[Cc-hk] press release

Rebecca MacKinnon rebecca.mackinnon at gmail.com
Thu Oct 16 05:56:49 EDT 2008


Sorry I forgot to provide the web link for the press release:
http://jmsc.hku.hk/cms/content/view/447/

On Thu, Oct 16, 2008 at 5:55 PM, Rebecca MacKinnon <
rebecca.mackinnon at gmail.com> wrote:

> Dear all,
>
> Below is the text of a press release that we  have issued today. I am also
> attaching the PDF. A Chinese version is being made also which I will
> circulate when it is ready.
> Please help us promote CCHK's launch next week by circulating these
> materials as widely as possible.
>
> Thanks!
> Rebecca
>
> *Creative Commons to support innovation in Hong Kong's education, creative
> industries *  Thursday, 16 October 2008   [image: Image] PRESS RELEASE
>
> *October 16, 2008, Hong Kong* - As Hong Kong seeks to improve education
> and strengthen the territory's creative industries, the University of Hong
> Kong's Journalism and Media Studies Centre (JMSC) announced plans to launch
> Creative Commons copyright licences in Hong Kong next week.
>
> In his October 15 Policy Address, Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang
> pledged "to enhance students' ability for self-learning and interactive
> learning, and to promote the use of e-books rather than printed copies, we
> will look into the development of electronic learning resources." He
> acknowledged public concern about the financial burden of costly,
> frequently-updated textbooks. Mr. Tsang also pledged to enhance Hong Kong's
> creativity and cultural diversity, to "realise the vision of developing Hong
> Kong into a world-class arts and culture destination."
>
> Through a new set of flexible copyright licences, Creative Commons (CC)
> supports these aims by making it easier for Hong Kong people to create and
> share educational and artistic works. CC licences enable greater flexibility
> between full copyright (all rights reserved) and the public domain (no
> rights reserved). In other words, they provide a "some rights reserved"
> approach to copyright, making it possible for creators to retain control
> over their copyright while inviting certain uses of their works.
>
> Creative Commons Hong Kong (CCHK), hosted by the University of Hong Kong's
> Journalism and Media Studies Centre (JMSC), brings the Creative Commons
> licences to Hong Kong by porting them into compliance with Hong Kong's
> Copyright Ordinance. These licences represent a new legal alternative for
> the Hong Kong people, alongside other existing copyright options.
>
> A launch ceremony and festival will be held next week on Saturday, October
> 25, at the Hong Kong School of Creativity in Kowloon. On Friday October 24
> the founder of Creative Commons, Stanford Law Professor Lawrence Lessig,
> will deliver the Inaugural Lee Shu Pui Leung Wai Hing Distinguished Lecture
> in Digital Media at the University of Hong Kong, titled: "Free Culture and
> Free Society: Can the West Love Both?"
>
> CC licences enable educational works such as textbooks, worksheets,
> supplementary course materials, and presentations to be shared freely and
> legally by students and educators. Around the world, educators are embracing
> CC licences so that their course materials can be used as easily and widely
> as possible via "open courseware." The Massachusetts Institute of Technology
> (MIT) in the United States was the first major educational institution to
> launch open courseware in 2001. Since then, world-class universities around
> the world have joined the open courseware movement - including several
> universities in Mainland China and Taiwan. Use of open courseware is also
> expanding to primary and secondary school districts in many parts of the
> world. Meanwhile, Chinese-speaking educators in Mainland China and Taiwan
> have launched the Opensource Opencourseware Prototype System, dedicated to
> translating open courseware from institutions around the world into Chinese.
>
>
> So far, no Hong Kong educational institutions have joined the global open
> courseware movement. CCHK hopes to facilitate Hong Kong's participation is
> this movement, and to help make educational materials accessible to people
> from all strata of society, regardless of income or geographic location.
