Press Releases
CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSES LAUNCH IN INDIA
Silicon-Valley-based NGO now offers licenses in 35 jurisdictions around the world
San Francisco, CA, USA and Berlin, Germany — January 26, 2006 — Creative Commons, a nonprofit dedicated to building a body of creative work free to share and build upon, today unveiled a localized version of its innovative licensing system in India.
Creative Commons copyright licenses are available free of charge from the group’s website. The licenses allow authors and artists to mark their works as free to copy or transform under certain conditions—to declare “some rights reserved,” in contrast to the traditional “all rights reserved”—thereby enabling others to access a growing pool of raw materials without legal friction.
With Creative Commons India joining the effort, Creative Commons is proud to announce that its licenses now are offered in localized versions in a total of 35 jurisdictions around the world.
Staff at Creative Commons’ offices in San Francisco and Berlin worked with project leads Lawrence Liang from the Alternative Law Forum (ALF) in Bangalore and Shishir K.Jha from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay) to adapt the standardized copyright licenses to Indian law.
Today the Indian versions of the Creative Commons licenses will be launched in the IIT Bombay’s auditorium in Mumbai, at a ceremony held as part of the ‘IIT Techfest’, IIT Bombay’s Annual International Science and Technology festival. The Techfest with its lectures, workshops and exhibitions offers students a platform to explore the realms of science and technology in the 21st Century.
At the launch Joichi Ito, Chairman of Creative Commons, will give the keynote address. Speakers Nandu Pradhan, President and Managing Director of Red Hat India, film director Anurag Kashyap, Professor Deepak Phatak of IIT Bombay, project lead Lawrence Liang as well as Catharina Maracke, Creative Commons International Coordinator, will speak about topics related to culture, law and technology.
Says Project Lead Shishir Jha, “Creative Commons India will seek to inspire everyone to share the subcontinent’s abundant wealth of visions and ideas by standing tall on the shoulders of her intellectual and creative giants.”
About IIT Bombay
IIT Bombay, set up by an Act of Parliament, was established in 1958, at Powai, a northern suburb of Mumbai. Today the Institute is recognised as one of the centers of academic excellence in the country. The institute has 12 departments of engineering, basic sciences and the humanities, 11 research centers, 3 postgraduate degree schools and 5 interdisciplinary programs. IIT Bombay is largely a residential institution with over 4 thousand students and over 400 faculty. It offers undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral degrees. Over the years, there has been dynamic progress at IIT Bombay in all academic and research activities, and a parallel improvement in facilities and infrastructure, to keep it on par with the best institutions in the world.
For more information, visit the IIT Bombay website.
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 organizations including the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Omidyar Network, the Hewlett Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation as well as members of the public.
For general information, visit the Creative Commons’ website.
Contact
Catharina Maracke
International Coordinator
Creative Commons International, Creative Commons
Email
+49.30.280.93.909
VIEUX FARKA TOURÉ REMIX CONTEST LAUNCHES TODAY AT CCMIXTER
VIEUX FARKA TOURÉ REMIX CONTEST LAUNCHES TODAY AT CCMIXTER
Winning Remix To Be Featured On Upcoming “Vieux Remixed” CD
January 24, 2007
Creative Commons, Modiba Productions and Global Beat Fusion are pleased to announce that the Vieux Farka Touré / “Ana” Remix Contest is now taking place now at ccMixter. Visit the contest at http://www.ccmixter.org/vieux.
Modiba Productions artist Vieux Farka Touré — a highly talented guitarist, singer, songwriter, and percussionist from Mali — is offering the audio source files from the song “Ana” online under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial license, so that producers worldwide can use the sounds in remixes and new compositions. The general public is invited to download these tracks and create their own versions, appropriate elements in new compositions, and generally use the elements for any noncommercial creative expression.
Eric Herman and Jesse Brenner of Modiba Productions and Derek Beres of Global Beat Fusion will be selecting the best remix. The winning remix will be included on Modiba Productions’ “Vieux Remixed” CD compilation.
To enter, download the separated audio elements of Vieux Farka Touré’s “Ana” and upload a remix to ccMixter between February 7, 2007 and March 7, 2007. All entries must be licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 license. Under this license, the public may legally make copies of, distribute, and create derivative works from the remixes – as long as the original authors are credited and the uses are not for commercial purposes.
