond > best > dona > > > > On Sat, Mar 17, 2012 at 9:36 AM, Moushira Elamrawy < > [email protected]> wrote: > > Hi All: > > Happy Spring! Am not sure if this have been discussed before, but I have > been tracking the archived messages trying to figure out how far have CC > reached when it comes to legal recognition. It looks like Jordan has done > an advanced work, however, I can't figure out from the messages, if it is > indeed a license that is legally recognized and has laws of violation or > not yet. > > On the other hand, I couldn't tell how does CC stand in the rest of the > active nodes: Tunisia, Lebanon, Qatar, UAE.*.(Well, I kind of know the > situation in Egypt. Will meet with Hala tomorrow to discuss this into > details)*, do CC groups support lobbying in their areas of action? Is the > CC foundation doing any help in this regard? Do we need a legal council > that can push this forward, region wide? Is the problem financial? Do we > need more volunteers..or do we need more structure? > > I think, there is noway open source, software, content, hardware, courses > (anything!)..can move forward without licensed recognition and lobbying. > So if you can help me define the current status and what is needed to move > forward, I will appreciate it. > > Thanks, > Moushira > > > > > -- > لقد تلقيت هذه الرسالة لأنك مشترك في المجموعة "CC Arab World المشاع > الإبداعي" من مجموعات Google. > للنشر في هذه المجموعة، أرسل بريدًا إلكترونيًا إلى > [email protected] > لإلغاء اشتراكك في هذه المجموعة، أرسل رسالة إلكترونية إلى > [email protected]. > للحصول على مزيد من الخيارات، يمكنك الانتقال إلى هذه المجموعة على العنوان > http://groups.google.com/group/cc-arab-world?hl=ar. > > > > -- > لقد تلقيت هذه الرسالة لأنك مشترك في المجموعة "CC Arab World المشاع > الإبداعي" من مجموعات Google. > للنشر في هذه المجموعة، أرسل بريدًا إلكترونيًا إلى > [email protected] > لإلغاء اشتراكك في هذه المجموعة، أرسل رسالة إلكترونية إلى > [email protected]. > للحصول على مزيد من الخيارات، يمكنك الانتقال إلى هذه المجموعة على العنوان > http://groups.google.com/group/cc-arab-world?hl=ar. > > > -- لقد تلقيت هذه الرسالة لأنك مشترك في المجموعة "CC Arab World المشاع الإبداعي" من مجموعات Google. للنشر في هذه المجموعة، أرسل بريدًا إلكترونيًا إلى [email protected] لإلغاء اشتراكك في هذه المجموعة، أرسل رسالة إلكترونية إلى [email protected]. للحصول على مزيد من الخيارات، يمكنك الانتقال إلى هذه المجموعة على العنوان http://groups.google.com/group/cc-arab-world?hl=ar.
