Friday, May 27, 2005
An African guide to Creative Commons
By Emrakeb Assefa
JOHANNESBURG--The “Digital Information Commons: An African Participant’s Guide” was launched yesterday at LINKS Centre here in Johannesburg in a bid to popularise the Creative Common (cc) movement on the African continent.
Chris Armstrong, LINK Centre Commons-sense Project researcher said that the document is a ‘living’ document developed as a Wiki, a paper which in the spirit of what creative commons allows digital commons participants around the world “to edit, amend, build on and improve its contents as a ‘living’ content.”
The final version is expected to be published at the end of June 2005. The Guide is a collaboratively-authored document developed to stimulate inputs and during and after the “Commons-sense: Towards and African Digital Information Commons” set up as a living document.
Describing the global public information domain or ‘information commons’ as a giant swimming jellyfish, which is alternatively flaring open and then shrinking as it travels through oceans of content, Armstrong said that the Guide is aimed at providing useful information to people who wish to find out more about copyright and Creative Common licenses.
He said, “For every Linux, a Microsoft; for every on-line collaborative Wikipedia a giant multinational Bertlsmann publishing firm,” and explained that the guide attempts to point to alternative ways of doing things.
As an “African” guide, the document is designed for use by people living in Africa. It is also a “participant’s” guide to the global information commons – not a “user’s” guide so that more and more African organisations and individuals can become active in not only using the global store of digitally-held information, but also in contributing to it.
The basic conditions for “Digital information commons” include: the notion that it should be ‘free’ in so far as you don’t have to be rich to have access to it; it is built and maintained by the community acting for the benefit of all, i.e. not for the private interests’. Moreover, it needs to be of significant depth, breadth and variety if it is to have any value for the community as a whole; that it needs to be accessible – people need to know where to find it – in order for it to be constructive. It should also allow reuse and adaptation either commercially or non-commercially in order to advance the flow of knowledge and information.
The open content movement, driven to a great extent by the legal and cultural minds associated with the Creative Commons project, emphasizes the plain-language licensing of content online to make it simple for users to understand their usage rights. It seeks to encourage users to not merely access and use but also to “adapt” (make derivatives) and even to make commercial use of the content in some cases, in order to enhance the flow creativity and free cultural production.
(0) comments
JOHANNESBURG--The “Digital Information Commons: An African Participant’s Guide” was launched yesterday at LINKS Centre here in Johannesburg in a bid to popularise the Creative Common (cc) movement on the African continent.
Chris Armstrong, LINK Centre Commons-sense Project researcher said that the document is a ‘living’ document developed as a Wiki, a paper which in the spirit of what creative commons allows digital commons participants around the world “to edit, amend, build on and improve its contents as a ‘living’ content.”
The final version is expected to be published at the end of June 2005. The Guide is a collaboratively-authored document developed to stimulate inputs and during and after the “Commons-sense: Towards and African Digital Information Commons” set up as a living document.
Describing the global public information domain or ‘information commons’ as a giant swimming jellyfish, which is alternatively flaring open and then shrinking as it travels through oceans of content, Armstrong said that the Guide is aimed at providing useful information to people who wish to find out more about copyright and Creative Common licenses.
He said, “For every Linux, a Microsoft; for every on-line collaborative Wikipedia a giant multinational Bertlsmann publishing firm,” and explained that the guide attempts to point to alternative ways of doing things.
As an “African” guide, the document is designed for use by people living in Africa. It is also a “participant’s” guide to the global information commons – not a “user’s” guide so that more and more African organisations and individuals can become active in not only using the global store of digitally-held information, but also in contributing to it.
The basic conditions for “Digital information commons” include: the notion that it should be ‘free’ in so far as you don’t have to be rich to have access to it; it is built and maintained by the community acting for the benefit of all, i.e. not for the private interests’. Moreover, it needs to be of significant depth, breadth and variety if it is to have any value for the community as a whole; that it needs to be accessible – people need to know where to find it – in order for it to be constructive. It should also allow reuse and adaptation either commercially or non-commercially in order to advance the flow of knowledge and information.
The open content movement, driven to a great extent by the legal and cultural minds associated with the Creative Commons project, emphasizes the plain-language licensing of content online to make it simple for users to understand their usage rights. It seeks to encourage users to not merely access and use but also to “adapt” (make derivatives) and even to make commercial use of the content in some cases, in order to enhance the flow creativity and free cultural production.
Patents: Do they boost or break development?
By Thrishni Subramoney
JOHANNESBURG--Are patents and copyrights helping or hindering development in Africa? That was the debate that took centre stage at the first session of the final day of the Common Sense conference currently underway at Wits University in Johannesburg.
Patents will increase economic growth, was the argument from Bhavini Kalan of the South African National Advisory Council on Innovation - who took the stage first. Kalan says applied correctly with governments having “walk-in” rights, to ensure that new innovations benefit the country, patents, can play a key role in growing small and medium size enterprises (SMMEs) and will support Black Economic Empowerment.
“Exclusive rights have become a bargaining chip for developing countries,” Kalan said.
However, Kalan’s argument was challenged from the floor, by Creative Commons founder, Prof. Lawrence Lessig. He accused the South African government of toeing the US line on the value of patents. He said there was “an assumption” adopted by the South African government that strengthening patents would foster innovation, when in fact they stood to harm creativity.
Another audience member also slammed the idea of patenting, saying it was restrictive in terms of the innovation on free software, making it impossible to write any reasonable code without violating some patent.
Francois Bar, from the Annenberg School of Communication at the University of Southern California said that the very lack of regulation surrounding wireless technology in the United States had in fact led to rapid and unique innovation. Bar’s presentation threw a light on wireless innovation that is taking the US by storm.
“Innovation and tinkering is something that happens when end users are allowed to play freely with technology,” Bar said. Illustrating his case, he revealed how wireless fanatics in the US had for some time used Pringles (a US brand of potato chips) cans to make wireless receivers. “The cans apparently were exactly the right size and shape to strengthen their wireless signals,” he said much to the amusement of the audience.
Probably with the strongest case for reviewing copyright laws on the continent, Achal Prabhala from the Access to Learning Materials in Southern Africa Project, said that the intellectual property rights were one of the greatest stumbling blocks in the quest for providing affordable education.
Prabhala says the Trade Related aspects of Intellectual Property rights agreement (TRIPS) Plus agreement being motivated for by the United States in trade talks with Southern African created a situation where poor countries would sell off their ability to buy affordable learning materials.
“If South Africa wants to buy a book which costs US$300 in the UK and US$1 in India, they cannot get the book from India, because the agreement bars parallel trade,” Prabhala said. He added that South African copyright laws were long-winded to say the least.
“If I was a teacher, I would flout copyright laws in this country because some of them are so obscure and confusing that it would be impossible to remember the terms,” Prabhala.
Also on the panel, Mogege Mosimege, from the South African Department of Science and Technology, says the intellectual property right sector needs to also acknowledge and protect the rights of holders of indigenous knowledge.
“Even though we want to move forward, we have to be careful not to trample on the main holders of indigenous knowledge – the majority of whom are from marginalised and impoverished communities,” Mosimege said.
(0) comments
JOHANNESBURG--Are patents and copyrights helping or hindering development in Africa? That was the debate that took centre stage at the first session of the final day of the Common Sense conference currently underway at Wits University in Johannesburg.
Patents will increase economic growth, was the argument from Bhavini Kalan of the South African National Advisory Council on Innovation - who took the stage first. Kalan says applied correctly with governments having “walk-in” rights, to ensure that new innovations benefit the country, patents, can play a key role in growing small and medium size enterprises (SMMEs) and will support Black Economic Empowerment.
“Exclusive rights have become a bargaining chip for developing countries,” Kalan said.
However, Kalan’s argument was challenged from the floor, by Creative Commons founder, Prof. Lawrence Lessig. He accused the South African government of toeing the US line on the value of patents. He said there was “an assumption” adopted by the South African government that strengthening patents would foster innovation, when in fact they stood to harm creativity.
Another audience member also slammed the idea of patenting, saying it was restrictive in terms of the innovation on free software, making it impossible to write any reasonable code without violating some patent.
Francois Bar, from the Annenberg School of Communication at the University of Southern California said that the very lack of regulation surrounding wireless technology in the United States had in fact led to rapid and unique innovation. Bar’s presentation threw a light on wireless innovation that is taking the US by storm.
“Innovation and tinkering is something that happens when end users are allowed to play freely with technology,” Bar said. Illustrating his case, he revealed how wireless fanatics in the US had for some time used Pringles (a US brand of potato chips) cans to make wireless receivers. “The cans apparently were exactly the right size and shape to strengthen their wireless signals,” he said much to the amusement of the audience.
