Creative Commons Aotearoa New Zealand discussion

[Danyl Strype <strypey AT disintermedia.net.nz>]

Kia ora koutou

At last, here are my notes from the CC brainstorming session in
Otakau. I have grouped related slices of the discussion to some
degree, well trying to faithfully present the spontaneous flow of the
discussion. There are a few things my handwritten notes didn't explain
too well, so apologies I've got anything wrong, or left anything out.

Apologies for the delay in posting these out. I'm almost finished
butchering my paper for FreeCulture2010, and this has kept me pretty
preoccupied, despite spending the last few days in quake country.

How did the first meeting of our new CC ANZ Panel go? I'm looking
forward to seeing some reports/ notes from that posted to this list.

Naku noa
Danyl


CreativeCommons Aotearoa/ NZ (CC ANZ) Brainstorming session
Committee Room 2, Central Library, Otago University

Tuesday 31 August, 2010

Present:
Danyl Strype (Disintermedia/ CC ANZ volunteer)
Dan Hendra (Events Co-ordinator, OUSA)
Richard White (Copyright Officer, Otago Uni)
Pam McKinlay (Lecturer, Arts School, Otago Poly)
Gillian Elliot (Librarian, Otago Uni)
Chris Burgess (Developer, Giant Robot)
Martin Purvis (Professor of Information Science, Otago Uni)
Mark McGuire (Design Studies/ Applied Sciences, Otago Uni)
Anna Blackman (Hocken Collections Librarian, Otago Uni)
Allison Brown (Librarian, Otago Uni)
Chris Bull (Musician, Web Developer)

Apologies
Wayne MacKintosh (WikiEducator, OER Foundation)

Session began with a welcome by Danyl, and a round of introductions.
Danyl then gave a brief history of CC ANZ, including the recent shift
to the Royal Society, the inclusion of CC licences in NZ GOAL, and the
selection of the new governance Panel, answered some questions on
this, followed by open discussion.

Points raised:
* Universities and other educational institutions are specifically
excluded from the NZ GOAL recommendations at this time. It was
suggested that including them would have created complexities that
would have bogged down the development of the framework.

* The adoption of CC-BY as the default license by Otago Poly was
driven by grassroots adoption by staff and students. It was suggested
that a similar process might be the best way to promote open access
for Otago Uni and other institutions. Suggestion of grassroots
distribution of CC educational/ promotional materials to the public
and academics
[scribe's note: see Harnad's article about 'liberating' the refereed
literature: http://www.webcitation.org/5sjrk1y6n]

* Government agencies have tended to oblige researchers to hoard their
research as a condition of funding. It was suggested that the adoption
of NZ GOAL might help to shift this, as well as lobbying of government
agencies to educate their staff about CC. One agency that goes against
the trend is the Ministry of Fisheries, which tends to encourage open
access. The name of Kim Duckworth was mentioned in connection with
this.

* suggestion of using Closer Economic Relations trade agreements to
push NZ government to follow Oz examples of government adoption of CC

* Presenting case studies which show success stories involving CC will
help to reduce anxiety around adoption, and help potentials user
understand how to use it.

* Arts Council of England + Open Business study uptake of CC licences:
http://www.openbusiness.cc/wp-content/uploads/2006/11/ACEReport.pdf

* Heywire8 event was hosted by National Library with WikiEducator/ OER
Foundation and Ministry of Education - think tank on developing
educational resources under CC licences. It was suggested that day
long seminars like these could be similarly co-hosted by CC ANZ, with
both intra-sector and inter-sector workshops

* Otago Copyright Community of Practice group held an OER seminar?

* huge lecture on leveraging IP on genomics?

* Greg (at Otago Uni?) sought permission to CC license his course materials

* to demonstrate the benefits of remixing, find out who is using CC
licensed material, and investigate collaborations and connections
created with re-use practice

* Benefits to educational institutions in that their reputations can
be enhanced by open acess, and association with CC licensing, and
their researchers can benefit from increased research citations

* Pros and cons study on use of CC by TrustDR project at Ulster
http://trustdr.ulster.ac.uk/outputs.php

* cost/benefit not necessarily the primary reason to make a decision
to CC license - making knowledge freely available could be seen as a
moral imperative. Different perspectives exist

* It seems at Otago Uni it's not so much a case of active resistance
against open access as one of apathy - lacking confidence in open
licensing, enforcing IP becomes a safe default. One way of engaging
with such concerns is to create a FAQ of common misconceptions that
might be limiting adoption of CC

* The public debate around the book the Spirit Level was raised as an
example of how to have an open conversation around a controversial
topic
- listing rebuttal of the book's content
- answering each point with evidence
- using a website to keep the debate up to date
- openness of data helps test the thesis

* Damien Vaughn APRA/ AMCOS speaking in Ootepoti music department.
APRA collects publishing royalties for use of music; in movies, on
radio, in print etc Could we have a CC speaker to give another
perspective? CC Oz have done some consensus-building work with AMCOS,
CC ANZ following their lead somewhat.

