But one European political party wants to weaponize the worst parts of the copyright plan

This week, Creative Commons and over 60 organisations sent an open letter urging European lawmakers to “put the copyright reform back on the right track”. The letter criticizes the Commission’s lackluster proposal for a Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market, and calls on the Parliament and Council to spearhead crucial changes that promote creativity and business opportunities, enable research and education, and protect user rights in the digital market. From the letter:

The lawfulness of everyday activities depends on being able to count on a clear legal framework allowing companies to do business across the EU, individuals to access and use cultural goods, researchers to collaborate across borders using the latest technologies, and creators to be remunerated and contribute to Europe’s rich cultural heritage. This clear legal framework implies that the limitation of intermediaries’ liability must be upheld in EU law.

The letter highlights two aspects of the Commission’s proposal that are wholly detrimental to creativity and access to information in the EU. First, it calls for the removal of the new right that would permit press publishers to extract fees from search engines for incorporating short snippets of—or even linking to—their content (Article 11). This would undermine the intention of authors who wish to share without additional strings attached, including Creative Commons licenses. Second, it urges lawmakers to delete the provision that would require Internet platforms to proactively monitor user uploaded content in order to identify and remove copyright infringing content (Article 13).

The letter was signed by stakeholders representing publishers, journalists, libraries, scientific and research institutions, consumers, digital rights groups, technology businesses, educational institutions and creator representatives.

While these organisations have been advocating for positive changes to support the public interest and fair rules for creators, a faction of the European Parliament is proposing alternative amendments to the Commission’s plan that would not only retain the harmful ancillary copyright and upload filtering mechanisms, but make them much, much worse.

Days after we sent our open letter, we learned that the European People’s Party (EPP) is considering “compromise amendments” that could be introduced in the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection. The changes would further extend the ancillary copyright to last for 50 years (instead of the originally-planned 20), and would also apply to offline uses (original proposal only covered digital). Perhaps most strikingly, their “compromise” would grant protection to academic publications (specifically left out in the Commission’s plan). This would mean that users of scientific and scholarly journal articles would be forced to ask permission or pay fees for including short snippets of a research paper in another publication. This type of arrangement is completely antithetical to longstanding norms in scientific research and scholarly communications.

Regarding upload filtering, the EPP’s proposed changes would remove the liability protections granted to online platforms if that services does anything above and beyond simply displaying user-uploaded content. This would mean that platforms would be forced to heavily filter content, or acquire licenses to protect themselves against the copyright infringement liability passed on by its users.

The vote in the Internal Market Committee is scheduled for 9 June (next week!). If you’re in the EU, now is the time to act. Tell your MEP to say no to these false compromises. Contact an MEP from your country who sits on the IMCO Committee and tell them you expect them to support MEP Stihler’s compromise amendments on the copyright file. A phone call takes no more than a few minutes and can prove very effective. Internet rights NGO Bits of Freedom has created a handy tool that allows you to call MEPs for free.

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CC’s community consists of hundreds of individuals and organisations doing awesome stuff worldwide – from spreading the word about licensing to offering specific advice for creators and users, showcasing all aspects of open culture, and influencing policy makers around to globe to encourage them to adopt more open policies.

When we set up the Awesome Fund last year, we wanted to provide microfunding for this wide variety of activities. In the end, we received almost 40 applications – you can find the full overview of all projects we funded on our Wiki. Some projects haven’t finished yet, so this page will be regularly updated. On social media, look for #CCisAwesome for updates on ongoing projects.

The projects were diverse and exciting, with a number of teams using the funds to strengthen their own team or connect with others. Some highlights:

CC Belarus and CC Ukraine got together to create workflows for CC integration and to discuss on how to target creative communities to inform them about CC. CC UK and Ireland collaborated for a workshop on CC for start-ups. FRANCOCAR supported a range of events in the french speaking West African countries. CC Columbia, Chile, Uruguay and El Salvador collaborated on a series of podcasts highlighting Latin-American champions of open culture.