Probably with the strongest case for reviewing copyright laws on the continent, Achal Prabhala from the Access to Learning Materials in Southern Africa Project, said that the intellectual property rights were one of the greatest stumbling blocks in the quest for providing affordable education.
Prabhala says the Trade Related aspects of Intellectual Property rights agreement (TRIPS) Plus agreement being motivated for by the United States in trade talks with Southern African created a situation where poor countries would sell off their ability to buy affordable learning materials.
“If South Africa wants to buy a book which costs US$300 in the UK and US$1 in India, they cannot get the book from India, because the agreement bars parallel trade,” Prabhala said. He added that South African copyright laws were long-winded to say the least.
“If I was a teacher, I would flout copyright laws in this country because some of them are so obscure and confusing that it would be impossible to remember the terms,” Prabhala.
Also on the panel, Mogege Mosimege, from the South African Department of Science and Technology, says the intellectual property right sector needs to also acknowledge and protect the rights of holders of indigenous knowledge.
“Even though we want to move forward, we have to be careful not to trample on the main holders of indigenous knowledge – the majority of whom are from marginalised and impoverished communities,” Mosimege said.
Mixter: And the Beat Goes on…
By Wairagala Wakabi
JOHANNESBURG--Resampling and remixing music is an area where Creative Commons (cc) licences are rapidly catching on, with credit primarily due to the Mixter project. Quite simply, Mixter is a community music sharing website featuring songs licensed under Creative Commons, where one can listen to, sample or interact with other musicians in almost whatever way they want.
At www.ccmixter.org, you can hear some 462 original songs or some of 315 remixes users have created from sampling original music on the site. The beauty of Mixter songs is that they come with a cc license that gives a visitor permission to do more than just listen to them - they can also be swapped freely between friends or sampled. In the words of one of the Mixter promoters, “You can use them to fuel your own creative impulses, without worrying that the copyright cops will beat down your door”.
Thomas Goetz, an editor at ‘Wired’ magazine, says that building on what other musicians have done - with or without their blessing or collaboration - is what it takes to make new music. In wired.com, Goetz says: “Nicking a bit of this song and a lick from that one, shaping their style on the riffs of those who came before, musicians are experts in the art of acquisition”.
\r\n \r\nAnd there have been glaring examples, adds the editor. Woody Guthrie picked melodies from Leadbelly. The Sex Pistols borrowed from the New York Dolls and ABBA. James Brown picked from Little Richard … and the beat goes on.\r\n \r\nSo then, under the cc thinking and with the ease of Mixter, one song can get done by thousands of music lovers, each of whom can give it their own name. If you are a fan of Michael Jackson, you could do your own version of ‘Thriller’, which you could name ‘My Thriller’, ‘Absolute Thriller’ or whatever it is that catches your fancy. But is only for songs whose copyright holders subscribe to the cc philosophy. For now, Michael Jackson and most of the millionaire musicians and their recording companies aren’t subscribers to the Mixter project.\r\n \r\nIn the past two years, cc has created around a dozen licenses that let artists open their work to others. CC licenses give musicians, authors, designers, and other creators a flexible licensing system, letting them determine what secondary uses are allowed and under what conditions. Some songs may be remixed and swapped but not used for commercial purposes yet others may not.\r\n \r\nMixter.org enables the public to post their songs onto the website, and the project organises contests to remix songs with a view to promote the concept. Registering on the Mixter website gives one their own artist\'s page where they can upload their own music, cut-ups of other artists and libraries. Users can leave reviews and interact in the forums.",1]
);
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And there have been many obvious examples of cross-pollination from the past, adds the editor. Woody Guthrie picked melodies from Leadbelly; the Sex Pistols borrowed from the New York Dolls and ABBA, while James Brown helped himself to the works of Little Richard … and the beat goes on. So then, under cc licensing and with the ease of Mixter, one song can get redone by thousands of music lovers, each of whom can give their own name to a product based on someone else’s work. For instance, if you are a fan of Michael Jackson, you could do your own version of ‘Thriller’, which you could name: ‘My Thriller’, ‘Absolute Thriller’ or whatever catches your fancy.
However, it works only for songs whose copyright holders subscribe to the cc philosophy. For now, Michael Jackson and most millionaire musicians and their recording companies don’t subscribe to the project. In the past two years, cc has created around a dozen licences that let artists make their work available to others. CC licences give musicians, authors, designers, and other creators a flexible licensing system, letting them determine what secondary uses are allowed and under what conditions. Some songs may be remixed and swapped but not used for commercial purposes while others may not be changed.
The music site enables the public to post their songs, and the project organises ‘remix’ contests to promote the concept. If you would like to submit music to cc Mixter, you need to register and create an account. Once logged in, you will be provided with options for submitting sampled music, original tracks and sample libraries to the site. Currently only MP3 format music files are accepted, and there is a limit of 10 MB per upload. You’re also entitled to your own artist's page where you can upload your own music, as well as cut-ups of other artists’ work. Other users can then leave reviews and interact with you in the forums.
\r\n \r\nIf you would like to submit music to cc Mixter you need to register and create an account. Once logged in, you will see options for submitting sampled music, original tracks and sample libraries to the site. Currently only MP3 format music files are accepted, and there is a limit of 10 MB per upload.\r\n \r\nMixter also encourages artists who produce original material to post submissions of their work in order to make even more music available for legal sampling. “If at all possible you should submit individual tracks of your work (a cappella vocals as well as instrumentals) to give the producer or DJ an even richer, more creative chance at reworking your material,” say the project promoters.\r\n \r\nEnds WTel: +256-77-406241",1]
);
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Mixter also encourages artists who produce original material to post submissions of their work in order to add to the list of music available for legal sampling. “If at all possible you should submit individual tracks of your work (a cappella vocals as well as instrumentals) to give the producer or DJ an even richer, more creative chance at reworking your material,” say the project promoters.
(0) comments
JOHANNESBURG--Resampling and remixing music is an area where Creative Commons (cc) licences are rapidly catching on, with credit primarily due to the Mixter project. Quite simply, Mixter is a community music sharing website featuring songs licensed under Creative Commons, where one can listen to, sample or interact with other musicians in almost whatever way they want.
At www.ccmixter.org, you can hear some 462 original songs or some of 315 remixes users have created from sampling original music on the site. The beauty of Mixter songs is that they come with a cc license that gives a visitor permission to do more than just listen to them - they can also be swapped freely between friends or sampled. In the words of one of the Mixter promoters, “You can use them to fuel your own creative impulses, without worrying that the copyright cops will beat down your door”.
Thomas Goetz, an editor at ‘Wired’ magazine, says that building on what other musicians have done - with or without their blessing or collaboration - is what it takes to make new music. In wired.com, Goetz says: “Nicking a bit of this song and a lick from that one, shaping their style on the riffs of those who came before, musicians are experts in the art of acquisition”.
\r\n \r\nAnd there have been glaring examples, adds the editor. Woody Guthrie picked melodies from Leadbelly. The Sex Pistols borrowed from the New York Dolls and ABBA. James Brown picked from Little Richard … and the beat goes on.\r\n \r\nSo then, under the cc thinking and with the ease of Mixter, one song can get done by thousands of music lovers, each of whom can give it their own name. If you are a fan of Michael Jackson, you could do your own version of ‘Thriller’, which you could name ‘My Thriller’, ‘Absolute Thriller’ or whatever it is that catches your fancy. But is only for songs whose copyright holders subscribe to the cc philosophy. For now, Michael Jackson and most of the millionaire musicians and their recording companies aren’t subscribers to the Mixter project.\r\n \r\nIn the past two years, cc has created around a dozen licenses that let artists open their work to others. CC licenses give musicians, authors, designers, and other creators a flexible licensing system, letting them determine what secondary uses are allowed and under what conditions. Some songs may be remixed and swapped but not used for commercial purposes yet others may not.\r\n \r\nMixter.org enables the public to post their songs onto the website, and the project organises contests to remix songs with a view to promote the concept. Registering on the Mixter website gives one their own artist\'s page where they can upload their own music, cut-ups of other artists and libraries. Users can leave reviews and interact in the forums.",1]
);
//-->
And there have been many obvious examples of cross-pollination from the past, adds the editor. Woody Guthrie picked melodies from Leadbelly; the Sex Pistols borrowed from the New York Dolls and ABBA, while James Brown helped himself to the works of Little Richard … and the beat goes on. So then, under cc licensing and with the ease of Mixter, one song can get redone by thousands of music lovers, each of whom can give their own name to a product based on someone else’s work. For instance, if you are a fan of Michael Jackson, you could do your own version of ‘Thriller’, which you could name: ‘My Thriller’, ‘Absolute Thriller’ or whatever catches your fancy.