Quotes about the Vieux Farka Touré / “Ana” Remix Contest:
Jesse Brenner, Modiba Productions:
“One of Modiba’s central goals as an organization is collaboration, the expansion of boundaries to bring in new ideas and approaches through working together in an open and dynamic way. The Creative Commons project is a perfect example of this, and we look forward to bringing more talented and inspired minds to further explore the sounds of Vieux Farka Touré.”
Derek Beres, Global Beat Fusion:
“Taking Vieux’s incredible acoustic material and adding a digital edge is what the future of global music is about. We’ve been remixing cultures as long as cultures have formed, explored and, inevitably, met one another. Our modern technological capabilities are giving us the opportunity to get to know one another socially, spiritually and sonically. This project will be yet another meeting ground, this time the gorgeous blues of Mali and the rest of the creative world.”
About Vieux Farka Touré
Vieux Farka Touré is the son of the late international superstar and two-time Grammy Award-winner Ali Farka Touré. An historic passing of the torch from father to son is represented by Vieux’s debut. He has crafted a global-minded style all his own with original compositions displaying flourishes of rock and reggae amidst Saharan Blues and traditional Malian melodies. Vieux Farka Touré is ushering in the next generation of Mali blues on his self-titled debut album, which features Ali himself on two remarkable pieces. These tracks are the only existing recordings of father and son playing together, and are amongst the final recorded material of Ali before his death. The album also features two magnificent guest performances by the Grammy Award-winning kora master Toumani Diabaté.
About Modiba Productions
Modiba is a music production company and record label committed to the social and economic empowerment of Africa and its Diaspora. They are the creators of ASAP: the Afrobeat Sudan Aid Project, which has raised over $135,000 for the refugees of the crisis in Darfur, Sudan.
About Global Beat Fusion
Global Beat Fusion is Derek Beres, one of the leading figures in international music in America, working in numerous facets of the industry, from journalist and DJ to producer and presenter. He has written for dozens of magazines covering the traditional and digital realms of global music and has toured internationally, playing alongside some of the most important figures in the scene today. Well versed in international music, he is equally adamant about world cultures, devoting his life to the path of yoga, Eastern philosophies and world mythology.
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 organizations including the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Omidyar Network, the Hewlett Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation as well as members of the public. For general information, visit http://creativecommons.org
Contact
Eric Steuer
Creative Director, Creative Commons
Email
KEY CORPORATE CONTRIBUTIONS HELP CREATIVE COMMONS BEAT ITS FUNDRAISING GOAL 1.6x OVER.
San Francisco, USA — January 7, 2007
Creative Commons today announced that generous support from a variety of key technology companies — including Microsoft, Mozilla, Digital Garage, Yahoo!, Macrovision, Red Hat, DivX, Tucows and Second Life — pushed Creative Commons’ fundraising campaign to an extraordinary success. In combination with the proceeds from the Wired Benefit Concert, other significant corporate contributions from Google and Sun announced earlier in the campaign, and contributions from Ariel Capital Management, Brave New Films, Current TV, and Wiki-How, these new contributions combined to push the total amount raised to close to $500,000 — more than 1.6x the original target of $300,000.
Notably, the largest corporate contributions have come from Mozilla and Microsoft.
Microsoft’s contribution is the corporation’s second to Creative Commons and follows the release in June 2006 of the Microsoft Office CC licensing plug in, which allows people to easily apply a Creative Commons license to their Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents. Mostly recently, it joined with Google and Yahoo! to release a joint sitemap protocol under CC Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 license.
“Creative Commons aims to advance innovative thinking about copyright in our information-based society,” said Tom Rubin, Associate General Counsel of Microsoft. “By providing new ideas that leverage the flexibility of copyright, Creative Commons has pioneered solutions that benefit both creators and the public. Microsoft is pleased to support programs that strive to respect intellectual property rights while benefiting creators, consumers and society at large.”
Mozilla has been a long time supporter of Creative Commons. A Creative Commons search option in the pull-down search menu within all versions of Mozilla Firefox has enabled more than 80 million people to easily locate intellectual property available under a Creative Commons license.
“Creative Commons has provided a trusted framework for the exchange and flow of information assets online,” said Christopher Beard, vice president of marketing and product management at Mozilla. “We’re extremely pleased to continue our support of a fellow public benefit organization that has established itself as a leader in shaping the future of the Internet.”