Some teams used to funds to travel to difficult to reach areas in their own countries: The Mongolian CC team used the funds to travel to the remote Buryat region to talk about CC as a tool for local empowerment and to promote local culture. CC Tanzania gave an advocacy training in the Iringa region.

CC is committed to supporting the Public Domain and promoting open policies and open culture: CC Argentina and CC Chile created a database of authors in the public domain. CC Israel organised an event to celebrate Public Domain Day and Fair Use Week, CC Nigeria organised a round table session on Creative Commons for policy makers and the copyright commission in Lagos, Creative Commons Portugal created a live performance and an accompanying site about copyright (and copywrongs) in the performing arts, while CC Indonesia showcased CC licensed music on an event promoting Free Culture and the joy of sharing. CC Ghana even organised their first ever CC Salon!

Having now left my position as Regional Coordinator for Europe, it is with great pride and joy I look back on the Awesome Fund projects. The amount and quality of applications, and the brilliant display of creativity and dedication that they showcase have been truly inspiring. The Creative Commons community is alive and kicking – and ready for the next phase with the ongoing network reform process.

 

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Canal O Cubo is a popular Brazilian platform for independent Creative Commons licensed films and the promotion of Brazilian multimedia production. In 2014, they produced “Eu Te Amo Renato,” the first full length Creative Commons film on the Brazilian internet. This year’s spinoff is an LGBT focused web series called “Todo o Tempo do Mundo,” which won best drama webseries and best directing of a dramatic webseries at the international Rio Webfest this year. They produce collaborative content through their short movie production program called Make a Short!/Faça um Curta! as well serve as a diverse content aggregator of Documentaries, Originals, Video Art, Animation, and more – all with CC licensing as the backbone. By solving the distribution issue for Brazilian filmmakers, they are able to better support a variety of independent artists around Brazil and contribute to an ecosystem of Brazilian independent media.

In addition to their content collection, the small team runs a yearly festival, which just celebrated its fourth anniversary in Rio de Janeiro in May. Director Fabiano Cafure spoke with Creative Commons about this year’s festival and the challenges and success that he faces as an independent media maker in Brazil.

Congratulations on this year’s Festival o Cubo! What was this year like? What kinds of films did you enjoy screening most? What themes have emerged within the festival?

Each year is a surprise for us in terms of what we will receive from the independent scene. This year we had an increase in fiction movies and we were also able to observe how the medium format is coming back to the scene in internet productions because most of the independent filmmakers do not have the budget to use traditional mainstream movie distribution. Last year we had a greater amount of documentaries.

Why did you begin Canal o Cubo? What is the reason for creating a platform and festival such as this one?

Canal O Cubo came to life after years trying to understand the movement of internet and its advantages for independent distribution using existing platforms such as Youtube and public licenses such as Creative Commons. We understood that we needed to go that way in order to have a wider and bigger voice, but not before establishing a network of Brazilian producer to come together – and we did. The festival came as a result of the channel we created.

What have been the challenges behind Canal o Cubo? How have you explained the CC licensing to the artists you work with?

The challenges are basic: we have a lack of money to make it grow and invest. We are only three people to make all it work. Until now we were able to unify lots of producers from all over the country in order to have a good amount of titles to play for free. It takes time for people and other companies to see you and your work, which is serious work. We are getting there and Creative Commons is very important in that process. Sergio Branco has been a great mentor to us and a great help to better explain the definition and benefits from CC. The artists are getting more open to the idea but it takes time to break paradigms.

What has it been like to produce a popular web series under CC? What kinds of stories are you looking to tell?

It has helped us to reach out to our public. I usually say that CC is like a domino: you may not profit from a specific work under CC but it sures comes around as it helps to show your work. It has been proven to me by experience. I usually tell stories about people around me and my perspective of life, so in the end it is about life, specially about those who have no voice.

What’s next for you, both in terms of content and how you want Canal o Cubo to grow?

