I can’t wait for 2016 to be over.

Refugee crises, outbreaks of disease, and a divisive US election has left many disappointed and exhausted by the challenges ahead. 2016 was difficult, destructive, and terrifying for many all over the world. I truly believe that if we want the world to be more equitable, accountable, and accessible to all, we have to build it together. More than ever, we need to work together to share our knowledge and resources, to build the world we want for ourselves and our families. As the year finally comes to a close, many are asking how they can be part of the solution? How can we start 2017 with renewed energy?

Creative Commons isn’t the most obvious answer to that question. But our team, our community, and our tools are at the centre of so many global movements that are working to build a more equitable and innovative world. From open educational resources for at-risk communities, to unlocking research to find a cure for Zika or Cancer, CC is part of the solution.

Our reach is large, but we’re much smaller than you might think. Just 20 staff worldwide, with a small and vibrant community of global affiliates. And yet, over 1.1 billion times, we’ve helped people share and collaborate together for a better world. We’re completely supported by grants and donations, and we can’t continue our work without your help. Our small but dedicated group of donors make all the difference; your donation – at every level – tells us that you’re ready to help CC drive change when it is needed most.

We can’t do this without you.

The list of causes that need your help is overwhelming, but I truly believe Creative Commons is fundamental to so many movements that I hope we’ll make your list. We’re almost at the end of the year and we are SO close to hitting our goal. With the amazing show of support from all of you – our global community – we’re 85% to our goal. I am writing to ask for your help in pushing us to the finish line so we can head into 2017 with new optimism, and the resources we need to hit the ground running alongside our incredible supporters like you.

We’ve come so far with all of you. We compelled governments, foundations and organizations to share millions of new works; we rallied communities to fight the TPP and advance copyright reform; we unlocked research and data to drive innovation and discovery. We really couldn’t have done this without you – thank you.

We have big plans for the year ahead. New tools to support discovery and re-use, and build a commons of collaboration and gratitude; stronger global communities that can advocate and activate sharing cultures around the world. I can’t wait to share all our big wins with you – but first, we need your support to make it happen.

A commitment to a more vibrant creative world begins today – please visit our donation page. Let’s light up the commons together.

The post I can’t wait for 2016 to be over appeared first on Creative Commons.

Independent, open, not-for-profit news sources can help safeguard against the spread of misinformation, particularly on the viral web. The Conversation takes their role as journalists, researchers, and academics seriously. As an international nonprofit producing strong independent journalism, their aim is brings important academic research to the Web through editorial curation and collaboration.

Launched in 2011 in Australia, the Conversation has expanded into six editions around the world, and their content has been published in a multitude of publications including Slate, Newsweek, Time, and the Guardian. Maria Balinska, US Editor, credits their use of the CC BY-ND license as integral to this success. In the words of their editorial board, “steal our stories,” and visit the Conversation’s website for more information.

At a moment where fake news seems to be on everyone’s mind, how are you using open licensing and curation to combat misinformation?

We start by producing evidence- based explanatory journalism from academic researchers who have studied for years – if not decades! – the topic they are writing about. All data, references and quotes in the articles are linked to the original sources so that readers can look at the material themselves. Authors sign a disclosure statement that outlines any funding or affiliations that might be relevant to the piece they have written. All this to say that verification, transparency and accountability are at the heart of our model and our charter. We see open licensing as a very effective means to combat misinformation – it’s not just about disseminating the ideas and the stories we publish to as many different audiences as possible, it also showcases our distinctive approach to journalism.

You encourage readers to share, remix, and reuse your content, or to “steal your stories.” How do you think that’s influenced the popularity and spread of your content? How have you seen that put into action so far?

We see this approach as key to our success. It helps us with large media companies – we have a legal framework that says here’s the content, you can use it, and these are the conditions (and we don’t have to spend months negotiating with their legal departments to create separate licenses). It also helps us with small websites where we can provide them with quality content that they couldn’t afford to create themselves. In the month of November, for example, we had over six million reads of our content through CC.

