George Siemens put a plug in for this Creative Commons video. Thought I’d share it.
[youtube=http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=1DKm96Ftfko]
Some of the thoughts I’ve taken out to give you an idea of the video:
What does it mean to be human if we don’t have a shared culture? What does a shared culture mean if you can’t share it?
We have all these new technologies that allow people to express themselves, take control of their creative impulses, but the law gets in the way.
Creative Commons wants us to be able to say ‘here’s the freedom that I want to run with any creative work’.
A Creative Commons license says give me credit for my work.
Creative Commons allows you to exercise your copyright more simply.
It’s really about creativity and connection, access and control
Creative Commons is a bridge to this future – thinking not about content but about communities
It’s the space for more speech, more expression.
What do you think about Creative Commons?
I love Creative Commons, but it scares me too.
As a creator (artist and writer), I’m reluctant to put art in the Creative Commons gallery of materials, because it says to the world, “take my stuff,” and I am not so rich that I could not benefit from the occasional royalty check.
On the other hand, when I do for-profit work, I am often paid a flat fee to do the work, and explicitly must sign away my legal right to retain the copy right for my own purposes. Without that sign-off, my work doesn’t get published anyway.
My school is currently working out a plan or program having to do with Conflict of Interest, and I wonder how I will be penalized by it, when trying to do creative work for myself, and creative work for the school. It should be interesting when the form comes around on Wednesday.
Andrew, I understand what you’re saying. I would feel that way too if I were in your position. I don’t know what the solution is. In my situation as a teacher I’m just interested in sharing resources and media from people who voluntarily do the same. I’m excited about people sharing ideas and creativity globally. That’s not the same as the kind of sharing you talk about which threatens your livelihood. I wonder if anyone has any ideas about this problem.