In response to the growing use of CC licenses globally, and the corresponding need for open licensing expertise, Creative Commons is officially launching the CC Certificate program today. Registration for the Certificate program is now open and details are available on the Certificates website.
The CC Certificate provides an-in depth study of Creative Commons licenses and open practices – helping you become an expert in open licensing and the Commons. The program is offered both as a 10-week online course starting in July 2018 as well as a week-long, in-person bootcamp in 2019. In keeping with our values, we will openly license (CC BY) the Certificate content–making downloadable and editable file formats available for informal learning from our website by July 2018.
The CC Certificate uniquely develops participants’ open licensing proficiency and understanding of the broader context for open advocacy. Course content addresses copyright law, CC legal tools, and Commons values and practices. Currently geared for educators and librarians, the Certificate will soon be offered for additional audiences (such as government and GLAM).
Participants who successfully complete the Certificate program receive a digital Certificate (PDF) that recognizes specialization in open licensing and the Commons, and the ability help others understand and implement open licenses. Certificate recipients will be able to create new openly licensed resources, adapt and innovate on existing open materials – keeping their institution’s knowledge base relevant and up to date. Certificate recipients will also be equipped to meet open licensing requirements increasingly present in government and foundation grants and contracts.
We want to express our gratitude to our Beta cohort of 50 who helped us build, test, and refine the content, as well as Lumen Learning and Canvas for providing the instruction and platform support.
Course Registration is open! Sign up here. We look forward to working with you.
Cynthia Khoo on net neutrality, where creativity comes from, and getting involved with the Creative Commons Summit
Based in Toronto, Cynthia Khoo is an internet and technology lawyer working at the intersection of digital rights, copyright and freedom of expression. In advance of the Creative Commons Global Summit, we’re gathering the stories of inspiring humans working around the world to shape the Commons’ future. We want to share your story, too — drop by the “Humans of the Commons” listening lounge at the Summit to get interviewed and add your voice. Here’s an edited transcript of Cynthia’s story:
I first got involved with Creative Commons last year when the Creative Commons Global Summit happened in Toronto. I had just moved to Toronto, so it seemed like a great opportunity to see what the organization did firsthand. The summit was an amazing experience; I loved it. It felt unlike other conferences I’d been to up to that point.
After that I went from just being aware of Creative Commons to actively wanting to be a part of it. I got added to the Creative Commons Slack – I hung out for a bit, just to see what was up and keep an eye out for ways to get involved. I was working with Open Media at the time on their copyright reform platform, and because Creative Commons is in that space as well we found opportunities to collaborate together.
So when the opening came up for volunteers to help organize this year’s summit, I thought it would be an amazing opportunity to help out and pay it forward.
One recent success I’m really proud of is a significant victory for net neutrality here in Canada. Net neutrality is under serious threat in the U.S. and around the world right now, and last year’s hearing was similarly critical for Canada. It focused on “zero rating,” which is about whether phone and cable companies should be allowed to discriminate or privilege some content on your mobile phone data plan, like certain music or video services.
One of the challenges we faced from the parties on the opposing side, I thought, was a misrepresentation around how our internet access is structured. Their argument conflated two very different layers: the access component of going online, and the content component. If you think of a layer cake, it was like they were trying to cut through both layers of the cake and serve them to consumers as slices. That would essentially be a form of Internet rationed out to users piece by piece, as opposed to a neutral Internet connection that’s essential for access to information and freedom of expression.
I wanted to make it really clear that wasn’t an accurate characterization of how the system actually works. We had to figure out how to make the Commissioners see that there are reasons we need to keep those layers distinct, going back to basic telecom principles like common carriage and non-discrimination between users in similar situations. That was something I spent a lot of time trying to think through, because they came at that argument from several different angles.
When the decision came out, the Commissioners explicitly cited some of the arguments that we had made and language we had used. Other public interest groups and individuals intervened in the case and made similar arguments — but it was important to me and I had spent so much time on it… I just had this moment of: “Yes! They got it!!”