However, it works only for songs whose copyright holders subscribe to the cc philosophy. For now, Michael Jackson and most millionaire musicians and their recording companies don’t subscribe to the project. In the past two years, cc has created around a dozen licences that let artists make their work available to others. CC licences give musicians, authors, designers, and other creators a flexible licensing system, letting them determine what secondary uses are allowed and under what conditions. Some songs may be remixed and swapped but not used for commercial purposes while others may not be changed.
The music site enables the public to post their songs, and the project organises ‘remix’ contests to promote the concept. If you would like to submit music to cc Mixter, you need to register and create an account. Once logged in, you will be provided with options for submitting sampled music, original tracks and sample libraries to the site. Currently only MP3 format music files are accepted, and there is a limit of 10 MB per upload. You’re also entitled to your own artist's page where you can upload your own music, as well as cut-ups of other artists’ work. Other users can then leave reviews and interact with you in the forums.
\r\n \r\nIf you would like to submit music to cc Mixter you need to register and create an account. Once logged in, you will see options for submitting sampled music, original tracks and sample libraries to the site. Currently only MP3 format music files are accepted, and there is a limit of 10 MB per upload.\r\n \r\nMixter also encourages artists who produce original material to post submissions of their work in order to make even more music available for legal sampling. “If at all possible you should submit individual tracks of your work (a cappella vocals as well as instrumentals) to give the producer or DJ an even richer, more creative chance at reworking your material,” say the project promoters.\r\n \r\nEnds WTel: +256-77-406241",1]
);
//-->
Mixter also encourages artists who produce original material to post submissions of their work in order to add to the list of music available for legal sampling. “If at all possible you should submit individual tracks of your work (a cappella vocals as well as instrumentals) to give the producer or DJ an even richer, more creative chance at reworking your material,” say the project promoters.
Real people, lawyers and machines search for more ‘Common Sense’
By David Kezio-Musoke
JOHANNESBURG--After yesterday’s long, serious presentations and debates on the value of Creative Commons (cc) you might still not know that the Creative Commons license (ccL) you are currently using is built on three flexible layers.
And you might even find it slightly strange to discover that you still do not need to know about the workings of all three layers when licensing your works under Creative Commons. At some stage, however, you will certainly benefit from legal advice and a special machine-readable tag specifying the exact terms of your licence.
Andrew Rens the Legal Lead at Creative Commons South Africa (ccSA) explained to Open Commons that the first layer of the licence is referred to as the Creative Commons deed. It is the basic ‘legal act’ that any user of the ccL might want to become familiar with.
“You don’t worry about legalities with this,” he says. “It is written in the simplest language with all the forms of different Creative Commons licenses. You don’t have to be a lawyer to understand it and it legally binds you with confidence.”
\r\n \r\nRens who has been at the forefront of developing ccSA such that it fits within South Africa’s legal framework refers to the other two as the ‘legal code’ and the ‘machine code’\r\n \r\nThe legal code is written for lawyers and others in the legal profession and it is split into two. If you are an artists and you are uploading your works to the Internet under the Creative Commons your lawyers might be interested in reading this first.\r\n \r\n“One, the universal, is written for usage in part of the world while the other is written to fit the jurisdiction of specified countries,” Rens explains. He adds that the legal code is written based on copyright law which is similar and is bound by international treaties.\r\n\r\nIn a boon to the arts and the software industry, Creative Commons makes available the ‘machine code’ to allow, artists, writers and others go online, select the options that suit them best and receive a custom-made license they can append to their works without having to pay a dime to a lawyer, let alone the thousands of dollars it typically costs to purchase similar legal services. ",1]
);
//-->
Rens, at the forefront of developing ccSA within South Africa’s legal framework, refers to the other two layers of the licence as the ‘legal code’ and the ‘machine code’
The legal code, designed by lawyers for lawyers, has two main elements – the universal aspect and the country specific aspect. If you are an artist intent on uploading your works to the internet under a Creative Commons licence your lawyers might be interested in reading this first of the two elements.
“One, the universal, is written for usage in all parts of the world while the other is written to fit the jurisdiction of specified countries,” Rens explains. He adds that the legal code is written in a similar language to conventional copyright law and is bound by international treaties.
In a boon to the arts and the software industry, Creative Commons makes available the ‘machine code’ to allow, artists, writers and others go online, select the options that suit them best and receive a custom-made license they can append to their works without having to pay a lawyer, let alone the thousands of dollars it typically costs to purchase similar legal services.
With the machine code, a special machine-readable tag is embedded in the page to specify the exact licensing terms. For example Creative Commons has a Yahoo Search service that finds content across the Web that has a cc license. While most material you find on the web has a full copyright, this search helps you find content published by authors who want you to share or reuse it, under certain conditions.
“The most important thing about the machine code is that it tells other programs what can be used and what can’t be, enabling people who are not techies to use works under Creative Commons”, Rens adds.
The relationship between these layers is that they are flexible, written in many different languages including English, Spanish and French.
(0) comments
JOHANNESBURG--After yesterday’s long, serious presentations and debates on the value of Creative Commons (cc) you might still not know that the Creative Commons license (ccL) you are currently using is built on three flexible layers.
And you might even find it slightly strange to discover that you still do not need to know about the workings of all three layers when licensing your works under Creative Commons. At some stage, however, you will certainly benefit from legal advice and a special machine-readable tag specifying the exact terms of your licence.
Andrew Rens the Legal Lead at Creative Commons South Africa (ccSA) explained to Open Commons that the first layer of the licence is referred to as the Creative Commons deed. It is the basic ‘legal act’ that any user of the ccL might want to become familiar with.
“You don’t worry about legalities with this,” he says. “It is written in the simplest language with all the forms of different Creative Commons licenses. You don’t have to be a lawyer to understand it and it legally binds you with confidence.”
\r\n \r\nRens who has been at the forefront of developing ccSA such that it fits within South Africa’s legal framework refers to the other two as the ‘legal code’ and the ‘machine code’\r\n \r\nThe legal code is written for lawyers and others in the legal profession and it is split into two. If you are an artists and you are uploading your works to the Internet under the Creative Commons your lawyers might be interested in reading this first.\r\n \r\n“One, the universal, is written for usage in part of the world while the other is written to fit the jurisdiction of specified countries,” Rens explains. He adds that the legal code is written based on copyright law which is similar and is bound by international treaties.\r\n\r\nIn a boon to the arts and the software industry, Creative Commons makes available the ‘machine code’ to allow, artists, writers and others go online, select the options that suit them best and receive a custom-made license they can append to their works without having to pay a dime to a lawyer, let alone the thousands of dollars it typically costs to purchase similar legal services. ",1]
);
//-->
Rens, at the forefront of developing ccSA within South Africa’s legal framework, refers to the other two layers of the licence as the ‘legal code’ and the ‘machine code’
The legal code, designed by lawyers for lawyers, has two main elements – the universal aspect and the country specific aspect. If you are an artist intent on uploading your works to the internet under a Creative Commons licence your lawyers might be interested in reading this first of the two elements.
“One, the universal, is written for usage in all parts of the world while the other is written to fit the jurisdiction of specified countries,” Rens explains. He adds that the legal code is written in a similar language to conventional copyright law and is bound by international treaties.
In a boon to the arts and the software industry, Creative Commons makes available the ‘machine code’ to allow, artists, writers and others go online, select the options that suit them best and receive a custom-made license they can append to their works without having to pay a lawyer, let alone the thousands of dollars it typically costs to purchase similar legal services.
With the machine code, a special machine-readable tag is embedded in the page to specify the exact licensing terms. For example Creative Commons has a Yahoo Search service that finds content across the Web that has a cc license. While most material you find on the web has a full copyright, this search helps you find content published by authors who want you to share or reuse it, under certain conditions.
“The most important thing about the machine code is that it tells other programs what can be used and what can’t be, enabling people who are not techies to use works under Creative Commons”, Rens adds.
The relationship between these layers is that they are flexible, written in many different languages including English, Spanish and French.
Real people, lawyers and machines search for more ‘Common Sense’
By David Kezio-Musoke
JOHANNESBURG--After yesterday’s long, serious presentations and debates on the value of Creative Commons (cc) you might still not know that the Creative Commons license (ccL) you are currently using is built on three flexible layers.
And you might even find it slightly strange to discover that you still do not need to know about the workings of all three layers when licensing your works under Creative Commons. At some stage, however, you will certainly benefit from legal advice and a special machine-readable tag specifying the exact terms of your licence.
Andrew Rens the Legal Lead at Creative Commons South Africa (ccSA) explained to Open Commons that the first layer of the licence is referred to as the Creative Commons deed. It is the basic ‘legal act’ that any user of the ccL might want to become familiar with.
“You don’t worry about legalities with this,” he says. “It is written in the simplest language with all the forms of different Creative Commons licenses. You don’t have to be a lawyer to understand it and it legally binds you with confidence.”
