티스토리 수익 글 보기

티스토리 수익 글 보기

interview Archives – Creative Commons https://creativecommons.org/tag/interview/ Wed, 27 Sep 2023 17:23:50 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.3.7 Her Story: Embracing the Here and Now https://creativecommons.org/2021/04/05/her-story-embracing-the-here-and-now/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=her-story-embracing-the-here-and-now Mon, 05 Apr 2021 14:58:39 +0000 https://creativecommons.org/?p=63177 For over 40 years, millions across the globe have collectively celebrated the achievements, histories, ideas, and contributions of women on March 8 and increasingly, throughout March for Women’s History Month using #HerStory and #BecauseOfHerStory. This year, we wanted to do something special to celebrate this annual event, so we reached out to several members of…

The post Her Story: Embracing the Here and Now appeared first on Creative Commons.

]]>

Choose Hope” by Carla Orozco, licensed CC BY-NC-SA.

For over 40 years, millions across the globe have collectively celebrated the achievements, histories, ideas, and contributions of women on March 8 and increasingly, throughout March for Women’s History Month using #HerStory and #BecauseOfHerStory. This year, we wanted to do something special to celebrate this annual event, so we reached out to several members of the Creative Commons Global Network and the broader open community to ask them to share their personal stories, ideas, and insights by responding to five questions. The result is this five-part blog series called, “Her Story.” Throughout this series, we’ll also be highlighting the work of women artists who submitted pieces to Fine Acts’ Reimagining Human Rights challenge. 

Our hope is that these conversations will inspire you to reflect on your own stories and ideas. We also hope it will motivate you to think about how you can help make open sharing more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable. Put simply, we want to make sharing better—to do that, we need your help.

In part five of this series, participants responded to the following question: What initiatives or projects in the open movement are you most excited about and why?


  • Florence Devouard | Co-Lead, Wiki Loves Women; Wikimedian for 19 years; Former Chairwoman, Wikimedia Foundation

Pour ma part, je suis une wikipédienne dans l’âme. J’aime la diversité des personnes qui forment sa communauté et j’aime cette approche de “neutralité de point de vue” car quelque soit notre bagage militant (notre positionnement politique, religieux etc.), on est prié d’essayer de le laisser à la porte lorsque l’on contribue. Bien loin de se retrouver dans l’entre-soi comme sur de nombreux réseaux sociaux, il est possible de multiplier les interactions avec des personnes totalement différentes de nous. Pour ma part, j’aime également appartenir à plusieurs sous-communautés, plutôt que de me consacrer à une seule, ce qui génère plus d’opportunités excitantes à explorer ! Puisqu’on me demande des exemples concrets, je vais en prendre trois.

Un groupe d’action : les sans pagEs. C’est un groupe francophone très actif né du besoin de combler le fossé et le biais de genre sur Wikipédia.

Un autre groupe d’action : le UserGroup “Wikimedians for offline wikis“. C’est un groupe hétéroclite de personnes cherchant à faciliter l’accès à la connaissance et à la culture auprès des personnes peu ou pas connectées à internet.

EN: For my part, I am a Wikipedian at heart. I like the diversity of the people who make up its community and I like its approach of a “neutrality of point of view,” meaning whatever our background (e.g. political, religious positioning, etc.), we are asked to try to leave it at the door when contributing. Far from being in the inter-self as on many social networks, it is possible to multiply interactions with people who are totally different from us. For my part, I also like belonging to multiple sub-communities, rather than dedicating myself to just one, which generates more exciting opportunities to explore! Since I am asked for concrete examples, I will take three.

– An action group: the sans pagEs. It is a very active French-speaking group born from the need to bridge the gap and the gender bias on Wikipedia.

– Another action group: the UserGroup “Wikimedians for offline wikis.” It is a motley group of people seeking to facilitate access to knowledge and culture for people with little or no internet connection.

The Visible Wiki Women project is my favourite project. The WikiLovesWomen project, the Decolonizing the Internet project, State of the Internet’s Languages, The CC Bangladesh Open Mapping project are also all exciting initiatives that are bringing to light the work of brilliant and amazing people of colour who are making the open movement and the concept of open access more meaningful to communities across the globe.

  • Irene Soria Guzmán | Representative to the Global Network Council, CC México; feminista; académica y activista de la cultura libre

Fuente tipográfica libre Ácrata—hecha por mujeres diseñadoras mexicanas, por que es la primera fuente abierta para destruir al patriarcado. Lxs pitarecasporque es un proyecto que nos invita a cuestionar los derechos de autor y ha causado polémica en México por compartir libros en internet.

EN: The free open typeface “Ácrata” made by Mexican women designers—it’s the first open-source typeface to destroy the patriarchy. See it here. Lxs pitarecasit’s a project that invites us to question copyright and has caused controversy in Mexico for sharing books on the internet.

  • Isla Haddow-Flood | Chair and Advancement Lead, Wiki In Africa; CoProject Lead, Wiki Loves Women

Beyond the initiatives and projects I co-created and love so much, such as Wiki Loves Women (training women to seize their own agency on Wikimedia projects) and Wiki Loves Africa (using photography as a fun way to break down the barriers to contribution and rewrite the visual perception of Africa), there are so many other amazing projects within the Wikimedia movement, such as WikiDonne, Les sans pagEs, Art + Feminism, WikiGap, Women in Red, etc (more can be found here).

  • Primah Kwagala | Executive Director, Women’s Probono Initiative (Uganda)

I am always excited about the opportunities Creative Commons offers artists (to create logos, for instance)—this is always a great opportunity to see and view a diversity of cultures across the globe. The CC Global Summit, in particular, allows for creatives to share their work and progress in the open movement, which is also exciting. However, it’ll be even more exciting if the next CC Global Summits deliberately open spaces for feminist engagement on a global platform.

? There’s more! Read part one, part two, part three, and part four of our “Her Story” blog series today!

