Why is the Creative Commons idea important? What is Creative Commons? I’m not sure I can give it to you in a twitter-like 140 characters, but I’ll try for the elevator speech. Did you know that under current US copyright law and content you post on the internet is automatically copyrighted? In fact anything you publish in some fixed format is automatically copyrighted, whether you actually intend to copyright it or not. But what if you want to encourage people to use your ideas, expand on them, and use them to build new ideas/artwork/music or whatever type of creative expression? Enter Creative Commons.
A Creative Commons is an alternative to copyright, and allows you to better define what people can do with your content. And even more it is a way to show your support for the free flow of ideas and expression. When ideas are shared, remixed, added to and shared again good things happen. All of my online content carries a Creative Commons license, from Flickr to this blog, and now to my Facebook profile. Viral Spiral: How the Commoners Built a Digital Republic of Their Own by David Bollier deals with the subject of Creative Commons, and is available as a free download, distributed under a creative commons license itself. As the book describes it that is free, as in free speech, not as in free beer. Take a stand for free speech and free exchange of ideas and get your own Creative Commons badge for your online content!
Thanks to a new Facebook application from Creative Commons that launched today, Facebook users can now place a Creative Commons license badge on their Facebook profile pages.
Download the book | Viral Spiral
One of the big themes of Viral Spiral is the enormous value generated from making one’s work openly available on the Internet. While publishing traditionalists are skeptical of this new reality, a number of pioneering authors and publishers have shown the commercial appeal of posting their books online using one or another Creative Commons licenses.
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Randall Rode's online home for thoughts, notes, and experiments with a wide range of technology topics. Visit the about page for info on my recent projects and professional background. I welcome your comments!
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