“A Story of Healing” Becomes First Academy Award® Winning Film Released Under A Creative Commons License

April 19, 2007

Interplast — the first humanitarian organization to provide free reconstructive surgery for children with clefts, disabling burns, and hand injuries — is proud to announce that its 1997 Academy Award® winning documentary, “A Story of Healing,” has been released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommerical-No Derivatives license. This marks the first time in history that an Academy Award® winning film has been licensed under any Creative Commons license, allowing free and legal distribution of the film via the Internet.

“Interplast hopes that by licensing ‘A Story of Healing’ in such a way, anyone with Internet access can watch this moving film and learn more about the need for surgical care in developing countries,” said Susan W. Hayes, Interplast president and CEO.

Interplast believes that greater public access to information about humanitarian issues will bring increased awareness to global need and hopefully persuade people to want to help. For this reason, Interplast also has posted thousands of photos from developing world countries on Flickr and dozens of videos on blip.tv, all under a Creative Commons by-nc-nd license. The international organization also encourages other nonprofits to publish their various media under Creative Commons licenses, so that the public can more easily learn about various causes and solutions worldwide.

Creative Commons, American Public Television, and blip.tv were instrumental in helping Interplast provide worldwide, free distribution of the film’s powerful message. Interplast is deeply grateful for their help.

“This film is a tremendous asset for Interplast—to the extent it is seen. We’re happy that a Creative Commons license can help with that. Other mission-driven organizations should take note,” said Lawrence Lessig, Creative Commons CEO.

To view “A Story of Healing,” visit interplast.org/astoryofhealing.php. A DVD version of the film may also be obtained on the Interplast website.

About Interplast

Interplast — the first humanitarian organization to provide free reconstructive surgery for children with clefts, disabling burns and hand injuries — has provided 64,000 life-changing surgeries for those who have no other access to care. Working in underserved regions of 16 countries throughout Africa, Asia and Latin America, Interplast teaches, empowers and partners with volunteers and overseas medical professionals so every child living in poverty has free access to the safest and highest-quality care—now and in the future. Interplast is committed to transforming as many lives as possible, allocating 90 percent of its budget to medical programs. For more information, visit interplast.org.

About blip.tv

Blip.tv is the video-sharing site that features the best independently produced shows on the Internet, from scripted comedies and dramas to newsmagazines and reality shows. For each show, blip.tv provides hosting, distribution, marketing and advertising sales. Shows are hosted on the destination site www.blip.tv and syndicated to iTunes and to blogs and websites throughout the Internet, including AOL Video and Yahoo! Video. In all cases, ads are embedded into blip.tv videos, so the ads travel with videos throughout the Internet. Blip.tv splits all advertising revenue with show creators 50/50. The company’s goal is to allow talented, creative personalities to concentrate on making great shows by providing all the services necessary to help them sustain their efforts. For more information, visit blip.tv.

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

Sara Anderson
Director of Communications and Public Relations, Interplast
Email
650.934.3305

Eric Steuer
Creative Director, Creative Commons
Email

Press Kit