[videoblogging] Fwd: [cc-info] CC in Review: Lawrence Lessig on Supporting the Commons
Maybe u knew... if not... whatcha think? "The licenses give creators a simple way to mark their creativity with the freedoms they want it to carry by default. The license is an invitation to others to ask for permission for uses beyond those given by default. A "Noncommercial" license does not mean the creator would never take money for his or her creativity. It means simply, "Ask if you want to make a commercial use. No need to ask if you want to make just a noncommercial use." We launched Creative Commons in December, 2002. Within a year, we counted over 1,000,000 link-backs to our licenses. At a year and a half, that number was over 1,800,000. At two, the number was just about 5,000,000. At two and a half years (last June), the number was just over 12,000,000. And today -- three months later -- Yahoo! reports over 50,000,000 link-backs to our licenses. "Link-backs" are not really a count of how many objects are licensed under Creative Commons licenses - a single license could cover 100,000 songs in a music database for example, or a single blog might have multiple instances of the license. But the growth does measure something: The uptake of Creative Commons licenses is growing fast, and indeed, far faster than I ever dreamed."-- Forwarded message --From: Lawrence Lessig <[EMAIL PROTECTED] >Date: Oct 6, 2005 12:12 PMSubject: [cc-info] CC in Review: Lawrence Lessig on Supporting the CommonsTo: [EMAIL PROTECTED]So today, Creative Commons launches its first fund raising campaign. Until now, we've lived on very generous grants from some very wisefoundations. But the IRS doesn't allow nonprofits to live suchfavored lives for long. To maintain our nonprofit status, the IRSsays we must meet a "public support test" -- which means we must demonstrate that our support comes from more than a few foundations.And thus, this campaign.This email is a pitch, asking for your support. But it is also thefirst in a series of emails I will write explaining what Creative Commons is, and where we're going with it. This is something I shouldhave done long ago. There have been many thoughtful (even if some notso thoughtful) questions raised about who we are, and where we'regoing. I've wanted an excuse to answer them thoughtfully before. The IRS has given me that excuse.You're on this list because you've signed up to receive informationabout Creative Commons or been a friend to CC in the past. If theseweekly emails from me (from now until Christmas, around 500 words in length, except for this one which is a bit long) will be a bother,please unsubscribe athttp://creativecommons.org/about/newsletter#unsubscribe .Alternatively, if you know others who might find these interesting,please recommend they sign up athttp://creativecommons.org/about/newsletter. This first email won't have much news to current friends of CreativeCommons. You probably know all this. My aim in this initial missiveis to explain what Creative Commons is, and why we launched it. Therewill be some bragging about what we've accomplished so far. Don't worry, these emails are from me, and not a press department. Therewill be plenty of self-criticism later on. For the moment, let'sfocus on the positive idea that got CC going.CC: The StoryCreative Commons was conceived in a conversation I had with Eric Eldred. I was representing Eric in his case challenging the UnitedStates Congress' Copyright Term Extension Act. Eric was enthusiasticabout the case, but not optimistic about the results. Early on, heasked me whether there was a way that we could translate the energy that was building around his case into something positive. Not anattack on copyright, but a way of using copyright to support, ineffect, the public domain.I readily agreed, not so much because I had a plan, but because, naive lawyer that I was, I thought we'd win the case, and Eric wouldforget the dream. But nonetheless, long before the Supreme Courtdecided to hear Eldred's plea, a bunch of us had put together theplan to build the Creative Commons. We stole the basic idea from the Free Software Foundation -- giveaway free copyright licenses. Because copyright is property, the lawrequires that you get permission before you "use" a copyrighted work, unless that use is a "fair use." The particular kind of "use" thatrequires permission is any use within the reach of the exclusiverights that copyright grants. In the physical world, these "exclusive rights" leave lots unregulated by copyright. For example, in the realworld, if you read a book, that's not a "fair use" of the book. It isan unregulated use of the book, as reading does not produce a copy (except in the brain, but don't tell the lawyers).But in cyberspace, there's no way to "use" a work withoutsimultaneously making a "copy." In principle, and again, subject tofair use, any use of a work in cyberspace could be said to require permission first. And it is that feature (or bug, depending upon yourperspective) that was the hook we use
Re: [videoblogging] Fwd: [cc-info] CC in Review: Lawrence Lessig on Supporting the Commons