I enjoy being a person who facilitates understanding on how to produce with low or no budget at all. I love teaching the process of filmmaking. As far as Canal O Cubo, we are working on it becoming one the best Brazilian independent movie platforms as well as a reference in producing and distributing.

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I’m thrilled to announce that Paola Villarreal will be joining the Creative Commons team as Director of Product Engineering. She will lead the development of CC’s tools to create a more vibrant, usable commons, beginning with CC Search.

This is an important hire for Creative Commons, and it was important we find someone with the talent, curiosity, and values needed to lead our technical work in a global movement.

Villarreal is a fellow at the Berkman Klein Center of Harvard University and a former Mozilla Open Web fellow. A self-taught systems programmer and accomplished open advocate, Paola’s research as a Berkman Fellow focuses on the relationship between data and justice, aiming to strengthen access and reduce inequality by developing data tools that inform the work of advocates, activists, community organizers, lawyers, and journalists and their communities. In her 2015-16 Mozilla Open Web Fellowship, she worked at ACLU of Massachusetts on social justice projects that heavily rely on open technology and data.

Villarreal previously worked at Xamarin Inc as a iOS Developer and was the Director of Technologic Innovation at Mexico City’s Innovation Lab (Laboratorio para la Ciudad), where she ran the Code for Mexico City Fellowship and designed and implemented the Data Lab, an Open Data portal with an API. While working as the systems administrator for Mexico’s President’s Office, she was part of the team that first proposed the usage of CC’s licenses as best practice for governmental websites. In addition to her professional work, Paola has been involved with the Creative Commons Mexico Community since 2005 and blogs about her work at Paw.mx.

With over 17 years experience, Villarreal brings a wealth of knowledge to CC as a long-time advocate for public access to information, an open source veteran and community builder, and a talented programmer and data scientist with a history of work for social justice causes ranging from community over-policing to solving local transportation issues. Read a profile of Paola’s work in the Harvard Gazette, and learn more about her work in her presentation on “Public Interest Data Science” at the Harvard Law School.

Paola is originally from Mexico City and is currently based in Boston, MA. She will join us in June, and we want to give her a warm welcome to the CC Community. Welcome, Paola!

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We’re excited to share this post from Mikka Gee Conway and Uma Nair of the Getty, which describes the history and curation of the remarkable new online exhibit, The Legacy of Ancient Palmyra. The Getty’s exhibit, the first of its kind, is part of ongoing global efforts to call attention to the continued destruction of one of the world’s most important heritage sites due to the ongoing Syrian conflict.

In April, Creative Commons unveiled a collaboration with #NEWPALMYRA and re:3D at the CC Summit, a large scale rendering of one of the destroyed Palmyra tetrapyla.

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On February 8, 2017, the Getty Research Institute (GRI) in Los Angeles unveiled its first online-only exhibition, The Legacy of Ancient Palmyra. Featuring over one hundred images primarily drawn from the Special Collections of the GRI, the exhibition explores Palmyra’s early history, its influence on Western art and culture, and the tragic loss of what is left of its ancient ruins amid the devastating ongoing war in Syria. Most of the images, and all of the texts, included in the online presentation are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC BY).

The core of the exhibition comes from two bodies of work in the GRI’s Special Collections by 18th- and 19th-century Frenchmen who visited Palmyra: etchings by artist and architect Louis-François Cassas, made in 1785 as part of a diplomatic mission to the Ottoman Empire; and photographs made in 1864 by sea

captain-turned-photographer Louis Vignes as part of a scientific expedition to the Middle East. These collections include the first photographs of the ancient monuments of Palmyra, illustrating the Temple of Baalshamin, the Temple of Bel, the Monumental Arch, and the Tetrapylon, destroyed in 2015 and 2017 by ISIS.

