Discussion of all things related to Public Domain

[tom poe <tompoe AT renonevada.net>]

On Monday 01 April 2002 02:28, Ram Samudrala wrote:
> So I've been mulling over your e-mail and procrastinating the
> grant. It's an interesting idea.
>
> The problem I've always had with the advocacy for the unrestricted
> dissemination of information (and I've been doing since the early
> 1990s, before Napster or mp3.com) is that advocacy without action is
> not very satisfying. It's all argument (and I've found that except for
> small exceptions, most argument involving IP isn't very productive and
> not worth the time). So I've searched for ways to be active in terms
> of advocacy, and most of this has been at the individual level:
> creating music and software and not claiming any IP rights, etc.
>
> We kind of tried to do things like that in terms of repositories for
> music and that has worked out to a degree, but whenever an effort
> becomes too successful (like mp3.com), it becomes overly
> commercialised and beholden to the shareholders.
>
> In that light, I think the studio idea is a great one, because rather
> than just churn out licenses and models, it will actually result in
> new creativity.
>
> I also think the exploring of licensing options is an interesting one
> too, particularly in a University setting.  Stanford (where I did my
> post-doc) has one of the most "generous" policies where the creator
> can decide to not claim copyrights/patents on their creations and
> place them in the public domain. The UW has a more restrictive policy
> and it would be good if more Universities adopted it, particularly
> with regards to music created using U. resources. It could be argued
> that taxpayer-funded creations, even if done indirectly, should be in
> the public domain.
>
> Maybe this should be posted on the list.
>
> --Ram

Hi:  You're absolutely correct.  Each community will build and operate a 
locally controlled studio.  Barrios is a good term that comes to mind, as to 
the market place served.  For those communities that choose to utilize Studio 
For Recording, Inc., as the primary grant funding mechanism, there will be 
oversight that follows, to ensure that compliance continues for placing works 
in the Public Domain.  That will be our only requirement.  So, in that sense, 
we will someday have a large number of communities that will be receiving 
centralized monitoring, but this will in no way lead to commercialism, at 
least from where I'm sitting.

Ram, I want to introduce you to Molly VanHouweling, at the Creative Commons 
Project.  We are going to explore the licensing options through her, 
initially, and hope that she can point us to tools to research pertinent Law 
Reviews on ASCAP, BMI, RIAA as they pertain to copyright law.  There's a key 
word, "arrangements" in musical works, that needs to be addressed as a part 
of our options.  We're really early in their organizational rampup, so it may 
be many weeks before they're ready to assist, but might as well say hello.  
I'm copying this to her, as well.
Thanks,
Tom
http://www.studioforrecording.org/
http://www.ibiblio.org/studioforrecording/