In a popular article on Poynter, Melody Kramer writes, “I see Creative Commons licensing as a smart way to distribute local or national content when the goal is maximum impact, or an audience spreading word that your content exists.” Do you agree with that statement? Have you found that to be true in your own work?

We would definitely agree. CC licensing means our articles are republished on average 12 times and can be consumed by CNN.com and Quartz readers as well as by subscribers to papers in Kokomo, Indiana and Corsicana, Texas and online sites of every ideological slant.

How does your work translate globally? Have you found different kinds of responses to your work in other countries or languages where you publish? What made this growth possible over the last few years?

We’ve been translated, among other languages, into Spanish, French, Portuguese, Ukrainian and Japanese, sometimes by large media companies and sometimes by someone who is excited about the freely-available information and wants to share it.

How do you bridge academic discourse and the fast pace of the internet news cycle? Why do you think this is important to readers, and how have you seen it reflected in your readership and republication?

The beauty of the Conversation model is the close editorial collaboration between academic and journalist. Each brings the best of their world to the table: on the one hand deep knowledge and expertise and on the other news sense and communication skills. Why is it important to translate academic discourse to the general public? Because their knowledge is hugely valuable to our understanding of the world around us and can help us look for and discuss solutions for the problems and challenges we are facing. We can provide ‘just-in-time’ knowledge in our fast-paced world, when people need to analysis to understand the flood of incoming information.

What’s striking to all of us working at TCUS is that there is a real enthusiasm for the kind of content we produce. A few comments from our readers’ survey:
“Sometimes popular academic writings don’t seem to jive with the times. The Conversation does.”
“I like the idea of news items being written by a person who has some background knowledge of the topic.”
“Just keep up the good work (and the Creative Commons license: you’re very creative, never common, but always sharable).”

We view our role as unlocking knowledge from academia and sharing it with a wide variety of audiences. Creative Commons plays an essential role in making this happen.

The post A Conversation with the Conversation: transforming journalism with a CC license appeared first on Creative Commons.

Estamos orgullosos de anunciar que el registro a la Cumbre Global de CC está abierto, junto con el llamado para que la comunidad envíe sus propuestas. Por favor, consideren unirse a nosotros, tanto como si son colaboradores desde hace tiempo o son nuevos en la comunidad de CC. ¡Esperamos verlos a todos en el hermoso Delta Hotel de Toronto del 28 al 30 de abril de 2017! Por favor, ayúdennos a difundir la noticia.

El comité de programación de la Cumbre Global de CC ha estado trabajando duro para generar un encuentro espectacular en 2017. Este dedicado grupo está compuesto por personas provenientes de una variedad de países y antecedentes, que juntas desarrollaron el tema del 2017: “Los comunes y el intercambio: ¿y ahora qué sigue?”. El comité también estableció los objetivos de la Cumbre:

Definir el intercambio y los comunes para la próxima generación

• ¿Qué desafíos urgentes y/o amenazas enfrentan actualmente los comunes?
• ¿Qué asuntos necesitan la atención y el apoyo de la red de Creative Commons en los próximos dos años, particularmente a partir de nuestro cambio de enfoque hacia una colaboración significativa entre las personas?
• ¿Cómo reforzamos, expandimos y celebramos nuestros lazos con los creadores de la cultura que visibilizan y hacen reales a los comunes para la gente?

Cambiar el foco hacia la gente, yendo más allá de las licencias para mejorar la colaboración y el intercambio

• Queremos cambiar hacia un modelo realmente interconectado y de colaboración abierta
• Queremos cambiar enfocarnos en la gente que hace los comunes, por sobre los contenidos de los comunes
• Queremos ir más allá de la adopción de licencias, para incluir la colaboración e intercambio de los comunes

Discutir el futuro de la red de Creative Commons y hacer crecer el movimiento de CC

• Discutiremos y trataremos de alcanzar un consenso sobre la nueva estrategia y estructura de la red propuesta por el Comité de Estrategia de la Red
• Generaremos sesiones colaborativas que le permitirán a cualquiera ser parte de la conversación
• Invitaremos a creadores y a usuarios para participar activamente e involucrarse con temas que van más allá del licenciamiento de contenidos