Curators Frances Terpak and Peter Bonfitto, along with the rest of the exhibition team, wanted not only to give viewers a broader historical perspective on Palmyra, a city with a particularly rich and poignant history, but also to create a free visual resource enabling anyone with an internet connection to have digital access to these rare, unpublished materials and accompanying scholarly discussion.

With a goal of offering the same depth and breadth of material as an on-site gallery exhibition, The Legacy of Ancient Palmyra contains 108 images, including 20 “loan objects” from other institutions, and more than 18,000 words of peer-reviewed scholarly text. The majority of the images can be downloaded and feature a “zoom” tool. Created as an informative experience for the general public and a research tool for scholars, The Legacy of Ancient Palmyra includes a resource page which provides links and further readings on both the history of the site and current events.

In building this exhibition, some of the questions we asked ourselves were: how do we take a visitor’s gallery experience–such as looking closely at an object and then standing back in the middle of the room for a different perspective–and translate this to desktop, tablet, and mobile devices? How do we translate an ancient city plan into an interactive and user-friendly digital platform? To answer these questions, our core working group, each bringing different areas of expertise, brainstormed ideas, did rapid sketching exercises, and tested with our three core audiences: (1) an international scholarly audience; (2) “enthusiasts,” whom we defined as the culturally curious but not subject-matter experts; and (3) teachers and students seeking credible sources of information on the region and on ancient history, political science, cultural heritage, and the arts generally

On the design side, our visual designers worked very closely with the curators to gain a very deep understanding of the intellectual component of the material and what the curators wanted to convey. They also used the original material as inspiration to visually present a connection between the 18th and 19th century materials and bring them into our 21st-century digital environment.

Through a Visual Design Workshop, our team and stakeholders developed a common language and a set of visual cues for what we wanted the user experience to be like.

On the rights side, we knew from the outset that we wanted to publish The Legacy of Ancient Palmyra as openly as possible. The J. Paul Getty Trust, of which the GRI is part, was established for “the diffusion of artistic and general knowledge.” The Getty has long been committed to creating and disseminating knowledge in the fields in which it works. More recently we have embraced open access principles, and are committed to providing, wherever possible, free, unrestricted, digital access to the resources we own and produce. For example, our Open Content Initiative launched in 2013 and offers free, unrestricted, high-resolution images from the collections of the GRI and the J. Paul Getty Museum—at last count, 114,000 images and growing. We publish textual information on the Getty Museum’s online collections pages and the Getty’s blog under CC BY, as we did with two new online catalogues on the Getty Museum’s collections of Roman mosaics and ancient terracottas. Both the GRI and the Getty Conservation Institute (GCI) have developed open-source software projects to serve their audiences, including Getty Scholar’s Workspace®, the GRI’s collaborative research tool, and the GCI’s Arches™ software platform, a geospatially-based information system for inventorying immovable cultural heritage. Research resources maintained by the GRI are also available under open licenses, including datasets from the Getty Provenance Index® and the Getty Vocabularies, many of which are available as Linked Open Data under Open Data Commons licenses. In addition, the Getty Foundation has just published Museum Catalogues in the Digital Age, the final report on its Online Scholarly Catalogue Initiative, under CC BY.

Given the nature of the vast majority of the source material for Palmyra—public domain artwork owned by the GRI and texts written by GRI staff—we knew it would be possible to apply a CC BY license to most if not all of it. Unfortunately we were not able to secure permissions from the “lenders” to apply CC BY to their objects, with the exception of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, which like the Getty makes its public domain collections images freely available. But with a clearly written image credits section and targeted use of the Creative Commons machine-readable code, we were able to identify for human and machine readers which parts of the exhibition are not part of the open license.

The exhibition has received much positive coverage and feedback from around the world, including from a teacher who planned to use the exhibition in the classroom for a lesson on Palmyra. We’re pleased to have created another cultural and educational resource that is freely available to all who can access it – please come visit the site and let us know what you think. We hope there will be robust re-use and repurposing of this content, and we will continue to look for ways that the Getty can add to the world’s cultural commons.

 

 

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