PEARL JAM RELEASES ITS FIRST MUSIC VIDEO IN EIGHT YEARS UNDER A CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSE

Eric Steuer, May 19th, 2006

“Life Wasted” Clip Available for Download at Google Video and PearlJam.com

May 19, 2006

Today, Creative Commons announced that the video for Pearl Jam’s new single “Life Wasted” will be offered to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-NoDerivs license, so that the people around the world can legally copy, distribute, and share the clip.

This announcement marks the first time in eight years that Pearl Jam has released a music video. It is also the first time that the band has licensed work under one of Creative Commons’ free, flexible copyright licenses.

“Once again, Pearl Jam is taking the lead, watching others in the rear view mirror,” says Lawrence Lessig, CEO of Creative Commons. “Pearl Jam’s decision to offer its new video to the public under a Creative Commons license proves that the band’s reputation for fan-friendliness is well deserved. It’s an inspiration to those of us who are passionate about building a pool of creative work that can be freely and legally shared by the world.”

Pearl Jam and J Records are offering the video as a free download at Google Video and PearlJam.com from today, May 19th, through May 24th. After May 24th, the clip will be made available for sale.

About Pearl Jam

Since the 1991 release of Pearl Jam’s multi-platinum debut album Ten, the band has sold nearly 60 million albums worldwide, including millions of live bootlegs. To date, the band has released eight studio albums, two live collections, a double-disc collection of B-sides, and a double-disc greatest hits set.

About Creative Commons

A nonprofit corporation founded in 2001, Creative Commons promotes the creative re-use of intellectual and artistic works – whether owned or in the public domain – by empowering authors and audiences. It is sustained by the generous support of the Center for the Public Domain, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Omidyar Network Fund, and the Hewlett Foundation. For general information, visit creativecommons.org

Contact

Eric Steuer
Creative Director, Creative Commons
415-946-3039
Email

Creative Commons Press Kit

David Byrne and Brian Eno’s My Life in the Bush of Ghosts Remix Site Launches Today

Eric Steuer, May 9th, 2006

May 9, 2006

For the first time ever, fans are able to legally remix and share their own personal versions of two songs from David Byrne and Brian Eno’s groundbreaking album My Life in the Bush of Ghosts. The interactive forum bush-of-ghosts.com has been developed to celebrate the reissue of the album 25 years after its original release.

By agreeing to the terms of download, users will be able to download the component audio for two tracks from Bush of Ghosts – “A Secret Life” and “Help Me Somebody.” This component audio is licensed to the public under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license. Consistent with that license, users can legally create remixes and upload them to the site. Visitors can listen to, rate, and discuss the remixes, and are also encouraged to create their own videos, which will be streamed on the site.

When My Life in the Bush of Ghosts was first released in 1981, Rolling Stone called it “an undeniably awesome feat of tape editing and rhythmic ingenuity.” It was widely considered a watershed record. The influence of My Life in the Bush of Ghosts is evident in music ranging from the Bomb Squad’s productions for Public Enemy to Moby. The re-mixed and remastered version of the album was released with 7 bonus tracks on April 11.

About Creative Commons

A nonprofit corporation founded in 2001, Creative Commons promotes the creative re-use of intellectual and artistic works—whether owned or in the public domain—by empowering authors and audiences. It is sustained by the generous support of the Center for the Public Domain, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Omidyar Network Fund, and the Hewlett Foundation. For general information, visit creativecommons.org.

Contact

Eric Steuer
Creative Director, Creative Commons
415-946-3039
Email

PODCASTING LEGAL GUIDE RELEASED TO ASSIST PODCASTERS NAVIGATE POTENTIALLY TROUBLED LEGAL WATERS

Mia Garlick, May 8th, 2006

San Francisco, USA — May 8, 2006

Creative Commons and Vogele & Associates today unveiled the Podcasting Legal Guide, which was prepared by both organizations together with the invaluable assistance of the Berkman Center at Harvard Law School’s Clinical Program in Cyberlaw. The Guide was prepared as part of the Stanford Center for Internet & Society’s Non-Residential Fellowship. Inspired by the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Legal Guide for Bloggers, the Podcasting Legal Guide is designed to outline both legal and practical issues that are specifically relevant for podcasters, such as using music and video in a podcast.

The Guide has been published both online and as a PDF under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 license. A hardcopy of the Guide can also be ordered via Lulu in print-on-demand for $5.37 (black & white) or $10.83 (color). The authors hope that the flexible license chosen will enable practitioners in different jurisdictions to translate and adapt the guide for their own jurisdictions to assist podcasters around the world.

“This is an exciting time,” said Colette Vogele, founder of Vogele & Associates. “With the proliferation of user-generated and user-manipulated content on the web through podcasting and other technologies, anyone has the potential to become a publisher of original or remixed content overnight. At the same time, these new media technologies remain for the most part legally untested. We hope this Guide will encourage readers to take an active role in understanding the legal issues affecting their podcasts, and implement techniques and resources to podcast legally.”

“The body of copyright and related laws that governs the use of other people’s content in a podcast is, as Larry Lessig notes in his foreword to the Guide, ‘insanely complex,’” noted Phil Malone, co-director of the Berkman Center’s Clinical Program. “This Guide seeks to serve as a common-sense overview of some of that complexity and to help podcasters understand the variety of alternatives they might have to safely use music, video and other materials.”

To coincide with the release of the Guide, Creative Commons has released podcast promos from several prominent artists including DJ Spooky, Kristin Hersh, Jonathan Coulton, Finian Mckean, and Au Revoir Simone. These promos are available for podcasters who use CC-licensed music to include in their podcasts. Creative Commons invites other artists to submit promos for inclusion at the site.

About Vogele & Associates

Vogele & Associates advises businesses, non-profits, and individuals on a range of intellectual property issues related to new media and internet technologies. Founder Colette Vogele holds a non-residential fellowship with Stanford’s Center for Internet & Society and writes and speaks internationally on intellectually property issues.

About the Berkman Center Clinical Program in Cyberlaw

The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School is a research program founded to explore cyberspace, share in its study, and help pioneer its development. The Berkman Center’s Clinical Program in Cyberlaw provides high-quality, pro-bono legal services to appropriate individuals, small start-ups, non-profit groups and government entities regarding cutting-edge issues of the Internet, new technology and intellectual property. For information on the Center, visit the Center’s website; to learn more about the Clinical Program visit the Program’s site.

About Creative Commons

Creative Commons is a not-for-profit organization, founded in 2001, that promotes the creative re-use of intellectual and artistic works—whether owned or in the public domain. Creative Commons licences provide a flexible range of protections and freedoms for authors, artists, and educators that build upon the “all rights reserved” concept of traditional copyright to offer a voluntary “some rights reserved” approach. It is sustained by the generous support of various foundations including the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Omidyar Network Fund, the Hewlett Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation as well as members of the public. For general information, visit the Creative Commons’ website.

Contact

Colette Vogele

Vogele & Associates

415 751 5737

Email

Mia Garlick

General Counsel, Creative Commons

415 946 3073

Email