The post Her Story: Embracing the Here and Now appeared first on Creative Commons.

]]> Her Story: Promoting Inclusivity and Equity https://creativecommons.org/2021/03/22/her-story-promoting-inclusivity-and-equity/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=her-story-promoting-inclusivity-and-equity Mon, 22 Mar 2021 14:17:53 +0000 https://creativecommons.org/?p=63133 For over 40 years, millions across the globe have collectively celebrated the achievements, histories, ideas, and contributions of women on March 8 and increasingly, throughout March for Women’s History Month using #HerStory and #BecauseOfHerStory. This year, we wanted to do something special to celebrate this annual event, so we reached out to several members of…

The post Her Story: Promoting Inclusivity and Equity appeared first on Creative Commons.

]]>

Hold Each Other” by Osheen Siva, licensed CC BY-NC-SA.

For over 40 years, millions across the globe have collectively celebrated the achievements, histories, ideas, and contributions of women on March 8 and increasingly, throughout March for Women’s History Month using #HerStory and #BecauseOfHerStory. This year, we wanted to do something special to celebrate this annual event, so we reached out to several members of the Creative Commons Global Network and the broader open community to ask them to share their personal stories, ideas, and insights by responding to five questions. The result is this five-part blog series called, “Her Story.” Throughout this series, we’ll also be highlighting the work of women artists who submitted pieces to Fine Acts’ Reimagining Human Rights challenge. 

Our hope is that these conversations will inspire you to reflect on your own stories and ideas. We also hope it will motivate you to think about how you can help make open sharing more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable. Put simply, we want to make sharing better—to do that, we need your help.

In part four of this series, participants responded to the following question: What efforts or actions should be taken by open organizations to ensure the movement is more inclusive?


  • Florence Devouard | Co-Lead, Wiki Loves Women; Wikimedian for 19 years; Former Chairwoman, Wikimedia Foundation

Plusieurs initiatives du monde libre travaillent à la mise en place de code de conduite, charte de bonnes pratiques, lutte contre le harcèlement, usage de langage inclusif, respect du genre déclaré, prise en compte des besoins des personnes neuroatypiques ou en situation de handicap lors des évènements présentiels, réflexion sur les modes de représentation au sein des conseils d’administration, délocalisation des évènements depuis l’Europe/Etats-Unis vers d’autres continents, prise en charge des frais de nounous, prise en charge des frais de connexion internet, respect des préférences alimentaires etc.

Il serait bon d’être à l’écoute des démarches engagés par les autres organisations du mouvement libre, éventuellement d’établir un observatoire des bonnes pratiques de chacune d’entre elles (selon les étapes de discussion, pilote, implémentation, retours d’expérience) et multiplier les opportunités d’échanges et de partage de documents.

EN: Several initiatives in the [open movement] are working on the establishment of a code of conduct, a charter of good practices, fight against harassment, use of inclusive language, respect for declared gender, taking into account the needs of neuro-atypical people or people with disabilities during face-to-face events, reflection on modes of representation on boards of directors, relocation of events from Europe / United States to other continents, coverage of nanny fees, coverage of connection fees for the internet, respect for food preferences, etc.

It would be good to follow the steps taken by the other organizations in the open movement to establish an observatory of the good practices (e.g. stages of discussion, piloting, implementation, feedback, etc.) and increase the opportunities for exchange and sharing of documents.

Pay people that are doing the hard work of fostering and building open communities outside of the United States and Europe. Without support, they cannot participate as they would like to. Hire black people, folks from the LGBTQI community, from Indigenous communities and honour their efforts. Move out of your comfort zone and find people that are creating a positive impact—and share their stories, introduce them to the powerful networks you have access to; put your allyship where your power and money is. Get rid of the volunteerism industrial complex.

  • İlkay Holt | Representative to the CC Global Network Council, CC Turkey

I can think of a long list of actions but overall I believe that supporting multilingualism, welcoming cultural diversity and community-driven governance, as well as openness in workflows, transparency in decisions and utilizing a collaborative approach around shared values could help create a more inclusive environment at the organisational level.

  • Irene Soria Guzmán | Representative to the Global Network Council, CC México; feminista; académica y activista de la cultura libre

Creo que la empatía es fundamental. Ir más allá de “incluir” y mejor, crear otros mundos y otras realidades diversas. Que podamos hablar abiertamente y en espacios seguros sobre los problemas que tenemos desde el sur global y otras periferias y márgenes.

EN: I think empathy is essential. Go beyond “include” and move on to create other worlds and other diverse realities. Build safe spaces where we can speak openly about the problems we face in the Global South and in other peripheries and margins.

  • Isla Haddow-Flood | Chair and Advancement Lead, Wiki In Africa; CoProject Lead, Wiki Loves Women

Recite the Wikimedia mantra: be bold! Recognise your own biases—both conscious and unconscious. Open up channels of communication for feedback, criticism and constructive suggestions. Don’t just pay lip-service to inclusivity, be it. Find ways to bring people in from the margins. Make sure your values reflect inclusivity and that you and your team live by those values.

  • Mariana Valente | Director, InternetLab; Professor, Insper University; 2019-2020 CC Brazil lead

The first step is to recognize the existing power imbalances and take concrete, bold steps to address them. One problem is the defensiveness and protectiveness of the past and how things used to be that causes silence and inaction. I’m not just referring to gender imbalances but to the many inequalities that exist across our organizations and our societies. We need to recognize these and move forward.

The second thing, in a movement like ours that works in so many different layers and levels, is understanding and internalizing that identities are constantly shifting and are contextual. Someone subalternized in certain environments will probably be in situations of privilege when facing others. For example, in international environments, I face discrimination for being a Brazilian woman that is very different from the experiences I have back at home, where besides being a woman, I enjoy many privileges that are related to the racial and class-related local history and context. This also affects my international experiences. Women from other countries and continents might face these issues differently. Because we are a global community, this requires difficult conversations, as well as constant checking and evaluation.