Yahoo! and Red Hat were also second time contributors, while Digital Garage, Macrovision, Second Life, DivX and Tucows contributed to the San Francisco based non-profit for the first time. Many of these companies have also made important technical contributions to Creative Commons as well. Yahoo, for example, has developed a search portal that filters results on Creative Commons licenses. And since its launch, Second Life and Creative Commons have worked together to assure that the rights to content created in Second Life remain with the author – not the company. Second Life has also become an important forum for debates surrounding Creative Commons and the global digital commons. Most recently it was the platform used for Lawrence Lessig to publicly announce his retirement as Creative Commons Chairman — passing a virtual torch to CC’s new chairman, the Japanese venture capitalist, Joi Ito.
“Our community of authors, scientists, creators and educators has made Creative Commons the success it has become,” CEO Lawrence Lessig commented. “But it is an extraordinary reward to see that success recognized by some of the most important Internet technology companies. We, like they, build infrastructure for the digital age. They make moving bits easier; we make moving the rights associated with those bits easier as well.”
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 organizations including the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Omidyar Network, the Hewlett Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation as well as members of the public. For general information, visit http://creativecommons.org
Corporate Contacts:
Microsoft
Jason Matusow
jasonma@microsoft.com
Mozilla
Alex Guerra
Senior Account Executive
aguerra@ar-edelman.com
Digital Garage
Yoshito Funabashi
pr@garage.co.jp
Yahoo
Kiersten Hollars
Corporate Communications
Kiersten@yahoo-inc.com
Macrovision
Julia Hughes
Public relations
jhughes@macrovision.com
Red Hat, Inc.
Kerri Catallozzi
Corporate COmmunications Coordinator
kcatallo@redhat.com
DivX
Tom Huntington
thuntington@divxcorp.com
Tucows
Leona Hobbs
Communication Manager
lhobbs@tucows.com
Second Life
Cory Ondrejka
CTO Linden Lab
cory@secondlife.com
Wired
Perri Dorset
Executive Director, Communications
Perri_dorset@condenast.com
Google, INC.
Megan Quinn
meganq@google.com
SUN Microsystems
Andreas Schwarz
andreas.schwarz@sun.com
wikiHow
Jack Herrick
Founder
wiki@wikihow.com
Current TV
Joel Hyatt
CEO
Current Media
118 King St.
San Francisco, CA 94107
Creative Commons Contact:
Melissa Reeder
Development Co-ordinator
melissa@creativecommons.org
415 946 3068
Press Kit
http://creativecommons.org/presskit
No Comments »JOI ITO NAMED CHAIRMAN OF CREATIVE COMMONS; LAWRENCE LESSIG TO REMAIN CEO AND BOARD MEMBER
JOI ITO NAMED CHAIRMAN OF CREATIVE COMMONS; LAWRENCE LESSIG TO REMAIN CEO AND BOARD MEMBER
Announcement Coincides With Final Call for Contributions to CC’s Annual Fundraising Campaign, Ending December 31
San Francisco, CA — December 18, 2006
Today, Creative Commons announced that Lawrence Lessig will step down as the organization’s chairman. He will be replaced by Joi Ito, a renowned Japanese entrepreneur and venture capitalist, who has been a Creative Commons board member since 2003. Lessig will remain as CC’s CEO and as a board member.
The change in board leadership, which takes place immediately, is a reflection of Creative Commons’ growing interest in supporting the use of CC principles and copyright licenses in commercial applications.
“This is a very happy moment for Creative Commons,” Lessig said. “We are a movement, and it is important that movements have leaders. We are extremely fortunate to work with Joi, who is one of the key leaders in building the sharing economy. Creative Commons’ next big challenge is to figure out how the sharing economy can better interact with a traditional commercial economy. Joi is the perfect person to lead the thinking on this.”
Lessig reaffirmed his commitment to Creative Commons in an email message sent to members of CC’s international community. “I’m not going anywhere,” he said. “CC will continue to get everything I can give.”
Ito is the founder of Digital Garage, PSINet Japan, and Infoseek Japan. He is also the CEO of Neoteny; chairman of iCommons and Six Apart Japan; and on the boards of Technorati, ICANN, and the Mozilla Foundation.
“I’d like to emphasize that this change is not about Larry doing less, but about another step in Larry’s plan to make other people do more,” Ito said. “As the organization and the movement continue to grow, it makes sense for my role to grow too. I appreciate the confidence and the opportunity to contribute more to Creative Commons.”