I think it's a great time to show our support. That is, those of us who have money. I don't. Harold J. Johnson audioblogs.infoOn 10/6/05, Thomas G Henry <[EMAIL PROTECTED] > wrote: Maybe u knew... if not... whatcha think? "The licenses give creators a simple way to mark their creativity with the freedoms they want it to carry by default. The license is an invitation to others to ask for permission for uses beyond those given by default. A "Noncommercial" license does not mean the creator would never take money for his or her creativity. It means simply, "Ask if you want to make a commercial use. No need to ask if you want to make just a noncommercial use." We launched Creative Commons in December, 2002. Within a year, we counted over 1,000,000 link-backs to our licenses. At a year and a half, that number was over 1,800,000. At two, the number was just about 5,000,000. At two and a half years (last June), the number was just over 12,000,000. And today -- three months later -- Yahoo! reports over 50,000,000 link-backs to our licenses. "Link-backs" are not really a count of how many objects are licensed under Creative Commons licenses - a single license could cover 100,000 songs in a music database for example, or a single blog might have multiple instances of the license. But the growth does measure something: The uptake of Creative Commons licenses is growing fast, and indeed, far faster than I ever dreamed."-- Forwarded message --From: Lawrence Lessig < [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Date: Oct 6, 2005 12:12 PMSubject: [cc-info] CC in Review: Lawrence Lessig on Supporting the CommonsTo: [EMAIL PROTECTED]So today, Creative Commons launches its first fund raising campaign. Until now, we've lived on very generous grants from some very wisefoundations. But the IRS doesn't allow nonprofits to live suchfavored lives for long. To maintain our nonprofit status, the IRSsays we must meet a "public support test" -- which means we must demonstrate that our support comes from more than a few foundations.And thus, this campaign.This email is a pitch, asking for your support. But it is also thefirst in a series of emails I will write explaining what Creative Commons is, and where we're going with it. This is something I shouldhave done long ago. There have been many thoughtful (even if some notso thoughtful) questions raised about who we are, and where we'regoing. I've wanted an excuse to answer them thoughtfully before. The IRS has given me that excuse.You're on this list because you've signed up to receive informationabout Creative Commons or been a friend to CC in the past. If theseweekly emails from me (from now until Christmas, around 500 words in length, except for this one which is a bit long) will be a bother,please unsubscribe at http://creativecommons.org/about/newsletter#unsubscribe .Alternatively, if you know others who might find these interesting,please recommend they sign up at http://creativecommons.org/about/newsletter. This first email won't have much news to current friends of CreativeCommons. You probably know all this. My aim in this initial missiveis to explain what Creative Commons is, and why we launched it. Therewill be some bragging about what we've accomplished so far. Don't worry, these emails are from me, and not a press department. Therewill be plenty of self-criticism later on. For the moment, let'sfocus on the positive idea that got CC going.CC: The StoryCreative Commons was conceived in a conversation I had with Eric Eldred. I was representing Eric in his case challenging the UnitedStates Congress' Copyright Term Extension Act. Eric was enthusiasticabout the case, but not optimistic about the results. Early on, heasked me whether there was a way that we could translate the energy that was building around his case into something positive. Not anattack on copyright, but a way of using copyright to support, ineffect, the public domain.I readily agreed, not so much because I had a plan, but because, naive lawyer that I was, I thought we'd win the case, and Eric wouldforget the dream. But nonetheless, long before the Supreme Courtdecided to hear Eldred's plea, a bunch of us had put together theplan to build the Creative Commons. We stole the basic idea from the Free Software Foundation -- giveaway free copyright licenses. Because copyright is property, the lawrequires that you get permission before you "use" a copyrighted work, unless that use is a "fair use." The particular kind of "use" thatrequires permission is any use within the reach of the exclusiverights that copyright grants. In the physical world, these "exclusive rights" leave lots unregulated by copyright. For example, in the realworld, if you read a book, that's not a "fair use" of the book. It isan unregulated use of the book, as reading does not produce a copy (except in the brain, but don't tell the lawyers).But in cyberspace, there's no way to "use" a work withoutsimultaneously making a "copy." In principle, and
Re: [videoblogging] Fwd: [cc-info] CC in Review: Lawrence Lessig on Supporting the Commons
cc anual fall fund raiser ... sounds like a great use for the rel=payment tag! :-) The fund raiser page seems to be down atm, however. a href="" href="http://creativecommons.org/support/">http://creativecommons.org/support/" rel="payment" title="Support Creative Commons"-- http://www.DavidMeade.com SPONSORED LINKS Individual Fireant Typepad Explains YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "videoblogging" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