* Some discussion on the exceptions built into Copyright Law. Does NZ
law allow for non-significant copying for research, private study, and
criticism?

* Suggestion for an Open Access week of activities, to create an
"intellectual freedom narrative"

* suggestion for CC ANZ to establish a fair use/ fair dealing law
clinic, to defend/ assist precedent-setting cases, similar to one in
OZ - QUT? Swinburne? ALCONZ?

* Possible sponsorship of such a law clinic
- HP Foundation

* Similar institutions:
- Duke University Center for the Study of the Public Domain
http://www.law.duke.edu/cspd/
- AU Centre for Communications?
- Cornell University?
- Harvard (not funded?)

* Worth investigating research by Kim Economides and the Otago Law
faculty on the impact of law on society. The University of Otago Legal
Issues Centre established with funding for this purpose.
http://www.otago.ac.nz/law/lic/index.html

* how to engage artists in Aotearoa? Jason Linnear (?), a tech
commentator and artist, favours free software but all-rights-reserved
copyright for art

* art school at Otago Poly had to work through CC issues in the
process of adopting their default license. They work art students
through licensing choice process. Some discussion of the benefits of
familiarising people with CC while they are students, so they can
apply that knowledge in later life

* exhibiting isn't publishing, more like inviting someone into a
private home. Publishing consists of "making available" or "issue to
the public". A physical painting can't be copied, a photo of it can,
therefore the photo is subject to copyright. Digital art not embedded
in physical objects would also be subject to copyright.

* Natural History NZ documentary makers were brought up (now owned by
News Corp) by Chris, whose friend is employed there to negotiate deals
for use of third party footage. This person said doco makers are
nervous about using CC-licensed footage, graphics etc in case the
licence is changed, and the production becomes bogged down in legal
wrangles.

* Are CC licences irrevocable? This is a question that could go in the
misconceptions FAQ mentioned above.
[scribe's note: USA attorney John Strohm believes they are:
http://www.knowthemusicbiz.com/index.php/BIZ-BLOG/BIZ-BLOG/An-Overview-of-Creative-Commons-Licensing-for-Music-by-John-P.-Strohm.html]

* One participant offered that Lawrence Lessig (CC founder) intended
CC to facilitate a personal creative economy, rather than supplanting
commercial mass media markets.
[scribe's note: I'm not convinced. Lessig's address to Wikimania in
2006 contrasts "read-only" and "read-write" societies, suggesting that
he support the right to rewrite in general:
http://www.transformingfreedom.org/en/hyperaudio/ethics-of-free-culture-movement]

* The doco Good Copy, Bad Copy interviews people whose job is to
listen to new music, and look for any sign of sampling so the musician
can be sued.

* When is a chord progression a sample?
- Red Hot Chili Peppers sued by Tom Petty
- Neil Young and 'Helpless' ?
- Vanilla Ice sued for 'Ice, Ice, Baby' due to similarities to 'Under
Pressure' by Queen
- Men at Work sued for flute solo in 'Down Under'
http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/notes-of-dischord-in-court-case-20100205-nhkl.html?comments=43

* BMI employs someone to forbid people to play music, even CDs they
have legitimately bought, in their cafes and other business without a
licence.
[scribe's note: this tends to protect recording companies not emerging
musicians, as it drives such businesses to turn to radio which they
can play for free, rather than play music by new or lesser known
artists]

* Companies in Switzerland thrived before they had copyright law,
which undermines the claim that "intellectual property" is necessary
for innovation and economic growth


--
Danyl Strype
Community Developer
Disintermedia.net.nz/strype

"I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much
liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it."
- Thomas Jefferson

"But libertarians do not defend the right of people to smash holes
in the hull of a crowded ship, or to let off bombs in city centres.
Freedom does not include the freedom to trash the habitat we all
depend on for survival."
- Johann Hari, the Independent, 5.9.06



-- 
Danyl Strype
Community Developer
Disintermedia.net.nz/strype

"I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much
liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it."
- Thomas Jefferson

"But libertarians do not defend the right of people to smash holes
in the hull of a crowded ship, or to let off bombs in city centres.
Freedom does not include the freedom to trash the habitat we all
depend on for survival."
- Johann Hari, the Independent, 5.9.06