Lessig and Ito made the announcement to the Creative Commons community during the organization’s fourth birthday party in San Francisco this past Friday, December 15. Although unable to attend the party in person, Lessig and Ito delivered the announcement via a torch passing ceremony in the virtual world of Second Life. Video of the online gathering, which was attended by CC board members and supporters, was projected against a large wall at the real world event.
This announcement coincides with a final call for contributions to Creative Commons’ annual fundraising campaign, which ends on December 31.
“You can look at this change in leadership in two ways, each of which gives some of you a reason for one last push,” Lessig said. “Some of you have been loyal supporters of me. To you, please show that support one more time. Others of you have been loyal critics, with a strong hope that CC move beyond the particular vision I’ve offered. Now you have your chance: please celebrate the change by supporting us in this final two weeks of our drive.”
Quotes about the change in board leadership:
Hal Abelson, Creative Commons co-founder and board member: “A few of us started CC six years ago as a modest idea about licensing. Under Larry’s leadership, we’ve now grown into a worldwide movement encompassing science and culture, and we have plans for even more activities. It’s great that we’re able to expand CC’s top leadership, and thrilling that Joi will be part of it.”
James Boyle, Creative Commons co-founder and board member: “Larry is a tough act to follow. He is the visionary who has made CC what it is today. But as an entrepreneur, philanthropist, and digital visionary, Joi has an unparalleled breadth of vision about the tasks that face CC. I think we have the best of both worlds going for us with Joi taking over as chairman and Larry continuing as CEO.”
Eric Saltzman, Creative Commons co-founder and board member: “The Wizard of Oz isn’t yet under CC license, so instead of a short clip, just a reference: Larry had the brains to imagine Creative Commons and the heart and courage to build it into the influential global model and successful, practical resource it is today. It has been a great pleasure and an education to work with him on CC’s board these past four years. Luckily for CC, Larry will continue as CC’s CEO to do what he likes best, building the future. We’re all looking forward to our colleague, Joi Ito’s tenure as Board Chair. His breadth of knowledge and deep commitment to the expanding potential for sharing knowledge and creative work promise an exciting, productive next few years at Creative Commons.”
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 organizations including the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Omidyar Network, the Hewlett Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation as well as members of the public. For general information, visit creativecommons.org.
Contact
Francesca Rodriquez
Chief Operating Officer and Project Manager, Creative Commons
415.946.3069
Email
Eric Steuer
Creative Director, Creative Commons
Email
CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSES OFFERED IN PORTUGAL
San Francisco, CA, USA; Berlin, GERMANY; and Lisbon, Portugal — December 13, 2006 — Creative Commons, a nonprofit dedicated to building a body of creative work free to share and build upon, is proud to announce the celebration of the launch of its licenses in Portugal on December 15, 2006.
Creative Commons copyright licenses are available free of charge from the group’s website. The licenses allow authors and artists to mark their works as free to copy or transform under certain conditions—to declare “some rights reserved,” in contrast to the traditional “all rights reserved”—thereby enabling others to access a growing pool of raw materials without legal friction.
Staff at Creative Commons’ offices in San Francisco and Berlin worked with the project leads Pedro Oliveira, José Rui Felizardo and Pedro Ferreira in Portugal to adapt the standardized licenses to Portuguese law. The team has also been supported by Filipa Salazar Leite from the law firm Simmons & Simmons in Lisbon. Creative Commons Portugal was hosted by FCEE-Universidade Católica, INTELI – Intelligence in Innovation and UMIC – Knowledge Society Agency.
With the availability of the Creative Commons licenses in Portugal, one of the largest and most prestigious daily newspapers in Portugal, Público, released articles under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 2.5 license, both online and in the paper edition.
The launch of the licenses will be celebrated by a series of events including a conference on ‘The Future of Intellectual Property’ to be held on Dec 15th 2006 at FCEE-Católica in Lisbon. Professor Lawrence Lessig, CEO & Chairman of Creative Commons, will be the keynote speaker.
About FCEE-Católica – School of Economics and Management, Universidade Católica Portuguesa
The School of Economics and Management of the Universidade Católica Portuguesa (FCEE-Católica) is a leading Management and Economics school in Portugal. The school offers undergraduate, graduate and executive programs in business and economics. FCEE-Católica faculty members are also deeply involved in research activities. For more information, visit their website.