\r\n \r\nRens who has been at the forefront of developing ccSA such that it fits within South Africa’s legal framework refers to the other two as the ‘legal code’ and the ‘machine code’\r\n \r\nThe legal code is written for lawyers and others in the legal profession and it is split into two. If you are an artists and you are uploading your works to the Internet under the Creative Commons your lawyers might be interested in reading this first.\r\n \r\n“One, the universal, is written for usage in part of the world while the other is written to fit the jurisdiction of specified countries,” Rens explains. He adds that the legal code is written based on copyright law which is similar and is bound by international treaties.\r\n\r\nIn a boon to the arts and the software industry, Creative Commons makes available the ‘machine code’ to allow, artists, writers and others go online, select the options that suit them best and receive a custom-made license they can append to their works without having to pay a dime to a lawyer, let alone the thousands of dollars it typically costs to purchase similar legal services. ",1]
);
//-->
Rens, at the forefront of developing ccSA within South Africa’s legal framework, refers to the other two layers of the licence as the ‘legal code’ and the ‘machine code’
The legal code, designed by lawyers for lawyers, has two main elements – the universal aspect and the country specific aspect. If you are an artist intent on uploading your works to the internet under a Creative Commons licence your lawyers might be interested in reading this first of the two elements.
“One, the universal, is written for usage in all parts of the world while the other is written to fit the jurisdiction of specified countries,” Rens explains. He adds that the legal code is written in a similar language to conventional copyright law and is bound by international treaties.
In a boon to the arts and the software industry, Creative Commons makes available the ‘machine code’ to allow, artists, writers and others go online, select the options that suit them best and receive a custom-made license they can append to their works without having to pay a lawyer, let alone the thousands of dollars it typically costs to purchase similar legal services.
With the machine code, a special machine-readable tag is embedded in the page to specify the exact licensing terms. For example Creative Commons has a Yahoo Search service that finds content across the Web that has a cc license. While most material you find on the web has a full copyright, this search helps you find content published by authors who want you to share or reuse it, under certain conditions.
“The most important thing about the machine code is that it tells other programs what can be used and what can’t be, enabling people who are not techies to use works under Creative Commons”, Rens adds.
The relationship between these layers is that they are flexible, written in many different languages including English, Spanish and French.
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JOHANNESBURG--After yesterday’s long, serious presentations and debates on the value of Creative Commons (cc) you might still not know that the Creative Commons license (ccL) you are currently using is built on three flexible layers.
And you might even find it slightly strange to discover that you still do not need to know about the workings of all three layers when licensing your works under Creative Commons. At some stage, however, you will certainly benefit from legal advice and a special machine-readable tag specifying the exact terms of your licence.
Andrew Rens the Legal Lead at Creative Commons South Africa (ccSA) explained to Open Commons that the first layer of the licence is referred to as the Creative Commons deed. It is the basic ‘legal act’ that any user of the ccL might want to become familiar with.
“You don’t worry about legalities with this,” he says. “It is written in the simplest language with all the forms of different Creative Commons licenses. You don’t have to be a lawyer to understand it and it legally binds you with confidence.”
\r\n \r\nRens who has been at the forefront of developing ccSA such that it fits within South Africa’s legal framework refers to the other two as the ‘legal code’ and the ‘machine code’\r\n \r\nThe legal code is written for lawyers and others in the legal profession and it is split into two. If you are an artists and you are uploading your works to the Internet under the Creative Commons your lawyers might be interested in reading this first.\r\n \r\n“One, the universal, is written for usage in part of the world while the other is written to fit the jurisdiction of specified countries,” Rens explains. He adds that the legal code is written based on copyright law which is similar and is bound by international treaties.\r\n\r\nIn a boon to the arts and the software industry, Creative Commons makes available the ‘machine code’ to allow, artists, writers and others go online, select the options that suit them best and receive a custom-made license they can append to their works without having to pay a dime to a lawyer, let alone the thousands of dollars it typically costs to purchase similar legal services. ",1]
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Rens, at the forefront of developing ccSA within South Africa’s legal framework, refers to the other two layers of the licence as the ‘legal code’ and the ‘machine code’
The legal code, designed by lawyers for lawyers, has two main elements – the universal aspect and the country specific aspect. If you are an artist intent on uploading your works to the internet under a Creative Commons licence your lawyers might be interested in reading this first of the two elements.
“One, the universal, is written for usage in all parts of the world while the other is written to fit the jurisdiction of specified countries,” Rens explains. He adds that the legal code is written in a similar language to conventional copyright law and is bound by international treaties.
In a boon to the arts and the software industry, Creative Commons makes available the ‘machine code’ to allow, artists, writers and others go online, select the options that suit them best and receive a custom-made license they can append to their works without having to pay a lawyer, let alone the thousands of dollars it typically costs to purchase similar legal services.
With the machine code, a special machine-readable tag is embedded in the page to specify the exact licensing terms. For example Creative Commons has a Yahoo Search service that finds content across the Web that has a cc license. While most material you find on the web has a full copyright, this search helps you find content published by authors who want you to share or reuse it, under certain conditions.
“The most important thing about the machine code is that it tells other programs what can be used and what can’t be, enabling people who are not techies to use works under Creative Commons”, Rens adds.
The relationship between these layers is that they are flexible, written in many different languages including English, Spanish and French.
Copyrights Affect Human Rights
By Thrishni Subramoney
JOHANNESBURG--Taking a serious look at intellectual property rights might just be one of the ‘healthiest’ moves the developing world makes. The opening speakers at the Creative Commons conference underway in Johannesburg made a strong case for policy makers to pay more attention to links between improving quality of life and the quest for making knowledge more accessible.Tenu Avafia, a lawyer with the Trade Law Centre of Southern Africa, said: “A stronger link needs to be made between copyright and human rights.” Avafia pointed out that selling the fruits of medical and scientific research at a premium, hampered the delivery of health care in the developing world. “At the end of the day, we’re dealing with human beings, and that human component should be paramount.”He said the developing world needed to be vigilant to ensure that Trade Related aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) weren’t further tightened, as urged by the United States. The US wants intellectualproperty rights to be strengthened under the banner of ‘TRIPS plus’.
Also speaking at the morning session, the ‘father’ of Creative Commons, Lawrence Lessig and Consumer Project on Technology advocate, James Love, painted a vivid picture of how intellectual property rights were an indicator of how the ethics of the world had changed.“There is something deeply unethical about what the United States is doing with ‘TRIPS plus’. It’s just as bad as urging piracy, because either move shifts the balance (between having creators see the benefits of their work and having their work benefit the public),” Lessig said.Lessig accused policy makers of being intuitively against ideas such as the commons, “They regard the idea of making knowledge freely available as 'evil' because the idea of putting a price on ideas is attractive to the few who can afford to pay the costs. Costly protects the powerful,” he warned.Love said the very idea of regarding knowledge in marketable terms was flawed. “There’s something wrong with a global society that’s so good at moving private goods and so bad at providing public wealth.”Love advocated a new system under which medicine patents were re-worked so that pharmaceutical companies held patent rights to a drug only until it hit the shelves. Thereafter they would benefit from an “innovation prize fund” based on incremental health care benefits. This means that the company would benefit from the amount of money that the government saves on health care – savings generated by using generic drugs.Lessig also hit out at the reasons given by Western governments for not allowing developing countries free access to their research and educational resources. He condemned arguments put forward by academics and policy makers who said that having to pay for knowledge would encourage developing countries to come up with their own innovations.“If what they are saying is true, then every hundred years, we should have to burn thousands of books, so that people can ‘work’ to re-discover the things that Newton did,” Lessig said.
e-Learning initiatives stand to gain from ccs
By Wairagala Wakabi
JOHANNESBURG--African educationists have showcased some of the leading e-learning and curriculum sharing initiatives on the continent - making a case for the adoption of cc licences to increase the range of resources at their disposal. Most of the initiatives already operate on an open content model that gives users a wide range of rights to use and adapt materials.“There is an interesting opportunity for collaboration across the continent,” said Derek Keats of the University of the Western Cape, adding that African education institutions needed to use existing talent to grow more talent. Keats introduced delegates to the African Virtual Open Initiatives and Resources (AVOIR) project. The program involves the collaborative development of free software and other learning resources in African universities.