We are, of course, referring to attitudes and practices, but change requires policies too. We can learn from the many experiences out there of organizational policies that have made rights and wrongs in addressing these issues: diversity, effective participation in decision-making, qualified hearing procedures, anti-harassment actions, etc. We know, of course, no rights have ever been granted without struggle—so, we need to organize. It is amazing to see how many women from this community have taken on feminist causes inside the community, have tirelessly addressed this in summits, talks, projects, and everyday actions. Huge thanks to them!

  • Primah Kwagala | Executive Director, Women’s Probono Initiative (Uganda)

Consider affirmative action positions in the leadership of the open movement. Let us be deliberate in appointing women to lead specific aspects of the open movement. Women in many aspects will not offer themselves for leadership, let us seek them out and offer them the spaces to lead and offer their works. Let us celebrate them as much as we celebrate the male gender.

? There’s more! Read part one, part two, and part three of our “Her Story” blog series today. Part five will be published soon. Stay tuned!

The post Her Story: Promoting Inclusivity and Equity appeared first on Creative Commons.

]]> Her Story: Transforming Open Through Feminism https://creativecommons.org/2021/03/15/her-story-transforming-open-through-feminism/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=her-story-transforming-open-through-feminism Mon, 15 Mar 2021 13:49:21 +0000 https://creativecommons.org/?p=63048 For over 40 years, millions across the globe have collectively celebrated the achievements, histories, ideas, and contributions of women on March 8 and increasingly, throughout March for Women’s History Month using #HerStory and #BecauseOfHerStory. This year, we wanted to do something special to celebrate this annual event, so we reached out to several members of…

The post Her Story: Transforming Open Through Feminism appeared first on Creative Commons.

]]>

Support is Everything” by Ipsita Divedi, licensed CC BY-NC-SA.

For over 40 years, millions across the globe have collectively celebrated the achievements, histories, ideas, and contributions of women on March 8 and increasingly, throughout March for Women’s History Month using #HerStory and #BecauseOfHerStory. This year, we wanted to do something special to celebrate this annual event, so we reached out to several members of the Creative Commons Global Network and the broader open community to ask them to share their personal stories, ideas, and insights by responding to five questions. The result is this five-part blog series called, “Her Story.” Throughout this series, we’ll also be highlighting the work of women artists who submitted pieces to Fine Acts’ Reimagining Human Rights challenge. 

Our hope is that these conversations will inspire you to reflect on your own stories and ideas. We also hope it will motivate you to think about how you can help make open sharing more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable. Put simply, we want to make sharing better—to do that, we need your help.

In part three of this series, participants responded to the following question: How can feminism transform the open movement?


Les courants féministes sont de véritables bouillons de culture d’idées et des valeurs et accompagnent sous diverses formes notre histoire à travers des demandes d’égalité, de justice, de liberté, de visibilité. De son côté, le mouvement de la culture libre reste majoritairement masculin (par exemple  seule 10% de personnes participant à Wikipedia sont des femmes; il y également beaucoup moins de femmes dans le développement de logiciel libre que dans le développement de logiciel propriétaire) et l’ambiance parfois assez agressive, voire sexiste. Les féministes sont à l’origine de nombreuses initiatives innovantes destinées à sensibiliser, recruter, former, soutenir les novices du mouvement libre, et membres des groupes de travail réfléchissant aux moyens de développer un environnement plus amical, plus positif, plus réceptif et réactif aux situations individuelles (tels que développement de Charte de participation). 

EN: Feminist currents are veritable broths for the culture of ideas and values, ​​and in various forms accompany our history through demands for equality, justice, freedom, and visibility. For its part, the free culture movement remains predominantly male (for example, only 10% of people participating in Wikipedia are women; there are also far fewer women in the development of free software than in the development of proprietary software) and the atmosphere is sometimes quite aggressive, even sexist. Feminists are behind many innovative initiatives aimed at sensitizing, recruiting, training, and supporting novices of the free movement, and are also members of working groups reflecting on ways in which to develop a more friendly, positive, receptive, and responsive environment.

Abolishing the patriarchy and cisheteronormativity gives room in which we can foster creativity into the knowledge we consider important to share and preserve. Black women and Black queer folks have so much knowledge and brilliance to share, but this is shadowed daily by the small but meaningful and impactful things that go on within the open movement. Such as controlling or directing who receives funding, people not having the “necessary” networks that could get them into rooms where important and powerful decisions and conversations are made, Eurocentrism, a lack of diversity in leading organizations, inequality in labour and hiring procedures, etc. Until these things are dealt with, nothing will change.

I am not an expert in this area but I can say that feminism would help to put equality in practise in the open community, not only in terms of gender but every level of social equality.

Silvia Federici dice que los comunes no son “cosas” sino relaciones sociales. Por ello, hablar del acto de compartir, [commoning], los vínculos y la interdepencia, pueden ser ideas que desde el feminismo ayuden a derribar las jerarquías sociales impuestas y transformar el movimiento abierto.

EN: Silvia Federici says that the commons are not “things” but social relationships. For this reason, talking about feminist ideas like the act of sharing, commoning, social ties, and inter-dependence can help demolish the imposed social hierarchies and transform the open movement.

Feminism is an integral part of the open movement. Equity and inclusion are building blocks of openness: you cannot be truly open if you are keeping people out. Most of the main players in this space are dedicated to ensuring gender equity. Within the Wikimedia movement alone, active feminism and gender-equity projects and groups exist across languages, themes, and regions. Accompanied by safety and security teams and policies (such as the Universal Code of Conduct and friendly space policy), together and separately these projects and initiatives have transformed the Wikimedia movement. There is a LOT of work still to be done, but the movement is definitely a more gender-friendly space than it used to be. These projects have not only elevated women and encouraged female contribution but have also allowed for space where men can be gender sensitised and have the opportunity to work towards gender equity too.