We ended up winning the case. There’s some debate about how strongly they ruled in our favor, but they established a framework that was along the lines of what we were arguing for.
“Where’s the line between imitation and inspiration?”
I believe the greatest threat to the Commons today is disproportionate copyright enforcement. That has a number of effects and attacks the Commons from multiple angles.
Copyright enforcement itself is of course fine, and we need it; artists and creators should have their work protected and get due compensation for it. But when copyright enforcement becomes disproportionate, things go off the rails. That’s where you end up with mis-ranked priorities — like placing some publishers’ royalties above freedom of expression or above access to information.
So much of creation, whether it’s music or film writing, is iterative. It’s based on the past.
Disproportionate copyright enforcement also stops new things from even being created in the first place, because so much of creation, whether it’s music or film writing, is iterative. It’s based on the past.
There’s this amazing graphic novel called Theft: A History of Music about how music is based on imitation and iteration and inspiration. Where’s the line between imitation and inspiration?
If modern-day copyright laws existed in the past, it’s possible things like jazz or blues wouldn’t even exist today at all.
They would have been sued out of existence. The type of music deemed “worthy” of copyright had a racialized aspect as well. A lot of Westernized classical music, for example, was protected because the melody was considered copyrightable. But other types of music – music that was more beats-based or rhythms-based and associated with African-American musicians – the courts found was not copyrightable. That appears to be based more on a cultural difference than something inherent in the music itself. So when you have that kind of selective enforcement, is it really about creators’ rights? Or is it actually about power and concentrating control?
“Nothing in the world is equally distributed right now”
Access to information, freedom of expression, diversity, social progress, social, political, and economic equality — all of these things are advanced by a vibrant Commons. The Commons opens up the world. It opens different aspects of the world to different groups of people for whom it might otherwise be closed.
It’s only by removing unfair barriers that we will get to a better world.
That’s so important because nothing in the world is equally distributed right now. Everything is unfairly distributed — because you happen to be born into a rich family, say, or happen to be born in Canada. A vibrant Commons is where these things come out, and it provides a way to remove some of those unfair barriers. And it’s only by removing unfair barriers that we will get to a better world.
The CC Summit begins tomorrow. For the second year in a row, we’re sold out, and it’s our largest event yet. The summit is organized every year by a spectacular group of international contributors from the CC community, with stellar support from the CC staff. This year’s event was co-chaired by Claudia Cristiani of CC El Salvador, and our own Cable Green, Director of Open Education. They led the process of developing the program, working with a volunteer program group from around the world.
The CC Summit is much more than its three great keynotes and 110+ sessions: it’s full of surprises, big and small. Last year, we revealed the 3-D printed Tetrapylon, the UnCommon Women colouring book, and added Ontario’s new Chief Digital Officer Hillary Hartley as a surprise keynote. This year we have more great things in store for you. We can’t wait.
Here are five things I hope you’ll explore at this year’s summit:
The growing network
The most significant community investment we’ve ever made has been to completely redesign the CC network to enable collaborative governance and decision-making, deeper engagement, and community leadership. The affiliate network, which made CC a truly international organization, is evolving into the CC Global Network, which focuses on enabling individual contributors to collaborate in international chapters. You can sign up today to become a member, and there’s an entire track of sessions to help you get involved.
Humans of the Commons
CC board member Johnathan Nightingale often says, “It’s all made of people.” The Humans of the Commons project is an interactive listening lounge where you can drop by, get interviewed, and share your story with the rest of the Summit, Creative Commons network and the world. You’ll find them on the 2nd floor.
Sebastiaan ter Burg
With so many incredible contributors in the CC movement, it’s nice to have great photos. If you give public talks, having a headshot makes you look more professional. CC community photographer Sebastiaan ter Burg will have a photo booth set up to take individual and group shots.