About INTELI – Intelligence in Innovation
INTELI is a private non-profit think tank that promotes intelligence in innovation in areas such as technology and innovation management for the automotive, aerospatiale, energy, biotechnology, regional development and “creative industries”. The Innovation Centre has been supporting public policies and developing strategic consultancy to Ministries, public institutes, R&D institutions and companies. INTELI is actively involved in several national and EU projects aimed at developing “creative cities” or “intelligent cities” across European countries in co-operation with an international network of innovation organisations. For more information, please visit their website.
About UMIC – Knowledge Society Agency, Ministry for Science, Technology and Higher Education
UMIC, Knowledge Society Agency, acts under the tutelage of the Ministry for Science, Technology and Higher Education and oversees all aspects related to the development of the information and knowledge society in Portugal. Major projects related to the inclusive dissemination of information and knowledge include connecting all schools with broadband, managing online repositories of information and knowledge for education and research, deploying wireless networks in all the campus of higher education institutions in Portugal and the installation of hundreds of free-of-charge public-accessible hotspots countrywide for the dissemination of ICTs and training. For more information, visit their website.
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 licenses 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 organizations including the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Omidyar Network, the Hewlett Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation as well as members of the public. For general information, visit the group’s website.
Contacts
Pedro Oliveira
FCEE-Católica
Email
Pedro Ferreira
UMIC
Email
José Rui Felizardo
INTELI
Email
Christiane Henckel von Donnersmarck
Executive Director Creative Commons International
Creative Commons
Email
Mia Garlick
General Counsel
Creative Commons
Email
PUMP AUDIO AND CREATIVE COMMONS COLLABORATE ON COMMERCIAL LICENSING FOR INDEPENDENT MUSICIANS
PUMP AUDIO AND CREATIVE COMMONS COLLABORATE ON COMMERCIAL LICENSING FOR INDEPENDENT MUSICIANS
Hudson Valley, NY and San Francisco, CA – December 12, 2006 – Pump Audio, the leading provider of quality independent music to content creators globally, today announced that it has teamed up with Creative Commons to expand and promote fair commercial licensing options for artists worldwide. Pump Audio is offering a variety of Creative Commons copyright licenses to its independent musicians who want to allow various forms of non-commercial use of their music.
“Creative Commons and Pump Audio share a common goal of giving artists the freedom to license their creative works as they see fit,” said Steve Ellis, founder and CEO of Pump Audio. “Pump Audio is all about giving independent musicians a
fair deal by connecting them with the producers in TV, advertising, and the Web who are clamoring for original and legal music to accompany their creations. By working with Creative Commons, we can provide even more independent musicians with greater commercial licensing options for their music.”
As part of the collaboration, Pump Audio has introduced an online badge for artists, allowing them to designate on any Web page, artist blog, or MySpace profile that their music is available for commercial licensing through Pump Audio. Artists can pair their new Pump Audio badges with similar badges for their Creative Commons copyright licenses, enabling them to promote both their commercial and non-commercial licensing preferences. (Examples can be found at lovetheory.com/listenbuy.html and myspace.com/garynewvision).
“The goal of Creative Commons is to provide authors and artists with easy ways to mark their creative work with the freedom they intend it to carry,” said Lawrence Lessig, Creative Commons’ CEO. “We’re incredibly excited to work with Pump Audio to offer independent musicians a fair and innovative licensing option for the commercial use of their music in both traditional and online media.”
Under Pump Audio’s artist-friendly system, licensing revenues are split equally with musicians, and the artists retain complete ownership over their music. Pump Audio helps independent musicians license their music to traditional producers in TV, advertising and interactive media through the PumpBox, its advanced search software and delivery system, as well as to content creators of all types through Pump Audio’s Soundtrack service on the Web. Pump Audio’s production customers include MTV Networks, NBC Studios, HBO, New Line Cinema and advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi.
Creative Commons copyright licenses allow authors and artists to mark their works as free to copy or transform under certain conditions — to declare “some rights reserved,” in contrast to the traditional “all rights reserved” — thereby enabling others to access a growing pool of raw materials without legal friction.
About Pump Audio
Pump Audio licenses the world’s best independent music to content creators worldwide. Founded in 2001, Pump Audio has established itself as a leading provider of digital music for TV and advertising producers. Now Pump Audio is becoming the soundtrack of the Internet, opening Web access to its catalog of tens of thousands of songs so creators of all types can build music into their video and interactive productions. With Pump Audio, artists can license their music into productions without giving up any ownership, while content creators can discover new music ready for use. Based in the Hudson Valley, Pump Audio can be found at pumpaudio.com.
