[Cc-hk] press release

Rebecca MacKinnon rebecca.mackinnon at gmail.com
Thu Oct 16 05:55:58 EDT 2008


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
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