AVOIR is based on a growing network of nodes at various universities. The theory is that expanding the network will allow each node to grow and provide training to other nodes that are still being formed. For instance, while AVOIR was largely grown in South Africa, there is currently capacity at Uganda’s Makerere University and the node there is helping nurture one at Rwanda’s national university.Speaking on the same panel, Alan Amory of the Open Learning System of the University of KwaZulu Natal (UKZN) said he regretted that the “neo-commodification” of research and learning materials threatened academic access to knowledge. Keats says information which was previously free has now been packaged in a restrictive way. The academic said they are looking to use cc licences to support tools that help cognitive and content development, as well as visualisation, research and publishing. In West Africa, universities in a number of countries including Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal and Togo are teaming up in distance education, with some programmes drawing support from French educational institutions. Papa Youga Dieng, of Senegal’s Resafad teacher training institute, says they are linking researchers and teachers across countries through the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs). Neil Butcher of the South African Education Portal (Thutong) showcased the portal which was launched in January this year by the national education minister to serve as a starting point for South African schooling. The portal provides access to a wide range of curriculum resources. Butcher said: “cc gives us the power to protect the intellectual property of those taking part but also helps us to bring information out there into the public domain.” Thutong has already accumulated 7,000 learning objects.Still in South Africa, the Shuttleworth Foundation has embraced cc, though the organisation’s Karen Bezuidenhout says they face challenges to open content educational material. Among these are inadequate and restrictive licensing, poor information management within and between organisations and the prevalent business model where content is sold.Shafika Isaacs of SchoolNet Africa - which runs the African Education Knowledge Network, says she is looking forward to being part of a continent wide network of educationists employing cc licences to extend their reach and effectiveness.SchoolNet, which was started in 1999, aims to improve education access through the use of ICTs. Defined as a ‘network of networks’ the group has affiliations to 35 African countries. To help the process along, SchoolNet’s African Education knowledge Warehouse has links to resources for setting up schoolnets and resources for teachers, learners and policymakers.
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JOHANNESBURG--African educationists have showcased some of the leading e-learning and curriculum sharing initiatives on the continent - making a case for the adoption of cc licences to increase the range of resources at their disposal. Most of the initiatives already operate on an open content model that gives users a wide range of rights to use and adapt materials.“There is an interesting opportunity for collaboration across the continent,” said Derek Keats of the University of the Western Cape, adding that African education institutions needed to use existing talent to grow more talent. Keats introduced delegates to the African Virtual Open Initiatives and Resources (AVOIR) project. The program involves the collaborative development of free software and other learning resources in African universities.
AVOIR is based on a growing network of nodes at various universities. The theory is that expanding the network will allow each node to grow and provide training to other nodes that are still being formed. For instance, while AVOIR was largely grown in South Africa, there is currently capacity at Uganda’s Makerere University and the node there is helping nurture one at Rwanda’s national university.Speaking on the same panel, Alan Amory of the Open Learning System of the University of KwaZulu Natal (UKZN) said he regretted that the “neo-commodification” of research and learning materials threatened academic access to knowledge. Keats says information which was previously free has now been packaged in a restrictive way. The academic said they are looking to use cc licences to support tools that help cognitive and content development, as well as visualisation, research and publishing. In West Africa, universities in a number of countries including Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal and Togo are teaming up in distance education, with some programmes drawing support from French educational institutions. Papa Youga Dieng, of Senegal’s Resafad teacher training institute, says they are linking researchers and teachers across countries through the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs). Neil Butcher of the South African Education Portal (Thutong) showcased the portal which was launched in January this year by the national education minister to serve as a starting point for South African schooling. The portal provides access to a wide range of curriculum resources. Butcher said: “cc gives us the power to protect the intellectual property of those taking part but also helps us to bring information out there into the public domain.” Thutong has already accumulated 7,000 learning objects.Still in South Africa, the Shuttleworth Foundation has embraced cc, though the organisation’s Karen Bezuidenhout says they face challenges to open content educational material. Among these are inadequate and restrictive licensing, poor information management within and between organisations and the prevalent business model where content is sold.Shafika Isaacs of SchoolNet Africa - which runs the African Education Knowledge Network, says she is looking forward to being part of a continent wide network of educationists employing cc licences to extend their reach and effectiveness.SchoolNet, which was started in 1999, aims to improve education access through the use of ICTs. Defined as a ‘network of networks’ the group has affiliations to 35 African countries. To help the process along, SchoolNet’s African Education knowledge Warehouse has links to resources for setting up schoolnets and resources for teachers, learners and policymakers.
Spreading Creative Commons in Africa
By Alari Alare Kenneth
JOHANNESBURG--As South Africa continues to celebrate the launch of the Creative Commons South Africa (ccSA), other Africans must now be thinking about opening chapters in their respective countries.
This is because the continent enjoys an enormous wealth in creativity but much of it dies untapped and unseen because the local environment is not conducive to harnessing such innovative skills.
African countries may now decide to follow the same path as South Africa, which, after all, has a huge population and the largest economy on the continent. South Africans put their resources together and on Wednesday night officially launched a Creative Commons chapter, a development that could act as a showcase for the continent.
But there are diverging views over how other African nations should go about creating their local chapters.
One point of view says that it would be time consuming and expensive if each African country goes it alone to put up its own chapter.
“It should be done regionally, countries in various regions in the continent should come together and work regional Creative Commons plans since this will further unite citizens in these particular regions”, said Jonathan Ojara, an ICT consultant in Uganda.
In the view of Ojara, there should be regional chapters such as Creative Commons East Africa, Creative Commons Great Lakes Regions, Creative Commons West Africa and the like.
The East Africa chapter would comprise Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania and in the spirit of the East African Community (EAC) Rwanda could be incorporated given that it has applied for membership of the Community.
The West Africa chapter would comprise countries like Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, Togo, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Sierra Leon just to name a few.
However, West Africa could conceivably be split into two, for instance it would be possible for the Anglophone and Francophone countries to run two different chapters.
“It will integrate these nations given that some of them have a lot to share in politics, culture and arts”, says Ojara.
The other view is that each country should go it alone, but with the help of South Africa.
“Every country needs to have its own chapter of (Creative) Commons with support from South Africa who leading the continent right at the moment in this matter”, says Sandra Aluoch who manages the ICT Knowledge department at African Virtual University (AVU) in Kenya.
Her view is an indication that there is a critical mass of people who believe that the concept of Creative Commons is alive, understood and applicable in the continent.
“It is a tool and a platform which local people can use to develop and share lots of skill”, says Ojara.
“The applications would be in areas such as education where a curriculum can be developed and shared by various authors and tutors respectively without any infringement on copyright”, says Aluoch.
So, what will Creative Commons do for Africa?
It will offer a set of Creative Commons licenses free of charge. These licenses will help people tell the world that their protected works are free for sharing but only on certain conditions.
For example, if you don't mind people copying and distributing your online photograph so long as they attribute the work to you, there is a licence that provides that specific type of protection.
If you are comfortable with anyone in the world copying your music, but you don't want them to profit from your work without seeking your permission, there are other cc licences that can accommodate your preferences.
However, a lot of work still needs to be done before we can realistically expect more Creative Commons chapters to be opened on the African continent. Part of the task involves sensitising the general population, as well as opinion makers about the benefits of cc.
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JOHANNESBURG--As South Africa continues to celebrate the launch of the Creative Commons South Africa (ccSA), other Africans must now be thinking about opening chapters in their respective countries.
This is because the continent enjoys an enormous wealth in creativity but much of it dies untapped and unseen because the local environment is not conducive to harnessing such innovative skills.
African countries may now decide to follow the same path as South Africa, which, after all, has a huge population and the largest economy on the continent. South Africans put their resources together and on Wednesday night officially launched a Creative Commons chapter, a development that could act as a showcase for the continent.
But there are diverging views over how other African nations should go about creating their local chapters.
One point of view says that it would be time consuming and expensive if each African country goes it alone to put up its own chapter.
“It should be done regionally, countries in various regions in the continent should come together and work regional Creative Commons plans since this will further unite citizens in these particular regions”, said Jonathan Ojara, an ICT consultant in Uganda.
In the view of Ojara, there should be regional chapters such as Creative Commons East Africa, Creative Commons Great Lakes Regions, Creative Commons West Africa and the like.
The East Africa chapter would comprise Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania and in the spirit of the East African Community (EAC) Rwanda could be incorporated given that it has applied for membership of the Community.
The West Africa chapter would comprise countries like Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, Togo, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Sierra Leon just to name a few.
However, West Africa could conceivably be split into two, for instance it would be possible for the Anglophone and Francophone countries to run two different chapters.
“It will integrate these nations given that some of them have a lot to share in politics, culture and arts”, says Ojara.
The other view is that each country should go it alone, but with the help of South Africa.
“Every country needs to have its own chapter of (Creative) Commons with support from South Africa who leading the continent right at the moment in this matter”, says Sandra Aluoch who manages the ICT Knowledge department at African Virtual University (AVU) in Kenya.
Her view is an indication that there is a critical mass of people who believe that the concept of Creative Commons is alive, understood and applicable in the continent.
“It is a tool and a platform which local people can use to develop and share lots of skill”, says Ojara.