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 organizations including the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Omidyar Network, the Hewlett Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation as well as members of the public. For general information, visit creativecommons.org.
Contact
Matt Hicks
SutherlandGold Group for Pump Audio
415-722-3603
Email
Eric Steuer
Creative Director, Creative Commons
Email
Creative Commons and Owl Multimedia Introduce the World’s First “True Music Search Engine”
Creative Commons and Owl Multimedia Introduce the World’s First “True Music Search Engine”
10,444 Tracks Available Under Creative Commons License Searchable by Sound Via Collections From Magnatune and ccMixter
San Francisco, CA, USA and New York, NY, USA — December 6, 1006
Creative Commons, a nonprofit organization that provides flexible copyright licenses for authors and artists, and Owl Multimedia Inc., a leading music search technology firm, today announced the launch of Owl Music Search, a revolutionary music search engine that enables Internet users to discover new music using sound similarity instead of traditional text-based queries. The first-of-its-kind music search engine is the initial offering of a collaborative alliance forged between the two companies to develop and deliver a range of innovative music services to the Creative Commons community and the Internet at large.
The search engine, developed by Owl Multimedia, whose tagline is “finding music through music™,” enables music lovers to discover thousands of tracks released under Creative Commons licenses by comparing the sounds of songs they own with the sounds of thousands of new songs. It is available on Creative Commons’ website by visiting search.creativecommons.org.
Owl Multimedia and Creative Commons share the vision that the open exchange of musical works is integral to the creative process and to the growth of culture itself. By enabling search without text, the companies hope to increase access to music outside of the mainstream and facilitate the legal sharing and reuse of music.
“Our aim is not only to increase the sum of raw source material online, but also to make access to that material cheaper and easier,” said Lawrence Lessig, Creative Commons founder and CEO. “We hope that the ease of use introduced by Owl Music Search will further reduce barriers to creativity. Owl’s innovations in music search and discovery make them the logical choice for us to work with to realize this vision.”
There are currently over 300,000 tracks by independent and emerging artists that are released under Creative Commons licenses and hosted on sites like Magnatune, a “try before you buy” digital music store; ccMixter, a music remixing community; Jamendo, a free and legal music sharing community; and others. Owl Music Search aims to provide access to all of these tracks while eliminating the need to know what or who you’re looking for.
“Over the past decade, search engines like Google and Yahoo! changed the way people interacted with text-based information, but these systems have barely scratched the surface of what is possible in the music space,” said Frank Geshwind, CTO of Owl Multimedia. “This collaboration represents a giant leap forward for music search and discovery.”
While most existing Internet music search engines rely on text-based associations to generate results, Owl Music Search looks “inside the music” to extract hundreds of acoustic features and create a digital description which can then be matched against other descriptions, providing a higher degree of accuracy and granularity in its results.
Geshwind continued, “Our technology paired with Creative Commons’ commitment to the open sharing of creative works will bring greater opportunity to artists whether they are looking to distribute and share their work or looking to remix, reuse, and build upon the work of others.”
Owl’s intuitive search interface makes discovering music as simple as opening a file. Using the site’s browser-based application, which includes a built-in media player, a user can open a song, pinpoint a region of interest, and then search for tracks containing similar sounds. Owl’s search engine uses sophisticated acoustic analysis, audio description and similarity algorithms to create and compare digital descriptions of thousands of tracks, and return similar sounding songs.
The results returned to the browser can be further refined by the user, using filters on other attributes such as artist, album, genre, year, and Creative Commons license. Users can preview the results, get additional information about them, and optionally purchase or download copies of the tracks. The site also offers community-based features, such as tagging, which help train the company’s comparison algorithms.
“Music is an international language, but the language used to describe music is not. It is much simpler to search for and discover music with music than by recalling and typing complex search terms,” said Todd Carter, CEO and co-founder of Owl Multimedia. Owl Music Search is the first major innovation in the world of music search since the advent of the search engine. Web searches will no longer have to rely on text that may or may not be attached to a given song file.
“Owl Music Search will change the way consumers look for music online, enabling the next-generation of online music. Owl Music Search truly allows consumers to hear a great variety of music that matches their musical tastes,” added Carter.
