creative-commons posts

Google Image Search adds Creative Commons options

by Jay Hathaway Jul 13th 2009

Google's image search is one of the fastest ways to find a picture of just about anything, but that doesn't mean you can use all of the images you find on your website or blog. We've shied away from finding images for Download Squad on Google Image Search in the past, because it's hard to find and credit the creator of the image and be sure you have permission to use it. Google just made it a lot easier, though, by adding the option to search for Creative Commons-licensed images.

The terms of Creative Common licenses vary, but if you go to "advanced image search," you can choose to filter images by the reuse and modification privileges their licenses allow. If you search for Creative Commons images, Google will also throw in other images that are licensed under the GNU Free Documentation license or in the public domain. Google says it's still a user's responsibility to click through and verify that the licensing information is actually correct, but that's still a lot easier than sifting through thousands of image results yourself, looking for one you can use.

Tags: cc, cc-licensed, creative-commons, google, image-search, images

Filed under: Audio, Internet, Web

Wax MP3 is a web-based music player for Creative Commons licensed tracks

by Brad Linder Jun 29th 2009

Wax MP3 is a web based music player for that plays songs from Magnatune's catalog of Creative Commons-licensed tracks from independent musicians.

When you launch the website, you're greeted with a basic music player that gives you information about the song that's currently playing, download links, and the ability to skip to the next track. You can also choose a genre from a drop-down menu in the top left corner if you'd rather hear classical, folk, ambient, or another style of music. There's a pretty eclectic mix of genres, including medieval, Middle Eastern, and metal. And that's just in the M section.

You can also grab URL links that will take you directly to a song if you want to share tracks with friends. Overall, Wax MP3 provides a pretty nifty interface for finding music you might not otherwise have known about.

[via Boing Boing]

Tags: creative-commons, magnatune, music, wax-mp3

Filed under: Social Software, web 2.0

Creative Commons launches "official unofficial" Facebook app

by Jay Hathaway May 18th 2009

After all of the issues with Facebook's terms of service and concerns over who owns user-created content on the site, it's interesting to see Creative Commons enter the Facebook arena with an app. Installing the Creative Commons app lets users display the CC badge of their choice on their profiles, indicating the licensing terms they want to use for their profile content. This could be a big step toward bringing Facebook up to speed with more legally progressive social networks like Flickr in terms of content ownership and licensing. It's just a shame that the idea didn't come from Facebook itself.

There are still a few limitations on the CC app at the moment. For example, you can't choose a license for each of your photos individually, like you can on Flickr -- the CC badge just applies to your whole profile. It will be interesting to see how Facebook responds to this development -- by introducing system-wide CC-licensing options, I hope -- and whether the app gains a strong foothold with users.

Tags: cc, creative-commons, facebook, facebook-apps

Filed under: Internet, Analysis

Piracy or the Next Big Thing?

by Victor Agreda, Jr. Aug 28th 2008

The age-old battle of copyright and artist freedom keeps clanging away in the distance, and are we any better off than we were when DAT machines were castrated in the 80's? I read a report this morning about a UK band called "Show of Hands" who claims they are dependent upon so-called pirates who download their music and share it with friends. This isn't much different than Trent Reznor making his music freely available online (and my wife reports the show here in town didn't look any smaller than the ones in the 90's -- possibly even bigger since Reznor has a new legion of fans younger than us). But the music industry sticks by the mantra "a download is a lost sale, and that is theft." Or, as TorrentFreak puts it, "there is no such animal as 'piracy as promotion.'"

Oh really? This sad, antiquated logic continues to do one thing and one thing only: bolster sales of the top-paid performers while creating a chilling effect on artists who would love innovative promotion but fear free samples will incur the wrath of the mighty RIAA, or worse. It's one thing to send the FBI after some poor schlub who leaks some Guns N' Roses tracks, or sue the bejeebes out of hundreds of college kids, but it's quite another to threaten fair trade when artists (who own their own content, thank you) decide to market in ways they see fit.

