Another one from Lawrence Lessig:
>In the four years since we launched CC, the Internet, and the world's >understanding of the Internet, have changed dramatically. In 2002, >the media was obsessed by something called "piracy." Today, they call >it "user-generated content." Just around the time we launched, >Wikipedia crossed 100,000 articles; today it is the most important >testament to the Internet's potential to enable something different >and extraordinary. > >When we started, none of us had any real idea about what the Internet >would become. But we all had dreams. Mine was that the Internet would >offer something different from the world of analog culture. While >many were obsessed with how new technologies would radically change >old businesses, I was eager to see the new ways of creating and >interacting that would develop. iTunes does better what Tower Records >did pretty well. But what would the Internet create in 2010 that >didn't exist (in any significant sense) in 1990? > >One dream was what Andy Raskin called in his 2004 "Business 2.0" >article about Creative Commons [http://money.cnn.com/magazines/ >business2/business2_archive/2004/05/01/368240/index.htm], the >"sharing economy." The "sharing economy" is different from a >traditional commercial economy. It is not simply people working for >free. Instead, this is the economy that supports Wikipedia (and free >and open source software before that). It is the economy that drives >much of the creativity in YouTube and blip.tv. It is the world of >"amateur" creators, meaning again, not those whose work is >amateurish, but those who do what they do for the love of what they >do, and not for the money. > >This sharing economy is not meant to displace the commercial economy. >Its purpose is not to force Madonna to sing for free. Its aim instead >is to enable the millions of other people around the world who are >also creative, but who want to create in a different kind of >community. The editors who make Wikipedia sing are not people who >couldn't get a job at Encyclopedia Britannica. They instead create >for a different reason, within a very different community of creators. > >At its core, Creative Commons is designed to support this sharing >economy. Our free tools give creators a simple way to signal the >rules under which they want to create. And, perhaps more importantly, >by signaling clearly and reliably these freedoms, they encourage >others who otherwise might hesitate to share and build upon that >work. Thus, for example, the Public Library of Science [http:// >plos.org] publishes all of its articles under a CC license that gives >users the freedom to share those articles broadly. Libraries and >institutions around the world can now archive these works and make >them available locally. Without the confidence of the CC licenses, no >doubt lawyers within these different institutions would have >panicked. The CC licenses let that panic be avoided, and invite many >(who otherwise would not) to help share and build upon work. > >The next challenge is to figure out how this sharing economy >interacts with a traditional commercial economy. What happens when >Time wants to use a fantastic CC-licensed Flickr photo? Or how does a >hit on ccMixter move into the commercial space? > >CC will never become a part of that commercial economy. But it is >important, I believe, that we play a role in enabling this crossover. >The alternative is a world we're seeing too much of all ready: large >entities that create sandboxes for "sharing," but then effectively >claim ownership over everything built within that sandbox. This is, >in my view, not a sharing economy. It is instead simple sharecropping. > >The key is to build alternatives that creators on the Internet can >use to both create as they wish and keep control of their creativity. >That's the challenge I see over the next four years. And as we review >over the next few weeks some of the best of CC from around the world, >you'll begin to see how this challenge might be met. > >---------------------------------- > >This email is part of a weekly series written by Lawrence Lessig If >you would like to be removed from this list, please click here: >http://creativecommons.org/about/lessigletter#unsubscribe > >Alternatively, if you know others who might find these interesting, >please recommend they sign up at >http://creativecommons.org/about/lessigletter > >Week 1 - A Report on the Commons >http://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/6106 > >Week 1 - A Report on the Commons - Spanish version >http://mirrors.creativecommons.org/translations/lessig-letter-06-1- >es.pdf >(Thanks to Maria Cristinia Alvite for translation) > >Support the Commons >http://creativecommons.org/support > >To link to or comment on this message, go to: >http://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/6118 > >Archive of Lessig Letters >http://creativecommons.org/support/letters > >Learn More >http://creativecommons.org/learnmore > >For comics and movies: http://creativecommons.org/about/licenses/how1, >http://mirrors.creativecommons.org/ > > > >_______________________________________________ >cc-lessigletter mailing list > >To unsubscribe visit >http://creativecommons.org/about/lessigletter#unsubscribe > >Or send email with "unsubscribe" as subject to >cc-lessigletter-request at lists.ibiblio.org > >Creative Commons newsletters are also posted to the CC Weblog. For back >issues please visit http://creativecommons.org/weblog/