About Owl Multimedia
Owl Multimedia, Inc. is a privately held company and was founded in 2005. Owl’s mission is to build the world’s largest online index of music and other content and make this information available to anyone with an Internet connection. Owl’s automated “finding music through music™” search technology helps people obtain nearly instant access to music from this vast online index. Owl’s main office is located 419 Lafayette St. 2nd floor New York, NY 10003. For general information, visit owlmm.com.
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 organizations including the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Omidyar Network, the Hewlett Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation as well as members of the public. For general information, visit creativecommons.org.
Contact
David Furfero
Creative Director, Owl Multimedia
Email
Eric Steuer
Creative Director, Creative Commons
Email
Creative Commons and New World Notes Present Judge Richard A. Posner in Second Life
San Francisco, CA, USA — December 5, 2006
Creative Commons and New World Notes are pleased to sponsor a conversation with Judge Richard A. Posner in the virtual world of Second Life on December 7, 2006 at 6-8pm PST. Second Life is an online society in a 3D world, where users can explore, build, socialize, and participate in their own economy. Visit this SLurl to launch the Second Life application and link to Creative Commons’ virtual headquarters, where the event will take place.
Judge Richard A. Posner is a senior lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School and a judge in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. He will log into Second Life as an avatar crafted in his likeness to discuss his new book, Not a Suicide Pact: The Constitution in a Time of National Emergency. In his book, Judge Posner discusses the role of constitutional law and government conduct as it relates to enforcing national security and adjusting civil liberties in a time of heightened terrorist watch.
After a brief discussion between discussion moderator James Au (AKA “Hamlet Au” in Second Life) and Judge Posner, the audience will have a chance to ask questions. Judge Posner will also sign virtual copies of his book.
To attend the event, register for a free Second Life account and download the software at SecondLife.com. Please RSVP to Jennifer Yip (AKA “Genevieve Junot” in Second Life) via SL IM or email her directly at jennifer@creativecommons.org with your Second Life first and last name. Space is limited to the first 100 people who respond. For those who cannot attend, the conversation’s transcript will be made available on James Au’s blog, New World Notes.
About New World Notes
New World Notes is the blog run by James Au (AKA “Hamlet Au” in Second Life). In NWN, Au and his contributing writers document the controversial and innovative happenings of the virtual society in Second Life. Au also currently contracts for Creative Commons to help promote and coordinate in-world events that highlight CC-licensed work by SL creators.
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 organizations including the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Omidyar Network, the Hewlett Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation as well as members of the public. For general information, visit creativecommons.org.
Contact
Wagner James Au
Journalist, New World Notes
Email
Jennifer Yip
Office Manager, Creative Commons
Email
MAGNATUNE FOUNDER JOHN BUCKMAN JOINS CREATIVE COMMONS BOARD
MAGNATUNE FOUNDER JOHN BUCKMAN JOINS CREATIVE COMMONS BOARD
San Francisco, CA, USA — November 16, 2006
Creative Commons today announced that Magnatune Records founder John Buckman has joined the organization’s board of directors.
Buckman’s appointment is a reflection of Creative Commons’ growing interest in commercial applications of CC’s licenses and principles. Buckman’s business — Magnatune Records — is an Internet-based record label that uses Creative Commons licensing to gain wider audiences for its music. Magnatune currently represents over 220 recording artists and released its 500th album in October 2006.
“I’m thrilled that Creative Commons has asked me to contribute at this level,” says Buckman. “Through Magnatune I’ve been trying to show how the commons can help businesses succeed in a commercial sense. I have a lot to say about how CC principles can be applied successfully to the for-profit world.”
“The next challenge for CC is to figure out how the sharing economy can complement a traditional commercial economy,” says Lawrence Lessig, Creative Commons’ CEO. “John’s expertise in this area will be hugely beneficial.”
Buckman also recently founded Bookmooch.com, an online community for exchanging used books. The site allows people to exchange their used books via post, and Buckman is currently working on ways to reward authors when their book is traded. If successful, Bookmooch will have the world’s first royalty system for used books.
Discussion of Buckman’s appointment to the Creative Commons board came on the heels of a recent visit to Tokyo for the New Context conference, where Buckman and Lessig met to discuss in depth how Creative Commons licensing models could be applied to commercial ventures.
