Drapetomaniac

This month the Austin Creative Commons group will discuss the Open Library project with one of the participating developers.

David Strauss, is the co-founder of Four Kitchen Studios and That Other Paper. ThatOtherPaper.com is a local paper which produces all of its content under Creative Commons licensing. David will be discussing his involvement in the Open Library project, which explains itself as “One web page for every book ever published. It’s a lofty, but achievable, goal.” www.openlibrary.org

Anyone with questions about Creative Commons can attend and we’ll try to answer any questions or discuss aspects of CC licensing.

As time permits, we will also have a discussion on a recent “orphan works” law introduced to Congress. I will also have some copies of Cory Doctorow’s “Print Crime”, a Creative Commons work of fiction, and a few DVDs of recent large musical and sound works recently released to the public.

We will meet at Cafe Caffeine on Wednesday, May 21st starting at 7:30.

Creative Commons is a an easy licensing method used by artists, musicians and writers worldwide to allow others to use their work according to a set of guidelines you select, including control over any profits. It increases the creativity and profile of those who share in the licenses.

The CC Salon is a monthly event focused on building a community of artists and developers around Creative Commons licenses, standards, and technology. Come each month to meet others who license using Creative Commons technology or work with technology implement it. We try to have presenters, but also openly discuss other CC issues.

We are also looking for artists or presenters who might want to show their work or offer some insight to the commons.
If you’re interested in presenting or want more information, e-mail:
rich@commonquill.org

Group Discussion List:
http://groups.google.com/group/ccaustin
Event Page
http://wiki.creativecommons.org/Austin_Salon

Venue:
www.cafecaffeine.com

There’s been a lot of discussion about the Orphans Works Act of 2008. I posted the full textin a prior message, but the Copyright Office also has a resource page on the topic of orphan works including a prior study and report on the issue.

I haven’t quite made up my mind on the issue, but I’m hesitant about anything that makes managing your copyright more difficult. A lot of artists want to share, but a whole lot are also afraid of being exploited. Even getting folks to understand that items licensed under Creative Commons are still copyrighted and protected by law can be a challenge.

I also need to go back and read the report from 2006.

Public Knowledge appears to have a handle on some of the myths and hype.

I have to admit, my fears are more cultural than substantive – the reaction of the artists, which does have blowback in fostering the commons.

We don’t have moral rights in the United States, but that does appear to be one glaring problem. Legally, since we don’t have it, it might not be defensable, but it’s still a concern. And, of course, Puerto Rico does have moral rights in their laws, but our federal laws still trump them – but that’s always a long discussion.

The first session I attended this morning at the Texas Media Summit was on “Collaboration and Inclusion”

“How do we leverage our community media resources to expand and enhance our presence in the Texas media landscape?”

The question took on several forms and the session was unfortunately short. Some of the ideas included without mentioning it specifically, a Black focused publication talking with a Latino publication to join together on issues and ideas. They serve different audiences, but there is topic and issue crossover that seldom occurs. Being Black Puerto Rican, I held back the urge to tell them I was one cross-over point..

The other idea, which I think compasses the first one is how to find someone to exchange ideas with. There wasn’t an explicit list for people to sign up with, but will be a directory afterwards. Many people knew each other or the publications, but there was no open collaboration from day to day. in non-profits, there has been talk over fighting over pieces of the grant pies and so there is a hesitation to join together for various ventures/ After all, if you join together, not everyone will get the grant afterwards.

Community media still has to pay for electricity and paper, but this fight over the pie really did seem to be missing. Unfortunately, so did a solid view of how to collaborate and move forward.

One immediate impression of the community media, which should seem obvious, is that people easily speak up and assert themselves. Hopefuly there is an assertion after the sumit to continue the dialogue and meetings.