Inaugural Bassel Khartabil Memorial Fellowship
Last year, we learned of the death of CC friend and community leader Bassel Khartabil. At the request of his family, we established and led the development of a fellowship in his name. With our many open community partners, we’ll be announcing the first fellow, along with a series of funded community-based projects.
More CC surprises
There are always other surprises in store, so keep your eyes and ears open. The CC staff have been working hard to create some delightful commons experiences for you, including some stellar visual and audio experiences. See you soon!
The Creative Commons Global Summit, the annual event for the promotion of open knowledge, sharing, and the Commons around the globe, kicks off on Friday in Toronto, Canada. This can’t miss event will bring together more than 450 advocates, activists, lawyers, educators, policy-makers and technologists for over 110 sessions about open education; galleries, libraries, archives, and museums (GLAM); legal and copyright reform; open access; the future of the Commons; and the Creative Commons Global Network.
CEO Ryan Merkley says, “At its heart, the CC Summit is a community event — people from all over the world built the program, selected the speakers, and will now travel to Toronto to plan the future of the collaborative commons. It’s inspiring.”
Keynotes and panels will feature Katherine Maher, Executive Director of Wikipedia / Wikimedia Foundation, Chris Bourg, Director of MIT Libraries, and Ruth L. Okediji, John Jeremiah Smith, Jr. Professor of Law at Harvard University and Co-Director of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society. Each day of the Summit, Creative Commons will launch a new project or piece of work, including the 2017 State of the Commons annual report, the official launch of the CC Certification Program for Librarians and Educators, and the much-anticipated announcement of the recipients of the Bassel Khartabil Free Culture Fellowship and Memorial Fund. The fellowship announcement will be accompanied by exclusive footage from award-winning, BAFTA nominated documentarian Yasmin Fedda, whose film “The Disappeared” chronicles the lives of Khartabil and Jesuit Priest Paolo Dall’Oglio, both killed in Syria in the ongoing humanitarian crisis. Merkley will be joined via video conference by Khartabil’s widow, Syrian human rights lawyer Noura Ghazi Safadi, to present the award.
Thank you to Private Internet Access, lead sponsor of the CC Global Summit, as well as supporting sponsors: The Argosy Foundation, Top Hat, eCampus Ontario, Mozilla, Re:Create Coalition, Intellus Learning, Lumen Learning, Yoyow, and in-kind sponsors Canvas and Shareable.
Keynotes will be streamed at 11AM Friday, 10:15AM Saturday, and 10:30AM Sunday, EST, on YouTube @creativecommons. Follow the Summit on Twitter at #ccsummit.
The Wikimedia and Creative Commons communities are inextricably linked, sharing networks, content, and a vision of the world’s knowledge collaboratively governed in a Global Commons built on gratitude and sharing.
Katherine Maher has been the Executive Director of the Wikimedia Foundation since 2016, and is one of the leading advocates for Open around the world. As a leader, her centering of community voice and the Wikimedia global network, as well as a strategic vision built around Wikimedia 2030 has led to some of the organization’s most creative growth and evolution.
Katherine will be speaking on Friday, April 13 at 11AM at the CC Global Summit and will follow up her talk with a panel on “The Big Open,” exploring how networks for Open can work together collaboratively and effectively.
The Wikimedia 2030 strategic document proposes that Wikimedia become the essential infrastructure for free knowledge. What does this strategic statement mean to the Wikimedia organization and what does it mean to the movement? Wikimedia is one of the largest and most widely used free knowledge resources in the world. More than a billion devices visit our sites every month and we have been supported by millions of people over the years. In some ways, to the extent that an open source project is successful and has a daily tangible and visible impact on people’s’ lives, Wikimedia is the definition of that success.
What we’ve also seen… is that Wikipedia is the essential infrastructure for free knowledge in many places in the world. We have stepped into that role in different language communities where free knowledge may not have as robust an ecosystem.