About John Buckman and Magnatune
John Buckman is founder and owner of Magnatune.com, a online record label he launched May of 2003 with the motto “We are not evil.” Since that time, he has signed over 220 artists and sells their music directly from the Magnatune site through online downloads and print-on-demand CDs, as well as an innovative licensing tool that allows filmmakers and other creative professionals to license music for use in commercial projects directly from the Magnatune site. Known for his progressive take on label operations, Buckman emphasizes an anti-DRM stance and a musician-friendly approach that includes forming non-exclusive agreements with recording artists, sharing profits equally with them, and allowing them to retain full rights to their own music. Buckman is also a well-known figure in the open-source community and successfully applies both open source and Creative Commons-based principles to ensure the entire Magnatune catalog is heard by the widest possible audience. John divides his time between London and Berkeley, CA and is married to classical and electronic musician Jan Hanford Buckman.
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 organizations including the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Omidyar Network, the Hewlett Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation as well as members of the public. For general information, visit http://creativecommons.org
Contact
Shannon Coulter
Director of Artists & Repertoire, Magnatune
Email
(415) 203-7151
Eric Steuer
Creative Director, Creative Commons
Email
CREATIVE COMMONS, XLR8R MAGAZINE, AND GHOSTLY INTERNATIONAL ANNOUNCE THE CHRISTOPHER WILLITS REMIX CONTEST ON CCMIXTER.ORG
CREATIVE COMMONS, XLR8R MAGAZINE, AND GHOSTLY INTERNATIONAL ANNOUNCE THE CHRISTOPHER WILLITS / “COLORS SHIFTING” REMIX CONTEST ON CCMIXTER.ORG
Winning Remix to Be Featured on Upcoming Compilation CD Released by XLR8R Magazine
San Francisco, CA, USA — November 15, 2006
Creative Commons, XLR8R Magazine, and Ghostly International are pleased to announce that the Christopher Willits / “Colors Shifting” Remix Contest is now taking place now at ccMixter. Visit http://ccmixter.org/ghostly for contest information, rules, and audio sources.
Ghostly International artist Christopher Willits — a Bay Area-based musician and multimedia artist — is offering the audio source files from the song “Colors Shifting” online under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial license, so that producers worldwide can use the sounds in remixes and new compositions. The general public is invited to download these tracks and create their own versions, appropriate elements in new compositions, and generally use the elements for any noncommercial creative expression.
Christopher Willits will select the best remix. The winning remix will be included on an XLR8R Incite CD compilation, which will be included in copies of a future issue of XLR8R Magazine.
To enter, download the separated audio elements of Christopher Willits’ “Colors Shifting” and upload a remix to ccMixter between November 29, 2006 and December 27, 2006. All entries must be licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 license. Under this license, the public may legally make copies of, distribute, and create derivative works from the remixes – as long as the original authors are credited and the uses are not for commercial purposes.
Quotes about the Christopher Willits / “Colors Shifting” Remix Contest:
Christopher Willits:
“Creative Commons is helping artists forge new paths through the grey areas of digital ownership, allowing us to find appropriate boundaries of sharing our work that does not exclude creative interpretation and replication. I’m honored to be wortking with ccMixter and super excited to hear what everyone comes up with.”
Jeff Owens, label manager of Ghostly International:
“Ghostly is excited to be a part of the remix contest. Creative Commons brings fans even closer to the artist and the musical process.”
Ken Taylor, managing editor of XLR8R Magazine:
“XLR8R is totally stoked to be a part of ccMixter’s remix contest, as we share with Creative Commons the philosophy that artists – not companies – should maintain the greatest amount of control in how music is used and what it might become.”
About Christopher Willits
Christopher Willits is a musician and multimedia artist located in San Francisco, California. Striking a delicate balance between acoustic and electronic sounds and systems, Willits manages to defy genre distinctions while still defining a sound unto his own. His numerous solo releases cover a broad spectrum of musical styles, and include one main commonality: Willits’ unique use of the guitar with custom-made signal processing. This home-brewed software, along with Willits’ 6-string prowess, generates a unique real-time mixture of improvised melody and rhythm. On his breakthrough LP, Surf Boundaries, Willits merges the patterns of his signature guitar sound with treated strings, brass and five-part vocal harmonies for a sonic vision that draws upon elements of shoegaze, jazz, ambient and noise. The San Francisco Weekly named Willits “the center cell of a rather complex indie rock-avant-garde electronic art Venn diagram.”
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 organizations including the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Omidyar Network, the Hewlett Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation as well as members of the public. For general information, visit http://creativecommons.org.
Contact
Eric Steuer
Creative Director, Creative Commons
Email