“The applications would be in areas such as education where a curriculum can be developed and shared by various authors and tutors respectively without any infringement on copyright”, says Aluoch.
So, what will Creative Commons do for Africa?
It will offer a set of Creative Commons licenses free of charge. These licenses will help people tell the world that their protected works are free for sharing but only on certain conditions.
For example, if you don't mind people copying and distributing your online photograph so long as they attribute the work to you, there is a licence that provides that specific type of protection.
If you are comfortable with anyone in the world copying your music, but you don't want them to profit from your work without seeking your permission, there are other cc licences that can accommodate your preferences.
However, a lot of work still needs to be done before we can realistically expect more Creative Commons chapters to be opened on the African continent. Part of the task involves sensitising the general population, as well as opinion makers about the benefits of cc.
New Publishing ideas for the commons
By David Kezio-Musoke
JOHANNESBURG--Two interesting figures were presented here at the Common-sense conference yesterday.
The first was that, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is to release 600,000 hours of video – more or less equal to 68 years of continuous viewing, to its online audience under a project called the Creative Archive project. The other was that, Africa produces only 2% percent of books worldwide and only 0.4 % of global online content.
Paula LeDieu, a former joint Director of the BBC Creative Archive, presented the first figure, disappointing a few excited delegates when she added, “the material is not readily available for non United Kingdom (UK) residents.”
The second figure were presented by Eve Gray a consultant from South Africa’s Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) who amused delegates when she added, “If you remove South Africa from the 0.4% of Africa’s contribution to global online content, the figure remains at 0.02 %.”
Both speakers were presenting papers during the last session of the day going under the theme, ‘New Publishing for the Commons’, at the Donald Gordon Auditorium at the Wits University Management Campus.
During her presentation, LeDieu explained that since the delivery of content in the BBC’s Creative Archive is paid for by the organisations supplying it and is funded with public money to serve the UK population, the BBC was restricted from subsidising services to an international audience.
“Basically, there are five main rules that you need to know and agree to in order to be able to use the Creative Archive material,” she said.
The five rules stipulate that the content is for non-commercial, non-derogatory, share-alike usage that credits the creators and is exclusively available to broadband users within the UK for use within the UK. The Creative Archive, a product of the exciting digital media era will provide access to public service audio and video archives in a way that allows the British public to find, share, watch, listen and re-use the archive as a fuel for their own creativity.
LeDieu says the Creative Archive Licence is heavily inspired by the Creative Commons licences. The separate licence was created, she explained, because public service organisations within the UK have additional requirements that need to be reflected in the terms under which they licence material. The Creative Archive Licence was launched in April 2005 as an 18 month pilot to introduce and test the novel concept with the audience and the market.
Meanwhile, Gray, in her presentation, expressed fear at Africa’s lack of a publishing culture. She says however, that open access publishing models can provide part of the answer to the situation. “Can open access publishing models provide an answer to these problems? Digital repositories are important, but active publishing skills are also needed,” she said.
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JOHANNESBURG--Two interesting figures were presented here at the Common-sense conference yesterday.
The first was that, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is to release 600,000 hours of video – more or less equal to 68 years of continuous viewing, to its online audience under a project called the Creative Archive project. The other was that, Africa produces only 2% percent of books worldwide and only 0.4 % of global online content.
Paula LeDieu, a former joint Director of the BBC Creative Archive, presented the first figure, disappointing a few excited delegates when she added, “the material is not readily available for non United Kingdom (UK) residents.”
The second figure were presented by Eve Gray a consultant from South Africa’s Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) who amused delegates when she added, “If you remove South Africa from the 0.4% of Africa’s contribution to global online content, the figure remains at 0.02 %.”
Both speakers were presenting papers during the last session of the day going under the theme, ‘New Publishing for the Commons’, at the Donald Gordon Auditorium at the Wits University Management Campus.
During her presentation, LeDieu explained that since the delivery of content in the BBC’s Creative Archive is paid for by the organisations supplying it and is funded with public money to serve the UK population, the BBC was restricted from subsidising services to an international audience.
“Basically, there are five main rules that you need to know and agree to in order to be able to use the Creative Archive material,” she said.
The five rules stipulate that the content is for non-commercial, non-derogatory, share-alike usage that credits the creators and is exclusively available to broadband users within the UK for use within the UK. The Creative Archive, a product of the exciting digital media era will provide access to public service audio and video archives in a way that allows the British public to find, share, watch, listen and re-use the archive as a fuel for their own creativity.
LeDieu says the Creative Archive Licence is heavily inspired by the Creative Commons licences. The separate licence was created, she explained, because public service organisations within the UK have additional requirements that need to be reflected in the terms under which they licence material. The Creative Archive Licence was launched in April 2005 as an 18 month pilot to introduce and test the novel concept with the audience and the market.
Meanwhile, Gray, in her presentation, expressed fear at Africa’s lack of a publishing culture. She says however, that open access publishing models can provide part of the answer to the situation. “Can open access publishing models provide an answer to these problems? Digital repositories are important, but active publishing skills are also needed,” she said.
Uncommonly Creative
By Thrishni Subramoney
JOHANNESBURG--Two women reach up towards the stars, resplendent against a backdrop of green. A featureless man and woman couple hold hands surrounded by a pink glow. Jonathan Ojora’s art is eye-catching to say the least – each telling a distinctly African tale.
The Ugandan painter’s work decorates displays the halls at the Creative Commons Conference at Wits University, Johannesburg.
Ojora says creative commons can help showcase talent on the continent and he hopes to use it as a means to safely put his work out on a global stage. The artist – who specialises in illustrations in paint and pencil – says he is thrilled with the Creative Commons licence ideas which he believes will help other Ugandans reach their creative potential.
“Uganda is rich with creative skills. So many people who are not really literate have immense talent with crafts that need to be showcased. Cc provides a good ground to develop ideas that will allow Ugandans to do this,” Ojora said.
Ojora is also currently working with an ICT program that supports Ugandan survivors of that country’s civil war. “We are encouraging Ugandans who have just been through a civil war to express their feelings and their creativity on the internet. They can share ideas and get ideas from other people”
He is planning to display his artworks on the internet and is at the conference to gain ideas on how to do this. “I have brought work to the conference and I will soon be showcasing it on the Net,” he said.
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JOHANNESBURG--Two women reach up towards the stars, resplendent against a backdrop of green. A featureless man and woman couple hold hands surrounded by a pink glow. Jonathan Ojora’s art is eye-catching to say the least – each telling a distinctly African tale.
The Ugandan painter’s work decorates displays the halls at the Creative Commons Conference at Wits University, Johannesburg.
Ojora says creative commons can help showcase talent on the continent and he hopes to use it as a means to safely put his work out on a global stage. The artist – who specialises in illustrations in paint and pencil – says he is thrilled with the Creative Commons licence ideas which he believes will help other Ugandans reach their creative potential.
“Uganda is rich with creative skills. So many people who are not really literate have immense talent with crafts that need to be showcased. Cc provides a good ground to develop ideas that will allow Ugandans to do this,” Ojora said.
Ojora is also currently working with an ICT program that supports Ugandan survivors of that country’s civil war. “We are encouraging Ugandans who have just been through a civil war to express their feelings and their creativity on the internet. They can share ideas and get ideas from other people”
He is planning to display his artworks on the internet and is at the conference to gain ideas on how to do this. “I have brought work to the conference and I will soon be showcasing it on the Net,” he said.
Feeding Africa’s Information Starved
By Emrakeb Assefa
JOHANNESBURG--Africa is starving - but this starvation has nothing to do with food. Rather it’s a hunger for information - specifically academic writing and research. Finding any well-researched data on Africa, other than that churned out by the Western media or academic institutions, is nearly unattainable.
Due to a lack of resources, only a small quantity of materials produced by African researchers, are made available on the market. Or else, they collect dust on the shelves of African university libraries with little or no access for those who want to use them.
This is a concern that has preoccupied the minds of the academic librarians, intellectual property and ICT experts gathered in Johannesburg on the second day of the Commons-sense Conference under the theme: “African Universities and Digital Resources: How can we ‘alleviate’ this kind of poverty?”
One solution put forward is the effort made by the Database of African Theses and Dissertations (DATAD), a program of the Association of African Universities (AAU). The program aims at improving management and access to African scholarly work through abstracting, indexing and providing full text to theses and dissertations.
According to Mary Materu-Behitsa, Coordinator of the DATAD Project, eleven academic institutions from all over Africa have participated, allowing students, researchers and academics electronic access to works produced by African scholars. This also creates capacity in universities for the electronic collection, management and dissemination of academic pieces.
When DATAD – described as a landmark for research development in Africa - was launched in April 2003, 6,500 records were submitted to its database. That number has now grown to over 16,000.