Estamos creando el programa de la Cumbre Global de CC con tu colaboración. Si te interesa contribuir al programa, por favor responde a nuestro Llamado a propuestas [LINK EN] con ideas. Estaremos recibiendo propuestas de capítulos afiliados, socios, organizaciones amigas, colaboradores y cualquier otra persona que quiera ayudarnos a diseñar un evento fantástico. Puedes enviar tus propias ideas o simplemente ayudarnos a difundir la noticia.

The post La Cumbre Global de Creative Commons. Los comunes y el intercambio: ¿y ahora qué sigue? appeared first on Creative Commons.

We’re proud to announce that summit registration is now open, along with our call for community submissions. Please consider joining us, whether you are a longtime contributor, or new to the CC community. Hope to see you 28-30 April, 2017 at the beautiful new Delta Hotel in Toronto! Please help us spread the word.
The CC Summit Program Committee has been working hard to deliver an awesome Summit in 2017. This dedicated group is from a variety of countries and backgrounds and has developed the 2017 theme – “Sharing and the Commons: What’s Next?”. The committee has also set our summit program goals:

To define sharing and the Commons for the next generation

• What pressing challenges and/or threats does the Commons currently face?
• What issues need the network’s focus and support in the next two years, particularly given our shift in focus toward meaningful human collaboration?
• How do we strengthen, expand, and celebrate our ties to the creators of the culture that makes the Commons visible and real to people?

To shift the focus to people, moving beyond licenses to enhance collaboration and sharing

• Shift to a truly networked and open collaborative model
• Shift focus to people of the Commons over content of the Commons
• Shift beyond license adoption to include Commons collaboration and sharing

To discuss the future of the Creative Commons network and grow the CC movement

• We will discuss and reach consensus on the new network strategy and structure proposed by the Network Strategy Steering Committee
• We will establish collaborative tracks that allow anyone to join the conversation
• We will invite creators and users to actively participate and engage with issues that go beyond content licensing

We are creating the summit program with your collaboration. If you’re interested in contributing to the program, please answer our Call for Submissions with ideas. We welcome ideas from affiliates, partners, supporters, and anyone else you know who might help us design a great event. You can submit your own ideas, or just help us get the word out.

We’d love to hear how you’ll bring your ideas to life at the Summit. Deadline for submissions is 27 January, 2017.

Questions? Please contact summit@creativecommons.org.

The post The 2017 CC Global Summit: Sharing and the Commons – What’s Next? appeared first on Creative Commons.

2016 is almost at a close, and our global communities are as busy as ever. Around the world, diverse groups are working together to create meaningful connections and light up the commons. From announcements of new communities in Turkey and Panama to the best in music, photography, and open education from communities around the world, we’re pleased to present this year’s best from the commons as chosen by our affiliates and staff.

FILIP STOJANOVSKI, CC MACEDONIA

Vančo Džambaski is a photoactivist who publishes tons of HQ HR photos via flickr using CC BY-NC-SA. He attends events, mostly organized by civil society, as well as protests and demonstrations, and publishes albums of selected photos from each event. His photos are then used by media both local and foreign (incl. Global Voices), as well as social media users, and on the long run, he provided photos from historical events for some books even. We are working on spreading the CC idea amongst activists and independent media as a way for them to increase visibility.

There are several nonprofit media outlets in Macedonia that use CC licenses (the first two are founded by Metamorphosis).