Obviously, we need to address gender equality in the open movement, but here I would like to go beyond that. Feminism has a lot to teach about forming communities, destabilizing crystallized power structures, and learning within differences. There are many affinities between the open movement and feminism. More than a legal solution, the open movement is about changing worldviews and creating—in the present—the living experience of what a different future could look like. Feminists are about that too. But one of the things which I think is exceptional is that feminists have learned over the decades how to fight in extremely adversarial environments, how to protect themselves from reactive waves, and how to reshape the movement in the face of internal power imbalances. Feminists have had to differentiate and define themselves too, politically, geographically, and in terms of values and principles—and at times, to join forces for common causes. Feminists have long understood the need to fight for both cultural and institutional change. These are all learnings that I think are very useful in addressing today’s challenges in the open movement. 

An ecofeminist approach to the open movement requires us to interrogate the patriarchal systems that continuously make it impossible for women to access, share, and consume openly accessible knowledge and content. Traditionally, it is men that are considered professionals whilst women were and are referenced/viewed as an aesthetic and a support system to their male colleagues in the open movement. Many women, to this date, are only able to exist as ghostwriters to their male colleagues in the open movement. This needs to end. The open movement needs to embrace and expose women’s works so we can equally celebrate and promote women as co-creators with their male colleagues. 

? There’s more! Read part one and part two of our “Her Story” blog series today. Part four and five will be published Monday mornings (EST) throughout the month of March. Stay tuned!

The post Her Story: Transforming Open Through Feminism appeared first on Creative Commons.

]]> Her Story: Facing Our Greatest Challenges https://creativecommons.org/2021/03/08/her-story-facing-our-greatest-challenges/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=her-story-facing-our-greatest-challenges Mon, 08 Mar 2021 14:15:08 +0000 https://creativecommons.org/?p=62963 For over 40 years, millions across the globe have collectively celebrated the achievements, histories, ideas, and contributions of women on March 8 and increasingly, throughout March for Women’s History Month using #HerStory and #BecauseOfHerStory. This year, we wanted to do something special to celebrate this annual event, so we reached out to several members of…

The post Her Story: Facing Our Greatest Challenges appeared first on Creative Commons.

]]>
An illustration of a little girl on a swingset

Seeing is Believing” by Linoca Souza, licensed CC BY-NC-SA.

For over 40 years, millions across the globe have collectively celebrated the achievements, histories, ideas, and contributions of women on March 8 and increasingly, throughout March for Women’s History Month using #HerStory and #BecauseOfHerStory. This year, we wanted to do something special to celebrate this annual event, so we reached out to several members of the Creative Commons Global Network and the broader open community to ask them to share their personal stories, ideas, and insights by responding to five questions. The result is this five-part blog series called, “Her Story.” Throughout this series, we’ll also be highlighting the work of women artists who submitted pieces to Fine Acts’ Reimagining Human Rights challenge. 

Our hope is that these conversations will inspire you to reflect on your own stories and ideas. We also hope it will motivate you to think about how you can help make open sharing more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable. Put simply, we want to make sharing better—to do that, we need your help.

In part two of this series, participants responded to the following questions: What is the biggest challenge facing the open movement today? And what’s the solution?


Je pense que notre plus gros challenge aujourd’hui est de parvenir à rester pertinent au regard des évolutions actuelles, quelles soient technologiques ou sociétales. Par exemple prendre en compte la fragmentation des réseaux et les actes de censure qui limitent la libre participation et la libre circulation des contenus. Ou par exemple être capables de donner accès aux informations sous différents formats technologiques, faciliter le partage d’information entre plateformes. Par exemple améliorer l’expérience utilisateur-trice, en fournissant un service respectueux des besoins de chaque personne. A beaucoup d’égard, notre mouvement était très novateur il y a 15-20 ans. Est-ce toujours le cas aujourd’hui ? On ne peut sans doute pas rivaliser avec les innovations technologiques des GAFA, mais notre mouvement est certainement capable de montrer le chemin et inspirer sur le plan humain au regard d’innovations liées à notre fonctionnement collectif.

EN: I think that our biggest challenge today is to remain relevant with regard to current developments, whether technological or societal. For example, take into account the fragmentation of networks and acts of censorship which limit free participation and the free circulation of content, or being able to provide access to information in different technological formats or facilitate the sharing of information between platforms. For example, improving the user experience by providing a service that respects the needs of each person. In many ways, our movement was very innovative 15-20 years ago. Is this still the case today? We can undoubtedly not compete with the technological innovations of GAFA, but our movement is certainly capable of showing the way and inspiring people on the human level with regard to innovations linked to our collective functioning.

Volunteerism and Eurocentrism—the idea that if someone loves doing something they can do this for free—is unsustainable and exploitative, to say the least. There is also more recognition for white men in anything open culture and this to me considers that they’re more knowledgeable and important to the movement; I say every day that for every one brilliant white man you know in the open movement, there are at least ten brilliant Black women doing the same thing without receiving any recognition or support because of this white exceptionalism.

There are many challenges in the open movement. I guess the most prominent ones today are equity and diversity. Equity in access to knowledge and diversity in terms of language and communities. The COVID-19 pandemic proved how large the gap is in access to knowledge around the world but also proved the status quo can be changed if challenged. A short, great article on this is available here.

Uno de los retos es luchar contra la idea “individualista” de “autor único” que crea solo, por que no nos permite ver que se “crea” en comunidad y para los demás. La solución podría ser, hacerle ver al mundo que pensar en “comunidad” nos beneficia más. “Soy por que somos”

EN: One of the challenges is to fight against the “individualistic” idea of a “unique author” who creates alone because it does not allow us to see that they are “creating” in a community and for others. The solution could be to make the world see that thinking about “community” benefits us more. Put simply, “I am because we are.”

