The Commons in 140 Characters or Less

Fred Benenson, November 18th, 2008

So we’re a little late to the game on this one but we’ve just set up our microblogging accounts. Follow and send updates to creativecommons on Twitter or creativecommons on identi.ca and tell your friends!

Tonight in Los Angeles: CC at Art Knows No Borders

Eric Steuer, November 18th, 2008

If you’re in Los Angeles tonight, visit Cameron Parkins, who will be representing Creative Commons with a booth at Art Knows No Borders (see this Flavorpill write-up for details). The fundraising event for Doctors Without Borders will include art, music, videos, and more. Cameron will be on hand to answer questions about Creative Commons and make the case for why you should also contribute to CC’s current Help Build the Commons support drive.

Ozmo launches with CC+ protocol support

Eric Steuer, November 18th, 2008

Copyright Clearance Center has just launched Ozmo, a new web-based service focused on helping photographers, bloggers, and other content creators license their work for commercial use. Ozmo supports Creative Commons’ CC+ protocol (see the press release about CC+ for more information), meaning that it enables creators to license their work to the public under one set of terms via a Creative Commons license, and offer the ability to obtain a private license via Ozmo’s licensing system — to purchase rights not offered by the CC license a work is under (e.g., commercial use if the work is under a CC NonCommercial license, the right to make an adaptation and not share under the same license if the work is under a CC ShareAlike license, or the right to use without attribution), or simply to obtain a private agreement with the copyright holder for situations that require such. 

To use Ozmo, a creator sets up an account, selects license terms, and sets a price for the use of their work. Ozmo then works as a broker to companies, publishers, and bloggers who are looking to use work commercially. Ozmo manages the licensing process and pays creators when a license to their content is purchased. You can find more details about how Ozmo works on the site’s About page.

Artist, animator, and filmmaker Ryan Junell (who is the designer behind the Creative Commons logo, as well as several of CC’s explanatory videos - see “Get Creative,” “Wanna Work Together?” and “Reticulum Rex”) worked with musician J Lesser to create a short video that explains how Ozmo works. It’s licensed under CC BY-NC-ND.

Magnatune announces interesting additions to “post-scarcity” business model

Eric Steuer, November 18th, 2008

Magnatune, the terrific sharing-friendly record label that we’ve talked about many times before, has announced a transition from a per-album purchase model to a “DRM-free, all-you-can-eat, pay-what-you-want” model. Label founder John Buckman spelled out the details in a blog post today.

Memberships to Magnatune are now:

1) no commitment: one month at a time, whereas previously the minimum was 3 months

2) pay what you want: you fill in the amount you want to pay (no drop down box), though there is a $5/month stream membership minimum, and $10/month download membership minimum.

3) paypal recurring payments: use paypal recurring payments instead of a credit card, so you are completely in command of your membership, and can cancel it from Paypal if you like.

4) non-recurring and recurring both available: you choose whether you want your membership to auto-renew, or if you want to renew it by hand yourself

5) DRM free, Creative Commons licensed, and perfect audio quality: so you are free to enjoy our music as you wish

6) shareable music with your friends: you can share music you’ve obtained from your membership with your friends, though we ask you to be mindful of our business model and recommend you share no more than one album per friend per month

7) Everything: complete access to all our music. Downloads, 4h podcasts, streaming, iTunes & Amarok & Rhythmbox & Songbird support, and more.

8) Musicians get paid: with everything you do, 50% of your membership fee goes to the musicians you listen to. Magnatune remains fair to the musician.

NY Times Magazine on Lewis Hyde

Eric Steuer, November 18th, 2008

This past weekend, The New York Times Magazine published an excellent feature on author and scholar Lewis Hyde, best known for his book The Gift, a landmark assessment of the gift economy and the value of doing creative work in a commodity-driven culture. I read The Gift a few years ago, and pieces from it often pop into my head when I talk to artists who use Creative Commons licenses in their approach to distributing their work. The Times article is a great primer on Hyde and The Gift is highly recommended for anyone interested in beautifully-written and well-argued philosophy about the benefits of sharing.