• Portalb.mk (leading news portal in Albanian language)
• Meta.mk News Agency (independent news agency working in Macedonian, Albanian and English)
• CIVIL — Center of Freedom (NGO working in different areas incl. election monitoring, who also produce a lot of news contents)

JORGE GEMETTO, CC URUGUAY

From the CC Uruguay team we would like to share 2 Year End Lists. From the content of the lists you’ll see that we love music and digitizing 

Top CC Licensed Uruguayan Albums of 2016:

1. Mux (by Mux)
2. Mapas Anatómicos (by Carmen Sandiego)
3. Registros akashicos (by Pau O’Bianchi)
4. Flor de Nadie (by Los extranjeros)
5. Carcasa (by Martes Mártir)

Top free software for digitizing public domain works:

1. Scantailor
2. Pi Scan
3. Tesseract OCR
4. ImageMagick
5. Pdfshuffle

MUID LATIF, CC MALAYSIA

Most Open Music Collective: Space Gambus Experiment (SGE)
Most Shared Creative Projects via Behance (with CC license): Chow Hon Lam
Most Proactive Commoner: Sinar Project
Emerging Commoner: Ezrena Marwan, Malaysia Design Archives
Most Active Open Source Community — Malaysia Open Source Community
Most Preferred Digital Libraries: Tan Sri Dr Abdullah Sanusi Digital Library, Open University Malaysia and Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Library, Wawasan Open University

HILMAN FATHONI, CC INDONESIA

CC Indonesia’s Most Open Events in 2016 Lists:

1. Media: Horison Magazine Uploaded 264 Editions of their Magazines to Wikimedia Commons (Licensed with CC BY-SA)

2. Socialization: CC Indonesia’s first Law Faculty Socialization in Gadjah Mada University Yogyakarta — CCID Activities Report Page Dated 15th of October 2016
3. OER: A governmental institution “Indonesian National Science Foundation’s Scientific Documentation Center” (Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia: Pusat Dokumetasi dan Informasi Ilmiah, abbreviated as PDII LIPI) have started an initiative to use Creative Commons on each research products they publish. — CCID Activities Report Page Dated 2nd of November 2016:

Music: Top 5 CC Music Albums in 2016 Lists!

1. Frau — Parasite Lottery (Digital/Vinyl 7’’) (Yes No Wave Netlabel)
2. Peonies — Landscape (Compact Disc) (Masashi Records)
3. Low Pink — Phases EP (Compact Disc) (Kolibri Rekords)
4. Take — A Storyline (Cassette Tapes) (Rizkan Records)
5. Dialita — Dunia Milik Kita (Digital/Compact Disc) (Yes No Wave Netlabel)

Regulation: All Open License in Indonesia are freed from License Recordal Mandatory!

JENNIE ROSE HALPERIN, COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER

My Favorite CC Profiles from this year:

1. Re:vive’s creative interpretations of archival music with top electronic musicians: Reviving archives through remix. This interview was interesting not only because the project itself is dynamic and wide-reaching, but also because Gregory Markus is a thoughtful representative for creative archival uses and reuse/remix.
2. Agile uses of CC0 for information literacy in Letters for Black Lives and the Refugee Phrasebook. Letters for Black Lives remains one of our most popular interviews to date because the project spread so rapidly and is a topical and compelling story. The Refugee Phrasebook is equally inspiring and wide-reaching: Teaching language skills to incoming refugees is such a crucial project, and this is an excellent use of CC0 data to create an agile and effective spread of data and information.
3. Most creative use of CC in nontraditional objects: Make My Pattern. This was one of the first interviews I did at CC, and it was so fun! Joost’s project is so innovative and his adoption of the licenses is always changing for his audience. I love the way that he’s thought through using CC on patterns and physical objects, as well as the way he discovered his community in “sewcialism.”
4.  CC and the concept of the commons in fine art: Caroline Woolard’s artistic practice. I met Caroline at a lecture she gave at the Oxbow school last year and was bowled over by her thoughtful conceptual vision. She has a strong artistic viewpoint and her work speaks volumes to community creation and the concept of the commons.
5.  Information activism and CC: Freedom of the Press Foundation. The work for press freedom has never been more important, and Trevor Timm’s interview was prescient for the current moment, particularly as it concerns privacy and transparency in government and the press.
6.  Creating cross-cultural connections: Maya Zankoul’s use of CC and illustration in Lebanon. My mom loved this profile of Maya Zankoul, a popular Lebanese blogger and illustrator. Her use of clever storytelling and beautiful illustrations invite people to step into her captivating and colorful world.