The only ray of sunshine could be recent rulings regarding Creative Commons which might allow savvy artists to provide music in the manner they see fit, without the RIAA calling fans of the artists a bunch of pirates. Arrr, matey. At the end of the day there has to be some middle ground, but it's a pity the RIAA and other enforcement agencies see the world in black and white and tend to pull their concepts of ownership from the days when TV's were also monochromatic.

Tags: copyright, creative-commons, piracy, riaa

Filed under: News, Open Source

US Court rules in favor of "open source" copyright

by Brad Linder Aug 14th 2008

Over the past few years, we've seen a number of artists, software developers and others release their work under non-traditional copyright licenses. Historically, copyright laws have been used to prevent others from redistributing your work. But Creative Commons and the GNU General Public License allow content makers to distribute their work for free -- while insisting upon certain conditions.

For example, there are Creative Commons licenses that would let you write a poem and allow anyone to publish that poem on their web site as long as they provide proper attribution. Or you can use the GNU GPL to release a piece of software that others can distribute for free, or even charge a fee for -- as long as they continue to make the source code available for free.

Up until now, the validity of these licenses hasn't really been put to the test. But on Wednesday, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit overturned a San Francisco court ruling dealing with just these issues. Basically, a software developer who published model train software was using code that had been released for free. But he did not give credit to the developers of the original software, despite the fact that the license required him to do so.

When the guy who developed the open original application filed suit, the San Fransisco court ruled that the terms of the license were too broad to be enforceable. But this week's ruling overturns that decision which means that software developers, musicians, artists, and others who release their work under an "open source" license have a reasonable expectation that the terms of the license will be enforceable -- at least until some schmuck comes along and takes the case to the Supreme Court.

Tags: copyright, creative-commons, gnu-gpl, gpl, licenses, open-source

Filed under: Internet, P2P

LegalTorrents relaunches, with a whopping 44 torrents

by Brad Linder Mar 31st 2008

While many of the files you can download using BitTorrent are illegal, copyrighted works such as Hollywood movies, music from major labels, or commercial software, there's nothing inherently illegal about BitTorrent. It's just an internet protocol, much like FTP or HTTP.

So it stands to reason that if you want to avoid illegal downloads, there should be a go-to location for legal torrents, perhaps with an easy to remember name like LegalTorrents. Hey, what do you know? There is. LegalTorrents actually launched way back in 2003 when BitTorrent was still pretty new. This week the site has relaunched with a nice, clean interface and a grand total of 44 files you can download without guilt. That includes 9 songs, 9 movies, and 3 video games. We'd complain that there's no way to search for torrents, but the rather tiny selection kind of makes the point moot right now.

Anyone can download files, but you'll need to register for an account to upload torrents of Creative Commons licensed media. Hopefully the selection will grow soon, as LegalTorrents is really a great idea. But could someone please add a search feature before the content library grows too large?

[via NewTeeVee]

Tags: bittorrent, copyright, creative-commons, legaltorrents

Filed under: Internet, Microsoft

Microsoft: Teens don't understand intellectual property

by Brad Linder Feb 13th 2008

Microsoft has launched a new website aimed at teaching kids about intellectual property in the hopes of discouraging future generations from illegally downloading and using copyrighted music, movies, and images. MyBytes features quotes about the importance of intellectual property from content producers, a music mixing application for kids to create their own content (which they can then share with others), and video interviews with teenagers, most of whom say they don't really know anything about copyright law.

Microsoft has also released the findings of a survey stating that 49% of teens between 7th and 10th grade don't know "the rules and guidelines" for downloading media from the internet. But 82% of teens who said they were familiar with those rules said that people who downloaded content illegally should be punished. That's compared with 57% from teenagers who were unfamiliar with the law.

Tags: copyright, creative-commons, fair-use, intellectual-property, mybytes

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