Materu-Behitsa notes however, that copyright and intellectual property rights have posed challenges to the program. Since over 15 % of the work has been produced by African postgraduate students studying in universities in foreign countries, the research materials ordinarily carry the copyright of those universities, which, she said, normally have very stringent copyright laws. “Many African universities do not want to be sued, so they stay away from making the publications available electronically,” Materu-Behitsa said.
So far, only Kenya’s Kenyatta University has an international copyright statement on their theses and dissertations while most other academic establishments have only a vague stipulation of some kind of licence.
Another challenge is that the institutions are relatively restrictive. For instance, the University of Ghana Library stipulates that post-graduate theses are available for consultation in the library and are not normally available for loan, and never lent to individuals. Moreover, it is illegal to copy or quote from the work without the author’s and the university’s consent.
At Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia, the author/student’s rights are totally ignored and the law says that all rights are reserved by the University and no part of the publication may be produced without having prior permission from the institution. And Zimbabwean law stipulates that the copyright vests in the author of the work.
It is against this backdrop of confusing and restrictive laws that the role of Creative Commons (cc) becomes paramount. Hussein Suleman, the second speaker at the session, explained that digital libraries run by educational and research institutions to archive documents that are owned or produced locally have become more popular in Africa.
Suleman says this means that Creative Commons has arrived on the scene just in time as an increasing number of ‘right-holders’ introduce licences on research outputs more than ever before. Suleman says this mechanism is more rigid than copyright laws.
“Since licenses must be formally defined and rigorous, the time for Creative Commons (cc) is now,” Suleman stated. With cc, he noted, students or scholars have an opportunity to specify what is allowed in the use of their creations.
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JOHANNESBURG--Africa is starving - but this starvation has nothing to do with food. Rather it’s a hunger for information - specifically academic writing and research. Finding any well-researched data on Africa, other than that churned out by the Western media or academic institutions, is nearly unattainable.
Due to a lack of resources, only a small quantity of materials produced by African researchers, are made available on the market. Or else, they collect dust on the shelves of African university libraries with little or no access for those who want to use them.
This is a concern that has preoccupied the minds of the academic librarians, intellectual property and ICT experts gathered in Johannesburg on the second day of the Commons-sense Conference under the theme: “African Universities and Digital Resources: How can we ‘alleviate’ this kind of poverty?”
One solution put forward is the effort made by the Database of African Theses and Dissertations (DATAD), a program of the Association of African Universities (AAU). The program aims at improving management and access to African scholarly work through abstracting, indexing and providing full text to theses and dissertations.
According to Mary Materu-Behitsa, Coordinator of the DATAD Project, eleven academic institutions from all over Africa have participated, allowing students, researchers and academics electronic access to works produced by African scholars. This also creates capacity in universities for the electronic collection, management and dissemination of academic pieces.
When DATAD – described as a landmark for research development in Africa - was launched in April 2003, 6,500 records were submitted to its database. That number has now grown to over 16,000.
Materu-Behitsa notes however, that copyright and intellectual property rights have posed challenges to the program. Since over 15 % of the work has been produced by African postgraduate students studying in universities in foreign countries, the research materials ordinarily carry the copyright of those universities, which, she said, normally have very stringent copyright laws. “Many African universities do not want to be sued, so they stay away from making the publications available electronically,” Materu-Behitsa said.
So far, only Kenya’s Kenyatta University has an international copyright statement on their theses and dissertations while most other academic establishments have only a vague stipulation of some kind of licence.
Another challenge is that the institutions are relatively restrictive. For instance, the University of Ghana Library stipulates that post-graduate theses are available for consultation in the library and are not normally available for loan, and never lent to individuals. Moreover, it is illegal to copy or quote from the work without the author’s and the university’s consent.
At Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia, the author/student’s rights are totally ignored and the law says that all rights are reserved by the University and no part of the publication may be produced without having prior permission from the institution. And Zimbabwean law stipulates that the copyright vests in the author of the work.
It is against this backdrop of confusing and restrictive laws that the role of Creative Commons (cc) becomes paramount. Hussein Suleman, the second speaker at the session, explained that digital libraries run by educational and research institutions to archive documents that are owned or produced locally have become more popular in Africa.
Suleman says this means that Creative Commons has arrived on the scene just in time as an increasing number of ‘right-holders’ introduce licences on research outputs more than ever before. Suleman says this mechanism is more rigid than copyright laws.
“Since licenses must be formally defined and rigorous, the time for Creative Commons (cc) is now,” Suleman stated. With cc, he noted, students or scholars have an opportunity to specify what is allowed in the use of their creations.
Blogging: a way to ‘decolonise cyberspace’
By Emrakeb Assefa
Ndesanjo Macha, 35, a Tanzanian writer and lecturer with a background in law, journalism and socio-informatics, is campaigning in Africa to ‘decolonise cyberspace’ so that African languages and cultures could flourish in it. In order to achieve his goal, he has become the first African to launch a blog in the African language KiSwahili in June 2004.
Macha is one of a group of young Africans who started a movement to place African languages on the internet by blogging novels, songs and poems in African languages and allowing the free use of content under the Creative Commons (cc) project.
He told Highway Africa News Agency yesterday that twenty one blogs in African languages have been set up since June 2004. Today, there are 17 KiSwahili blogs, the language spoken by over 100 million people in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda; a single Bambara blog, the Malian language; two KiChagga blogs, a language spoken in the Kilimanjaro area of northern Tanzania; a Shona blog from Zimbabwe and one Berber blog from Morocco. Macha hopes to increase the number of indigenous African language blogs to one hundred by the end of the year.
The movement to use African languages as a means of communications on the internet stems from a fear that African cultures and languages are in danger of disappearing.
“A language disappears every two weeks”, says Macha, comparing this to a “whole library burning down.”
Though Africa is known to be by far the most linguistically diverse continent - there are around 2,000 African languages, i.e. one third of the world’s linguistic heritage – its languages are largely absent from internet content.
According to UNESCO, although there are over 6,000 languages in the world, the content on the internet is largely disseminated in 12 languages - dominated by English. “The rest are subject languages, like most indigenous African languages; they are talked about but have no content in their own language,” Macha says bitterly.
Moreover, there are no tools for creating or translating information into these excluded tongues. Huge sections of the world’s population are thus prevented from enjoying the benefits of technological advances and obtaining information essential to their well-being and development. Unchecked, this will contribute to a loss of cultural diversity on information networks and a widening of existing socio-economic inequalities.
However, the cc project and blogging, says Macha, are providing opportunities to African artists with no English language skills to introduce their creativity into the mainstream industry. This way, African cultures and languages remain vibrant and alive.
Macha’s inspiration is the Kenyan Ngugi Wa Thiong’o whose novels Decolonising the African Mind and Move in the Centre had led him to this movement.
Quoting Thiong’o, Macha says that the dominance of English on the internet is like saying that there is a flower which is more of a flower on the basis of its shape or colour. Or that the flourishing of one flower should depend on the death of other flowers.
He stressed the importance of “decolonising the cyberspace of the dominant position of English language” to create a cyberspace that is multilingual and multicultural.
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Ndesanjo Macha, 35, a Tanzanian writer and lecturer with a background in law, journalism and socio-informatics, is campaigning in Africa to ‘decolonise cyberspace’ so that African languages and cultures could flourish in it. In order to achieve his goal, he has become the first African to launch a blog in the African language KiSwahili in June 2004.
Macha is one of a group of young Africans who started a movement to place African languages on the internet by blogging novels, songs and poems in African languages and allowing the free use of content under the Creative Commons (cc) project.
He told Highway Africa News Agency yesterday that twenty one blogs in African languages have been set up since June 2004. Today, there are 17 KiSwahili blogs, the language spoken by over 100 million people in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda; a single Bambara blog, the Malian language; two KiChagga blogs, a language spoken in the Kilimanjaro area of northern Tanzania; a Shona blog from Zimbabwe and one Berber blog from Morocco. Macha hopes to increase the number of indigenous African language blogs to one hundred by the end of the year.
The movement to use African languages as a means of communications on the internet stems from a fear that African cultures and languages are in danger of disappearing.
“A language disappears every two weeks”, says Macha, comparing this to a “whole library burning down.”
Though Africa is known to be by far the most linguistically diverse continent - there are around 2,000 African languages, i.e. one third of the world’s linguistic heritage – its languages are largely absent from internet content.
According to UNESCO, although there are over 6,000 languages in the world, the content on the internet is largely disseminated in 12 languages - dominated by English. “The rest are subject languages, like most indigenous African languages; they are talked about but have no content in their own language,” Macha says bitterly.