IKAY HOLT, CC TURKEY

Turkey had its official launch in 2016!

KAMIL ŚLIWOWSKI, CC POLAND

• Favorite CC photographers: Tomasz Mikołajczyk, CC0 (pixabay) teacher and amateur photographer, promotes CC0 among other teachers

• Favorite CC things or objects: CC BY licensed icons and font inspired by city of Katowice (Medialab Katowice)
• Most inspiring commoners: Superbelfrzy (SuperTeachers) informal and very popular group of influential teachers and their network of educational blogs, almost all CC BY or CC BY-SA,
• OER resources: OPEN-SOURCE, COLLABORATIVE LOGIC TEXTBOOK (CC BY)

MARIA JULIANA, CC COLOMBIA

Favorite CC photographer: Diego Gómez Hoyos. Biodiversity pictures from Latin America

• Most inspiring commoners: Festival de Cine CC Bogotá, SiB Colombia
• Best pieces of news about the commons: Memory of coKREA, reflections about openness as a cultural value and Cómo enseñar la filosofía de lo abierto (Open Lessons in Spanish)
• Important moments in copyright reform: “Copyright reform in Colombia should focus on supporting users’ rights” CC Community sends a letter to the Colombian government.
• OER resources: CoKrea project (OER in some rural areas in southwest of Colombia)

MARICARMEN, CC PARAGUAY

Favorite CC photographer: Yluux

Favorite CC Music: EEEEKs
Favorite CC film: Al margen
Most Open Music Collective: Fran
CC things or objects: Rodi the robot
Most Shared Creative Projects: Fotociclo
Most Active Open Source Community: HacklabAsu
Journalistic illustrations with CC: El Surtidor

CABLE GREEN, DIRECTOR OF OPEN EDUCATION, CREATIVE COMMONS

Top OER blog posts of 2016

1. Pondering the future of open in Nigeria: Jane Frances Agbu of the National Open University of Nigeria
2. How can educators find and use OER in their classrooms?
3. Active OER: Beyond Open Licensing Policies
4. Cultivating a culture of Knowledge Sharing, by Fiona McAlister
5. Open Textbooks 4 Africa (and exploring open textbooks in Uganda)
6. Isla Haddow-Flood on How Wikipedians are changing the narrative around Africa

LIA HERNANDEZ PEREZ, CC PANAMA

1. CC Film: http://kenkepelicula.com/
2. CC Artist: https://josejimenezvega.com/
3. CC Projects: www.lamochila.com.pa
4. CC Ilustrations: http://nosgustaelmar.com
5. Our CC Lawyers: www.legalitabogados.com
6. CC Community: https://floss-pa.net/

KEITHA BOOTH, CC NEW ZEALAND

Top 5 CC sites for New Zealand

Geonet. Lists NZ earthquakes in real time. Had 250 million hits on 14 November 2016, the day of New Zealand’s recent 7.8 magnitude Kaikoura Earthquake. All content CC BY licensed. Look at http://www.geonet.org.nz/quakes/2016p858000

Land Information New Zealand Data Service. Lists all public data released, including maps and aerial images. All content CC BY licensed. Look at https://data.linz.govt.nz/layer/3529-kaikoura-earthquake-02m-aerial-photos-2016/

Koordinates.com. Publishes tens of thousands of open government datasets for central, regional and local government in NZ and internationally. Provides detailed metadata including CC licensing.

Digital New Zealand. Search engine for New Zealand culture, connecting people to over 30 million digital items from 200 content partners. Active advocate for CC licensing. Go to http://www.digitalnz.org/

Collections Online, Te Papa (Museum of New Zealand). Offers 30,000 high resolution images, including over 14,000 under a CC BY NC ND licence, allowing legal re-use for “homework, on your blog, print it and hang it on your wall”. Also offers 17,000 images with No Known Rights restrictions. Go to http://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/

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