> "CCHK could not have launched at a better time" explained Pindar Wong,
> Chairman of CCHK's Preparatory Executive Committee. "With the establishment
> of the Government's Creative Industry Office, I see CCHK helping to provide
> a firm foundation on which to build our creative capital. For example, in
> education, where e-books can be developed and shared over the net using our
> licences."
>
> "It is not too late for Hong Kong to catch up with this global movement to
> use more innovative forms of copyright so that everybody can get an
> education... whether they can afford textbooks or not," said Prof. Ying
> Chan, Director of the University of Hong Kong's Journalism and Media Studies
> Centre (JMSC), official host of the Creative Commons Hong Kong project.
>
> "Creative Commons licences are already being used by educators, writers,
> artists, musicians, bloggers, and many other people in Mainland China and
> Taiwan - where the licences were launched in 2006 and 2004, respectively,"
> said Rebecca MacKinnon, Assistant Professor at the JMSC and Public Lead of
> Creative Commons Hong Kong. "CC Singapore is also launching its licences
> this year. We are thrilled to provide this legal platform so that Hong
> Kong's people can share their creativity with the rest of the
> Chinese-speaking world."
>
> Since August 2007, the CCHK legal team has worked to draft versions of the
> Creative Commons licences that are compatible with Hong Kong copyright law.
> The CCHK legal leads are Dr. Yahong Li and Ms. Alice Lee of the University
> of Hong Kong's Faculty of Law. The work of CCHK is also supported by a
> Preparatory Executive Committee comprised of members from different sectors
> in Hong Kong such as the IT sector, education, media, the arts, and
> politics. The CCHK launch would not be possible without the work of many
> enthusiastic community volunteers.
> About Creative Commons
>
> Creative Commons is a not-for-profit organization, founded in 2001, that
> promotes the creative re-use of intellectual and artistic works, whether
> owned or in the public domain. Through its free copyright licences, Creative
> Commons offers authors, artists, scientists, and educators the choice of a
> flexible range of protections and freedoms that build upon the "all rights
> reserved" concept of traditional copyright to enable a voluntary "some
> rights reserved" approach. Creative Commons was built with and is sustained
> by the generous support of organizations including the Center for the Public
> Domain, Omidyar Network, The Rockefeller Foundation, The John D. and
> Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and The William and Flora Hewlett
> Foundation, as well as members of the public. For more information about
> Creative Commons, visit *http://creativecommons.org*
>
> *Contact:*
>
> Velentina Ma, e-mail: * velentinam at hku.hkThis e-mail address is being
> protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it *; phone:
> +852-2219-4012
>
> *More information:*
>
> Prof. Lawrence Lessig's lecture: *
> http://hk.creativecommons.org/2008/09/11/Lessig/*
>
> CCHK Launch: *http://hk.creativecommons.org/2008/09/11/launch/*
>
> Creative Commons Press Kit: *http://creativecommons.org/presskit*
>
> CCHK "Frequently Asked Questions:" *http://hk.creativecommons.org/faq/*
>
> Open Courseware Consortium: *http://www.ocwconsortium.org*
>
> MyOOPS: *http://www.myoops.org/*
>
>
> --
> Rebecca MacKinnon
> Assistant Professor, Journalism & Media Studies Ctr.
> University of Hong Kong   (http://jmsc.hku.hk)
> E-mail: rmack at hku.hk | Tel: +852-2219-4005
> Blog: http://RConversation.blogs.com
>
> Co-founder: http://GlobalVoicesOnline.org
> "The world is talking. Are you listening?"
>
> Public lead: Creative Commons Hong Kong
> http://hk.creativecommons.org
>
>


-- 
Rebecca MacKinnon
Assistant Professor, Journalism & Media Studies Ctr.
University of Hong Kong   (http://jmsc.hku.hk)
E-mail: rmack at hku.hk | Tel: +852-2219-4005
Blog: http://RConversation.blogs.com

Co-founder: http://GlobalVoicesOnline.org
"The world is talking. Are you listening?"

Public lead: Creative Commons Hong Kong
http://hk.creativecommons.org
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/cc-hk/attachments/20081016/fac5d54b/attachment.htm 


More information about the Cc-hk mailing list