The open movement has come so far in the nearly 10 years since I have been officially involved. Ultimately the open movement is a brave new world—so different from the corporate mindset. Like anything new, it has had teething problems and difficulties settling. Perhaps the elements that have been holding it back are those very elements that make it so powerful: the multiple voices, needs, and requirements that all the various and diverse stakeholders have. The strategic discussions that have been happening among some of the major players are definitely helping to drive the movement beyond its awkward teenage years.

With regards to individual involvement, I think the main challenge is still the lack of multiple fun and engaging pathways open to people so they can see how they can benefit personally or professionally. Most people still come to the movement through word of mouth or professional advancement. Across Africa, there is still a lot of confusion and a lack of applied knowledge around copyright and the open movement. So much more could happen if people understood the benefits and applications better. I would encourage greater visibility drives at the national and thematic level with fun ways to engage with and adopt the many open movement tools and resources that are available. Local aligned open organisations, affiliates, and chapters should work together more towards this aim.

The internet has changed—new challenges have emerged that divide our attention. The environment is much more complex than it was 20 years ago in terms of business models for the entertainment industry, new controls over users, and the opaqueness of injustices in the knowledge ecosystem. I think our message used to be simpler and clearer.

However, the open movement has crucial solutions for many of the issues we are facing today, such as misinformation, walled gardens, online violence and discrimination, and geopolitical inequalities in the digital environment. Thankfully, many people in the open community have realized this. We must face these problems boldly and proactively—and make the connections to openness crystal clear. Free knowledge and culture are at the center of the digital transformation agenda and are critical for overcoming global inequalities in the information era.

The biggest challenge in my opinion is the fear by content creators that they won’t be able to realise royalty for their creations if their work is made freely available to the public. This is a fear that we have to dispel. If the work is openly licenced online but commercialised in hardcopies, I find it a bigger and better marketing strategy. People still prefer flipping papers and the smell and sound of paper. They can still buy physical copies of the work and the creators can still make significant gains out of their creation.

? There’s more! You can now read part one of our “Her Story” blog series here. Part three, four, and five will be published Monday mornings (EST) throughout the month of March. Stay tuned!

The post Her Story: Facing Our Greatest Challenges appeared first on Creative Commons.

]]> Her Story: Becoming an Advocate for Open https://creativecommons.org/2021/03/08/her-story-becoming-an-advocate-for-open/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=her-story-becoming-an-advocate-for-open Mon, 08 Mar 2021 14:14:14 +0000 https://creativecommons.org/?p=62927 For over 40 years, millions across the globe have collectively celebrated the achievements, histories, ideas, and contributions of women on March 8 and increasingly, throughout March for Women’s History Month using #HerStory and #BecauseOfHerStory. This year, we wanted to do something special to celebrate this annual event, so we reached out to several members of…

The post Her Story: Becoming an Advocate for Open appeared first on Creative Commons.

]]>

Women’s Day” by Elsa Martino, licensed CC BY-NC-SA.

For over 40 years, millions across the globe have collectively celebrated the achievements, histories, ideas, and contributions of women on March 8 and increasingly, throughout March for Women’s History Month using #HerStory and #BecauseOfHerStory. This year, we wanted to do something special to celebrate this annual event, so we reached out to several members of the Creative Commons Global Network and the broader open community to ask them to share their personal stories, ideas, and insights by responding to five questions. The result is this five-part blog series called, “Her Story.” Throughout this series, we’ll also be highlighting the work of women artists who submitted pieces to Fine Acts’ Reimagining Human Rights challenge. 

Our hope is that these conversations will inspire you to reflect on your own stories and ideas. We also hope it will motivate you to think about how you can help make open sharing more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable. Put simply, we want to make sharing better—to do that, we need your help.

In part one of this series, participants responded to the following question: What motivated you to join the open movement and become an advocate for open access to knowledge and culture?


J’ai rejoint le mouvement libre il y a 19 ans, lorsque j’ai découvert l’encyclopédie Wikipédia. Je n’avais pas la moindre idée du fait que je rejoignais le mouvement libre ! Je n’en avais en fait jamais entendu parler. Wikipedia m’a séduite par sa vision, l’accès à la connaissance au plus grand nombre, ainsi que par les valeurs que professent sa communauté, en particulier le fait que tout le monde puisse y participer et le positionnement éditorial ferme que nous appelons “la neutralité de point de vue”. Mais tout comme Mr Jourdain faisait de la prose sans le savoir, je faisais la promotion du mouvement libre sans le savoir. Par exemple, je n’ai commencé à vraiment comprendre les particularités des “licence libre” qu’au bout de 2 ans de contribution. 

EN: I joined the free movement 19 years ago when I discovered the Wikipedia encyclopedia. I had no idea that I was joining the free movement! I had never actually heard of it. Wikipedia seduced me with its vision, access to knowledge to as many people as possible, as well as the values ​​professed by its community. In particular, I like the fact that everyone can participate and the firm editorial positioning that we call “point of view neutrality.” But, just as Mr Jourdain was doing prose without knowing it, I was promoting the open movement without knowing it. For example, I only started to really understand the specifics of “open licenses” after two years of contribution.

My long time friend Simeon Oriko encouraged me to find a way of sharing the knowledge and skills I had accrued with students from less-fortunate backgrounds here in Kenya and who aspired to the same things in life as I did. While building on this work, I realized that a lot of the content we consume erases the work done by women—especially Black women—and did not encourage learners to create projects that would preserve their communities’ histories, culture, and knowledge.

I joined the open movement a long time ago. Although I can’t remember my initial motivation, what keeps me in it is the public good. It doesn’t matter which area of “open” that you work in or advocate for, doing something good for the public and acting like it are the most rewarding aspects. Acting collectively for the public good motivates me to do more. 