Both Creative Commons and Wikimedia provide valuable infrastructure for the open web. As institutions working towards complementary goals, how do you see this these organizations as part of a larger global community of open knowledge? Like in open source, CC and Wikimedia are part of the core infrastructure – but we play different roles on the stack. More than 50% of the content across the internet relies on open source and Wikimedia is the largest website or open media property on the planet. That means that we have been successful in achieving our open goal. The Creative Commons licenses power billions of freely licensed content that is accessible to the whole world. We’ve reached a point in which our model has demonstrated its success. Now the question is, “Where do we go from there?”
As communities and projects that started based on the premise that individual contributors and individual people all over the world create and build open culture and the Commons, we now see that other institutions and players are getting involved.
As successful projects, how do we go forward from here? What’s the course that we chart?
Practically, how do you see the networks working together and sharing resources? As Ryan [Merkley, Creative Commons CEO] likes to say, “Many Creative Commoners are Wikimedians, Mozillians, Open Street Mappers…” If you are part of an open community, the distinction between those communities is artificial.
There’s already collaboration and mutual support across these communities. What are the fights that we want to fight together and how are we more effective when we [collaborate]? How can we bring in more institutions that historically haven’t been part of our ecosystem, and how can we scale up at this size?
Those are great conversations for us to have as partners, and to learn from our successes and our failures as well, as we try to take these missions forward.
What does a vibrant, usable Commons powered by collaboration and gratitude mean to you? What do you think sharing will look like online in the future? A vibrant Commons is something that everybody has access to and people can give back to in a meaningful way. The work of creating a Commons doesn’t just happen –there’s labor involved… When we think about the importance of supporting and ensuring that the Commons is a part of the world in which we live, that speaks to the issue of generosity.
Those people who contribute to the Commons are actually a very tiny fraction of the overall whole. Some folks contribute directly, because they contribute their work, their creations, their ideas, and others contribute financially.
But again, it’s a small group – although it is a very generous group. If we were to imagine a future in which [the Commons] is a vibrant and robust ecosystem that continues to grow and thrive, then generosity needs to be something that’s reflected by a much larger group of individuals than it is today.
And we need to be generous in return.
We need to be generous in the spirit in which we approach these conversations, in the way that we welcome people into our communities, in the way that we think about the folks who use the content that we create. Generosity flows both ways.
How do you complement the work that Wikimedia provides as a tool or a product on the open web with the community building work you’ve done as an organization? They’re deeply interrelated. I often talk about how what makes us different is the fact that we are a community project, but what makes us powerful is the fact that we are a website that’s used by hundreds of millions of people all over the planet. I don’t think you get to have one without the other. Wikimedia would not exist without the incredible community that has built it, that supports it, that has defined its values, and that ensures we stay true to those values.
We support the websites because they are how we achieve our mission, but that support has to be in service of the people that we are trying to serve, like our community members and the people who read, use, and learn from the knowledge we support.
How is Wikimedia working toward a better web as an organization and a community? How are you working toward a better world? To a better web – we are one of the larger open source projects that exists today and every single thing that Wikimedia produces is open source. We believe that a web that is open, interoperable, and rewriteable is the right sort of web.
We stand apart from any other platforms in that we are largely trusted, we are community governed, we present a model for what we can and should be, and we hearken back to the ideals of the early web [of sharing].
In terms of working for a better world? What animates all Wikimedians is the belief that when more people have access to knowledge the world is, in fact, a better place. People are more informed and have access to critical information that shapes the way they make decisions in their lives. They have the opportunity to educate themselves in their communities.
While we don’t necessarily say in our vision statement that “we’re out here to change the world,” that is exactly what most Wikimedians believe we’re doing every day.
Participants who successfully complete the Certificate program receive a digital Certificate (PDF) that recognizes specialization in open licensing and the Commons, and the ability help others understand and implement open licenses. Certificate recipients will be able to create new openly licensed resources, adapt and innovate on existing open materials – keeping their institution’s knowledge base relevant and up to date. Certificate recipients will also be equipped to meet open licensing requirements increasingly present in government and foundation grants and contracts.