Moreover, there are no tools for creating or translating information into these excluded tongues. Huge sections of the world’s population are thus prevented from enjoying the benefits of technological advances and obtaining information essential to their well-being and development. Unchecked, this will contribute to a loss of cultural diversity on information networks and a widening of existing socio-economic inequalities.
However, the cc project and blogging, says Macha, are providing opportunities to African artists with no English language skills to introduce their creativity into the mainstream industry. This way, African cultures and languages remain vibrant and alive.
Macha’s inspiration is the Kenyan Ngugi Wa Thiong’o whose novels Decolonising the African Mind and Move in the Centre had led him to this movement.
Quoting Thiong’o, Macha says that the dominance of English on the internet is like saying that there is a flower which is more of a flower on the basis of its shape or colour. Or that the flourishing of one flower should depend on the death of other flowers.
He stressed the importance of “decolonising the cyberspace of the dominant position of English language” to create a cyberspace that is multilingual and multicultural.
Les Droits d’Auteur Affecte les Droits de l'Homme
By: Celestin, Tchamabe. N (Phd Student, Wits University)
En examinant en profondeur les droits à la propriété intellectuelle, il est probable que les pays en voie de développement sont entrain d’amorcer un des mouvements les plus “sains” de l’histoire. Le premier intervenant à la conférence qui se tient actuellement à Johannesburg sur la Créativité Commune a donné matière à penser aux décisionnaires afin qu’ils prêtent plus d’attention aux liens entre l’amélioration de la qualité de vie et la quête cherchant à rendre la connaissance plus accessible.
Tenu Avafia, un avocat travaillant avec le Centre du Commerce en Afrique australe dit "qu’un lien plus solide doit être fait entre les droits d’auteurs et les droits de l'Homme." Avafia a précisé que, vendant les fruits de la recherche médicale et scientifique à une valeur, entraverait la délivrance des soins de santé dans les pays en voie de développement. Il a précisé "qu’en dernier ressort, nous avons affaire aux êtres humains, et cette composante humaine devrait être primordiale."
Il a dit que les pays en voie de développement devraient redoubler de vigilance afin de s’assurer que les Aspects des Droits à la Propriété Intellectuelle Reliés au Commerce (TRIPS) ne s’étaient pas serrées davantage, comme initialement recommandé par les Etats Unis d’Amérique (USA). Les USA veulent voir les droits à la propriété intellectuelle être renforcés sous la bannière de ‘TRIP plus’.
Ayant aussi intervenu durant la session de la conférence de ce matin, le ‘père’ du concept de Créativité Commune, Lawrence Lessig et l’avocat sur le Projet des Consommateurs sur la Technologie, James Love, a peint un vif tableau sur la façon dont les droits à la propriété intellectuelle représentaient un indicateur sur la façon dont les valeurs éthiques du monde avaient changé.
Lessig a remarqué qu "il y a une façon profondément pas éthique avec la façon dont les USA se comporte avec ‘TRIP Plus’. Elle est aussi mauvaise que l’incitation à la piraterie, dans la mesure où, l’un ou l’autre mouvement décale l’équilibre (entre faire que les créateurs voient les bénéfices de leurs travaux et faire en sorte que leurs travaux puissent être bénéfiques au grand public.
Lessig a accusé les décisionnaires d'être intuitivement contre des idées telles que Créativité Commune "ils considèrent l'idée de rendre la connaissance librement disponible en tant qu’un 'mal 'parce que l'idée de mettre un prix sur des idées est attrayante à ceux qui peuvent se permettre de payer les coûts. Coûteux protège les puissants " a t-il averti.
James Love a indiqué que l'idée même de considérer la connaissance en termes commercialisable était défectueuse. "Il y a quelque chose d’invraisemblable avec une société globale qui est si bonne à déplacer les marchandises privées et si mauvaise à fournir la richesse publique." il a continué.
Love a préconisé un nouveau système sous lequel des brevets de médecine avaient été retouchés de sorte que les compagnies pharmaceutiques puissent posséder les droits au brevet industriel sur un médicament seulement jusqu'à ce qu'il ne touche les étagères.
Ensuite elles (les compagnies) tireraient bénéfice des "prix de fonds d'innovation" basés sur les avantages par accroissement des soins de santé. Ceci signifie que la compagnie tirerait bénéfice du montant d'argent que le gouvernement économise en faveur des soins de santé - l'épargne collectée en employant les médicaments génériques.
Lessig a également défié les raisons données par des gouvernements occidentaux pour ne pas permettre aux pays en voie de développement le libre accès à leurs recherches et ressources éducatives. Il a condamné les arguments avancés par des universitaires et des décisionnaires qui ont affirmé que, avoir à payer pour la connaissance encouragerait les pays en voie de développement à générer leurs propres innovations.
"si ce qu’ils sont entrain de dire est vrai, alors chaque siècle, nous devrons brûler des milliers de livres, de sorte que les gens puissent ‘travailler’ pour ‘re-découvrir’ les choses que newton a faites," Lessig a finalement indiqué.
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En examinant en profondeur les droits à la propriété intellectuelle, il est probable que les pays en voie de développement sont entrain d’amorcer un des mouvements les plus “sains” de l’histoire. Le premier intervenant à la conférence qui se tient actuellement à Johannesburg sur la Créativité Commune a donné matière à penser aux décisionnaires afin qu’ils prêtent plus d’attention aux liens entre l’amélioration de la qualité de vie et la quête cherchant à rendre la connaissance plus accessible.
Tenu Avafia, un avocat travaillant avec le Centre du Commerce en Afrique australe dit "qu’un lien plus solide doit être fait entre les droits d’auteurs et les droits de l'Homme." Avafia a précisé que, vendant les fruits de la recherche médicale et scientifique à une valeur, entraverait la délivrance des soins de santé dans les pays en voie de développement. Il a précisé "qu’en dernier ressort, nous avons affaire aux êtres humains, et cette composante humaine devrait être primordiale."
Il a dit que les pays en voie de développement devraient redoubler de vigilance afin de s’assurer que les Aspects des Droits à la Propriété Intellectuelle Reliés au Commerce (TRIPS) ne s’étaient pas serrées davantage, comme initialement recommandé par les Etats Unis d’Amérique (USA). Les USA veulent voir les droits à la propriété intellectuelle être renforcés sous la bannière de ‘TRIP plus’.
Ayant aussi intervenu durant la session de la conférence de ce matin, le ‘père’ du concept de Créativité Commune, Lawrence Lessig et l’avocat sur le Projet des Consommateurs sur la Technologie, James Love, a peint un vif tableau sur la façon dont les droits à la propriété intellectuelle représentaient un indicateur sur la façon dont les valeurs éthiques du monde avaient changé.
Lessig a remarqué qu "il y a une façon profondément pas éthique avec la façon dont les USA se comporte avec ‘TRIP Plus’. Elle est aussi mauvaise que l’incitation à la piraterie, dans la mesure où, l’un ou l’autre mouvement décale l’équilibre (entre faire que les créateurs voient les bénéfices de leurs travaux et faire en sorte que leurs travaux puissent être bénéfiques au grand public.
Lessig a accusé les décisionnaires d'être intuitivement contre des idées telles que Créativité Commune "ils considèrent l'idée de rendre la connaissance librement disponible en tant qu’un 'mal 'parce que l'idée de mettre un prix sur des idées est attrayante à ceux qui peuvent se permettre de payer les coûts. Coûteux protège les puissants " a t-il averti.
James Love a indiqué que l'idée même de considérer la connaissance en termes commercialisable était défectueuse. "Il y a quelque chose d’invraisemblable avec une société globale qui est si bonne à déplacer les marchandises privées et si mauvaise à fournir la richesse publique." il a continué.
Love a préconisé un nouveau système sous lequel des brevets de médecine avaient été retouchés de sorte que les compagnies pharmaceutiques puissent posséder les droits au brevet industriel sur un médicament seulement jusqu'à ce qu'il ne touche les étagères.
Ensuite elles (les compagnies) tireraient bénéfice des "prix de fonds d'innovation" basés sur les avantages par accroissement des soins de santé. Ceci signifie que la compagnie tirerait bénéfice du montant d'argent que le gouvernement économise en faveur des soins de santé - l'épargne collectée en employant les médicaments génériques.
Lessig a également défié les raisons données par des gouvernements occidentaux pour ne pas permettre aux pays en voie de développement le libre accès à leurs recherches et ressources éducatives. Il a condamné les arguments avancés par des universitaires et des décisionnaires qui ont affirmé que, avoir à payer pour la connaissance encouragerait les pays en voie de développement à générer leurs propres innovations.
"si ce qu’ils sont entrain de dire est vrai, alors chaque siècle, nous devrons brûler des milliers de livres, de sorte que les gens puissent ‘travailler’ pour ‘re-découvrir’ les choses que newton a faites," Lessig a finalement indiqué.
