As you all run off for the Labour Day long weekend, we thought we’d suggest some CC activities to fill the long empty hours.
Why not spend your weekend turning something old into something new as part of the first exciting CC remix challenge coming out of ABC Pool’s new Pitch a project forum? The forum is designed to give Pool users the opportunity to use the site to start and manage their own ideas. Notoriousruz (one of the finalists for CCau’s Pooling Ideas competition) has suggested a recurring remix challenge based around CC works - “Someone picks 3 CC elements, at least 1 must come from the pool, then we have 2 weeks to make something”. The winner, as chosen by votes in the forum, gets to choose the elements for the next challenge. Rossco (the Pool Ideas winner) has come up with the first elements: a face, a place and a space. Entries due 9 May - but if you miss that deadline, there’ll be another after.
Or if you want something more sedentary for your long weekend, curl up on a couch with Thoughtcrime Experiments, the new anthology of fantasy and sci fi writing that’s just been released under CC BY-NC-SA. Download it, print it, send it to your friends. Or if you can find the energy, mash up your favourite bits. It’s all allowed.
Or for those of a more cerebral bent (and the real copyright geeks out there), get enraged by Consumer International’s IP Watch List. It rates different countries on how well their IP laws protect consumer rights (as a bit of a counter for the US Government’s famously protection-biased 301 Report). Australia hasn’t faired too well - only 8 out of 16. This article at IT News explains why - it argues that with the USFTA we’ve adopted all the worse bits of US law (eg long copyright terms and strict anti-circumvention laws) without the good bits (fair use). In fact, thanks to fair use the US actually does pretty well - it ranks 4th on the list. After India, South Korea and China, all of which receive ‘bad’ marks in the 301 Report.
Have a good long weekend, all!