San Francisco, USA, and Helsinki, Finland – May 19, 2005 – Creative Commons, a nonprofit organization dedicated to building a body of creative works free to share and build upon, announced today that Creative Commons licensed content is being sought as part of a pilot of an innovative new content service – mobile television.

The pilot is being conducted in Finland, a country renowned for its leading mobile technology innovation. Several Finnish companies, including Nokia and Elisa Oyj are participating in the trial with the support of Finnish authorities. The trial pilots IP Datacasting over DVB-H, which uses mobile broadcasting technology to deliver TV-like services to mobile devices. The aim of the pilot is to test mobile TV services and consumer experiences, as well as the underlying technology, with 500 users in the Helsinki capital region.

As part of the pilot, the Finnish experimental mobile television channel IndicaTV is seeking Creative Commons’ licensed video content. Initially, IndicaTV will be linking to Creative Commons licensed content that is submitted at an Internet archive site. From June 1, 2005, IndiciaTV will then select content that is submitted to the site and is of a high quality and suitable for the small screen, for broadcast via its mobile TV service. The pilot will run until June 20, 2005.

“The Nokia platform could inspire a different kind of television.” said Stanford Law Professor and Creative Commons Chairman Lawrence Lessig. “The Web is filled with content producers who are willing to share their work with the world. Creative Commons provides the tools to let people know it.”

Jonas Kronlund, project manager and representative of Elisa, one of the companies participating in the trial, explained the advantages of using Creative Commons licensed content on mobile television: “We are exited about using Creative Commons content because of the flexibility offered by Creative Commons licenses. People can instantaneously download Creative Commons licensed programs to their phone after they see it on mobile TV and share that content with their friends legally.”

Justin Cone, who created the winning entry “Building on Past” to
Creative Commons’ Moving Image contest, has already submitted his video to be used in the pilot. The Moving Image contest was held by Creative Commons in 2003 and invited people to remix content to produce a 2-minute video that explained Creative Commons’ mission. “Building on the Past” is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license.

Creators who have applied a Creative Commons license to their video or those who are interested in doing so in order to participate in the pilot can find more information about how to submit their content here

About the Mobile Television Pilot
On 8 March 2005, Digita, Elisa, MTV, Nelonen, Nokia, TeliaSonera and YLE (the Finnish Broadcasting Company) started a unique mobile TV pilot in Finland.

Selected from TeliaSonera and Elisa mobile phone customers, the test users are able to view real-time TV and radio programs on a Nokia 7710 smartphone equipped with a special accessory to receive mobile TV broadcasts. The Nokia smartphone also enables direct links to the Internet for access to background information on TV programs or sports results. Test users have access to MTV, YLE and Nelonen programs as well as international theme channels such as CNN, BBC World, Euronews, Eurosport, ViVa Plus and Fashion TV. The pilot continues until 20 June 2005.

Elisa and TeliaSonera are responsible for customer service, invoicing and connections to the new interactive supplementary services. Digita has designed and built the digital TV network needed for the distribution of mobile TV services and will manage the network, while Nokia will develop the mobile TV service management and smartphones that can receive mobile TV broadcasts.

For more information about the pilot, visit
this page.

About Elisa
Elisa is a provider of a variety of telecommunication services
including versatile voice and data services, connections to the
Internet and content services, telephony solutions, customized
communication and ICT solutions, international communication solutions
and network operator services. Elisa is one of the pioneer companies
in mobile communication. In 1991 the world’s first GSM phone call was made on Elisa’s network.

• Contact
• Jonas Kronlund (Helsinki)
• Project Manager
• jonas.kronlund@elisa.fi

About Creative Commons
A non-profit founded in 2001, Creative Commons promotes the creative
re-use of intellectual and artistic works – whether owned or in the
public domain – by empowering artists 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
Creative Commons

• Contact
• Neeru Paharia (San Francisco)
• Executive Director, Creative Commons
• neeru@creativecommons.org

• Herkko Hietanen (San Francisco)
• Creative Commons Finland Project Lead
• herkko.hietanen@hiit.fi

• Presskit