Me motiva que todas las personas del mundo puedan acceder al conocimiento y la cultura para tomar las mejores decisiones en su proyecto de vida, sobre todo a quienes menos acceso tienen, y no solo unas cuantas personas privilegiadas.

EN: That all people in the world can access knowledge and culture to make the best decisions in their life—especially for those who have less access, not just a few privileged people.

I was first introduced to the open movement when working in the arts and culture scene in Cape Town. It just felt right. It encapsulated all the ideals I hadn’t yet given a voice to: sharing, collaboration, equity, openness, transparency. These were all incorporated within the movement and were easy to contribute and benefit from. My main contribution has been to activate, drive and support the WikiAfrica movement across the African continent, ensuring that Africa’s voices, cultures, and knowledge were given an equal opportunity within the Wikimedia movement. So, I guess it was a combination of personal beliefs and the passion to ensure the voices, cultures, and knowledge of Africa were heard—not only globally, but more importantly by those in Africa. This passion led to Wiki Loves Africa, Wiki Loves Women and multiple education projects and offline tools through Wiki In Africa.

I was a law student at the University of São Paulo when I first learned about Creative Commons in 2009. I was thrilled! I was interested in cultural policies, had begun studying copyright law on my own and was developing a critical perspective. I remember quite well how it felt to find that there were people all around the world actually using the law to produce very concrete, transforming results in access to culture and knowledge.

The thrill never left me. I became more interested and wrote my master’s dissertation about Free Software and Creative Commons at the University of São Paulo. When I was finished in 2012, I had the chance to join the team that then represented CC Brazil—the Center for Technology and Society at the Getúlio Vargas Foundation. I jumped right in, started joining CC international meetings, developed several collaborations, and made good friends in the community. Over the years, my interest only grew for the other subjects CC introduced me to, including internet policy and human rights. Both of which I currently work on.

Women and girls are disproportionately affected by limited access to knowledge goods and resources. Finances are traditionally in the hands of men in our society. There are more men than women on the internet. The inability to access resources for women and girls intersects with the inability to access knowledge and culture outside their traditional environment. The desire to bring knowledge goods closer to women who cannot otherwise afford them when copyrighted spurred me to become an advocate for open access to knowledge and culture in Uganda and Africa as a whole.

? There’s more! You can now read the next part of our “Her Story” blog series here. Part three, four, and five will be published Monday mornings (EST) throughout the month of March. Stay tuned!

The post Her Story: Becoming an Advocate for Open appeared first on Creative Commons.

]]> Meet CC Argentina, Our Next Feature for CC Network Fridays! https://creativecommons.org/2021/01/08/meet-cc-argentina-our-next-feature-for-cc-network-fridays/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=meet-cc-argentina-our-next-feature-for-cc-network-fridays Fri, 08 Jan 2021 16:12:18 +0000 https://creativecommons.org/?p=62722 After introducing the CC Italy Chapter to you in July, the CC Netherlands Chapter in August, CC Bangladesh Chapter in September, CC Tanzania Chapter in October, and the CC India Chapter in November, and the CC Mexico Chapter in December, we are staying in Latin America to introduce the CC Argentina Chapter!  The Creative Commons…

The post Meet CC Argentina, Our Next Feature for CC Network Fridays! appeared first on Creative Commons.

]]>
After introducing the CC Italy Chapter to you in July, the CC Netherlands Chapter in August, CC Bangladesh Chapter in September, CC Tanzania Chapter in October, and the CC India Chapter in November, and the CC Mexico Chapter in December, we are staying in Latin America to introduce the CC Argentina Chapter! 

The Creative Commons Global Network (CCGN) consists of 46 CC Country Chapters spread across the globe. They’re the home for a community of advocates, activists, educators, artists, lawyers, and users who share CC’s vision and values. They implement and strengthen open access policies, copyright reform, open education, and open culture in the communities in which they live.

To help showcase their work, we’re excited to continue our blog series and social media initiative: CC Network Fridays. At least one Friday a month, we’re traveling around the world through our blog and on Twitter (using #CCNetworkFridays) to a different CC Chapter, introducing their teams, discussing their work, and celebrating their commitment to open! 


Say hello to CC Argentina!

The CC Argentina Chapter was formed in 2018. Its Chapter Lead is Matías Butelman and its representative to the CC Global Network Council is Franco Giandana. CC Argentina is involved in all of the Network Platforms (Copyright, OpenGLAM and OpenEducation) and actively advocates for open in Argentina. For this post, we spoke to Franco who told us a bit more about the Chapter’s work. He responded in both English and Spanish! 

CC: What open movement work is your Chapter actively involved in? What would you like to achieve with your work? What exciting project has your Chapter engaged in recently? What projects in your country are using CC licenses that you’d like to highlight? (Please provide their Twitter handles if you have them.)

CC Argentina: Creative Commons Argentina y sus integrantes se encuentran involucrados en diferentes proyectos de capacitacion y difusion de la cultura libre:

  • Fundación Vía Libre: (@FViaLibre) En conjunto con CCAr, desarrollará el sitio web ‘derechodeautor.org.ar’ para difundir información sobre el derecho de autor, su usos, limitaciones, excepciones, vinculación con diferentes sectores, así como para ofrecer herramientas específicas en defensa de la Libertad de Expresión Online para usuarios de plataformas en internet.
  • Universidad Nacional de Cuyo: (@uncuyo) Lila Pagola llevó adelante un curso sobre Derechos de Autor en el ecosistema educativo, donde presentó a Creative Commons y sus licencias. 
  • Los miembros de Creative Commons hemos participado activamente en la difusión de la cultura libre y las licencias en una diversidad de charlas, presentaciones, conversatorios y conferencias online, entre las cuales vale mencionar la Feria del libro de La Rioja, el Instituto Superior de Estudios Pedagógicos de Córdoba, Fundación Vía Libre, Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología, Secretaría de Cultura de Río III, la Biblioteca Virtual, encuentros con estudiantes y docentes de escuelas, entre otros.
  • Se colaboró en el desarrollo de los Términos de Usos del portal, repositorio de recursos eduacativos abiertos del Ministerio de Educación de Argentina.
  • El Plan Nacional de Lecturas del Ministerio de Educación de la Nación presentó las colecciones que serán distribuidas en las escuelas de todo el país. Dentro del listado de libros recomendados por la Comisión Asesora Nacional CAN hay títulos de editoriales que trabajan con licencias CC, como Superpoder Editorial, Prebanda, Muchas Nueces, Ediciones de la Terraza. Cabe destacar que el Plan prevé que los libros seleccionados formen parte de la plataforma Juana Manso con sus ediciones digitales.
  • FLISOL: (@flisolcordoba) Festival de Software Libre. Presentación sobre Creative Commons y licencias CC.
  • Matías Butelman (@mbutel) y Juan Pablo Suárez (@derechoaleer) con su proyecto @bibliohack continúan el desarrollo de escáneres de bajo costo y trabajan sostenidamente en la transformación digital de museos, bibliotecas y archivos en el país
  • Universidad Nacional de Córdoba: (@unc_cordoba)  Se incorporan licencias CC a las herramientas digitales que se desarrollan a los fines de la implementación de políticas públicas de participación para gobiernos locales. 
  • Universidad de Champagnat, Mendoza: Se capacitó a los alumnos de la Diplomatura en Derecho y Gobierno Digital sobre el uso de licencias CC en el estado. 
  • Nuestra representante en el ámbito editorial, Barbi Couto trabaja en el relevamiento y articulación de editoriales publicando con licencias CC en todo el país, relevadas al momento 25 proyectos; asesora proyectos editoriales que evalúan el uso de CC (como el proyecto Cuerpos Urgentes de la Colectiva Escritoxs por la IVE de Mendoza o el proyecto de Música para el Alma entre otros), con perspectivas de más editoriales para sumarse en los próximos años. 
  • Virginia Ines Simon (@vi_simon) público diferentes papers sobre el Tratado de Marrakesh utilizando licencias CC. 
  • LibreBase, organización emblema de la Cultura Libre en la Ciudad de Córdoba continúa organizando el espacio “Encuentro por la Libertad en el Software y la Cultura”. 
  • Se participa en las discusiones para la incorporación de las licencias libres en los contenidos a enseñar de Educación Digital en las escuelas de la Provincia de Córdoba en el marco de los Núcleos de Aprendizaje Prioritario de Educación Digital Programación y Robótica 
  • Proteger nuestra cultura es liberarla | Barbi Couto | TEDxCordoba (@eneroenlaciudad) La cultura la creamos entre todos, pero no es tan fácil compartirla. Barbi pone sobre la mesa los problemas del sistema editorial tradicional y de las leyes de derechos de autor. 
  • Participación de Beatriz Busaniche (@beabusaniche) y Barbi Couto en el libro “Sobre los hombros de un gigante. Reflexiones sobre la propiedad intelectual y la cultura libre” editado por editorial La Casa de los Conejos.
  • Se conformó una nueva organización social llamada Clementina que trabaja sobre la difusión, formación y debate de la cultura libre y software libre en educación. Ya cuenta con sitio web en clementina.org.ar algunos de los miembros de CCAR se encuentran en la comisión organizadora de este nuevo espacio.

CC: What do you find inspiring and rewarding about your work in the open movement?

CC Argentina: It is a constant learning process. The CCAr members are involved in different types or sectors, doing all kinds of jobs related to copyright, from working at universities or museums, running NGOs, being private legal consultants or competing in the editorial industry, so everyday there is a good chance of learning new perspectives or insights. In that sense, even if we share the interest and will to advocate in the Open Movement, we have different knowledge and experiences, which is only making the whole process of being involved in a CC Chapter more interesting and nurturing. 

CC: What are your plans for the future? 

CC Argentina: Creative Commons Argentina is an active Chapter of the CC Global Network, composed by a diverse group of people coming from different sectors and regions within the country. As a CC Chapter, we have managed to function efficiently under a common goal, to promote and advocate for the use of CC licenses and the growth of the Open Movement in our region. We are proud to have specialists in copyright law, OpenGlam and OER, CC Ar members who are performers, artists, educators or publishers, engaging with each other and collaborating permanently in our Telegram group.   

For the near future, we foresee ourselves strengthening the bonds and work that are already in place, bringing in new challenges with more expertise and organization, collaborating with more museums, libraries, archives, universities, government and individuals. To add more, even if Argentina is an immense country, we are always in contact with our fellow CC Latin American Chapters, looking for new opportunities to connect and share ideas and resources, and so far, that has been as important as what we have already stated before. 

Thank you to the CC Argentina team, especially Franco for contributing to the CC Network Fridays feature, and for all of their work in the open community! To see this conversation on Twitter, click here. To become a member of the CCGN, visit our website!

?: Featured image has icons by Guilherme Furtado and Vectors Point via Noun Project (CC BY 3.0).

The post Meet CC Argentina, Our Next Feature for CC Network Fridays! appeared first on Creative Commons.

]]>
Meet CC Tanzania, Our Next Feature for CC Network Fridays! https://creativecommons.org/2020/10/09/cc-tanzania-cc-network-fridays/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=cc-tanzania-cc-network-fridays Fri, 09 Oct 2020 14:28:32 +0000 https://creativecommons.org/?p=62305 After introducing the CC Italy Chapter to you in July, the CC Netherlands Chapter in August and CC Bangladesh Chapter in September, we are now travelling to Africa to introduce the CC Tanzania Chapter!  The Creative Commons Global Network (CCGN) consists of 45 CC Country Chapters spread across the globe. They’re the home for a…

The post Meet CC Tanzania, Our Next Feature for CC Network Fridays! appeared first on Creative Commons.

]]>
After introducing the CC Italy Chapter to you in July, the CC Netherlands Chapter in August and CC Bangladesh Chapter in September, we are now travelling to Africa to introduce the CC Tanzania Chapter! 

The Creative Commons Global Network (CCGN) consists of 45 CC Country Chapters spread across the globe. They’re the home for a community of advocates, activists, educators, artists, lawyers, and users who share CC’s vision and values. They implement and strengthen open access policies, copyright reform, open education, and open culture in the communities in which they live.

To help showcase their work, we’re excited to continue our blog series and social media initiative: CC Network Fridays. At least one Friday a month, we’re travelling around the world through our blog and on Twitter (using #CCNetworkFridays) to a different CC Chapter, introducing their teams, discussing their work, and celebrating their commitment to open! 

Say hello to CC Tanzania!

The CC Tanzania Chapter was formed in July 2018. Its Chapter Lead is Aristarik Hubert Maro and its representative to the CC Global Network Council is Emmanuel T. Malongo. Since the beginning, the Chapter has been involved in advocating CC licences, promoting and supporting open education and copyright but over the last year, in particular, it has enhanced its activities covering almost all CCGN Platforms. For this post, we spoke to CC Tanzania Chapter Lead Aris who told us a bit more about the Chapter’s work. He responded in both English and Swahili! 


CC: What open movement work is your Chapter actively involved in? What would you like to achieve with your work?

CC Tanzania: We are now actively engaged in advocacy training on CC Licenses and Open Educational Resources (OER) to teachers and educators in Tanzania. We are also currently conducting online training on “ICT Soft Skills to Librarians” in Tanzania. Recently, we participated in the AfLIA Creative Commons Webinar on Open Access to Information. CC Tanzania would like to achieve its mission to connect and engage effectively all key stakeholders in the free knowledge ecosystem to actively participate in CCGN Platforms.

CC Tanzania: kwa sasa tunajishughulisha na mafunzo ya leseni za CC na maudhui huru za Elimu kwa Walimu Tanzania. Pia tunaendesha mafunzo kwa njia ya mtandao ya Ujuzi wa TEHAMA kwa Wakutubi Tanzania. Hivi karidbuni CC Tanzania imeshiriki katika Semina kwa njia ya Mtandao ya AfLIA Creative Commons juu ya upatikanaji huru wa taarifa. CC Tanzania  inapenda kufikia dhima yake ya kuwakutanisha na kuwafikia wadau muhimu wa mfumo wa maarifa huru kuweza kushiriki kikamilfu katika majukwaa mbali mbali ya CCGN.

 CC: What exciting project has your Chapter engaged in recently?

CC Tanzania: We had three projects funded by the CC Community Activities Fund (CAF), these were:

These CAF projects gave us great experience advocating for CC in Tanzania and enhanced active participation of stakeholders in CC Tanzania’s activities. 

CC Tanzania: Tulipata udhamini wa miradi mitatu kupitia Fedha za Kazi ya Kijamii (CAF) ambazo ni:

Miradi hii imeleta uzoefu mkubwa sana kutangaza CC nchini Tanzania na kuimarisha  ushiriki hai wa wadau katika shughuli za CC Tanzania. 

CC: What do you find inspiring and rewarding about your work in the open movement?

CC Tanzania: The willingness of the members to participate in the funded activities and the readiness of key actors like teachers, librarians, students and technologists to get involved with Creative Commons’ ideals.

CC Tanzania: Uhai wa wanachama kushiriki katika shughuli zilizodhaminiwa na utayari wa watendaji muhimu kama walimu,wakutubi,wanafunzi, na wanateknolojia kujihusisha na mambo bora yanayohusu Creative Commons.

CC: What are your plans for the future? 

CC Tanzania: We are planning to actively involve more actors, especially those involved in copyright reforms, educators, writers and technologists in the country. Through these actors, we will be able to initiate copyright reforms that accommodate open licences to allow the free sharing of knowledge, as well as advocate for open licences in the education and technology industries.

CC Tanzania: Tunapanga kuwahusisha kikamilifu watendaji/washiriki zaidi hasa wale wanaohusika na mabadiliko ya sheria, walimu, waandishi na wanateknolojia nchini Tanzania. Kupitia hawa watendaji tunaweza kuanzisha utaratibu wa kufanya mabadiliko ya sheria ya haki miliki kutambua leseni huru ili kuruhusu kugawana maarifa bila gharama yoyote na kuhamasisha matumizi ya leseni hizo katika sekta ya elimu na teknolojia.

CC: What projects in your country are using CC licenses that you’d like to highlight? 

CC Tanzania: We love the learning materials for children found at UBONGO Kids sites and other learning platforms.

CC Tanzania: Tunapenda maudhui ya kujifunzia ya watoto yanayopatikana katika tovuti ya UBONGO Kids na majukwaa mengine

CC: Anything else you want to share?

CC Tanzania: Since its inception, CC Tanzania has also been supported by local sister institutions in Tanzania, including:

CC Tanzania: Toka kuanzishwa kwa CC Tanzania pia imekuwa ikipata msaada kutoka kwa taasisi za ndani ya nchi ambazo ni 

Thank you to the CC Tanzania team, especially Aris and Emmanuel for contributing to the CC Network Fridays feature, and for all of their work in the open community! To see this conversation on Twitter, click here. To become a member of the CCGN, visit our website!

?: Featured image has icons by Guilherme Furtado and Vectors Point via Noun Project (CC BY 3.0).

The post Meet CC Tanzania, Our Next Feature for CC Network Fridays! appeared first on Creative Commons.

]]>
Meet CC Bangladesh, Our Next Feature for CC Network Fridays! https://creativecommons.org/2020/09/14/meet-cc-bangladesh-our-next-feature-for-cc-network-fridays/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=meet-cc-bangladesh-our-next-feature-for-cc-network-fridays Mon, 14 Sep 2020 13:06:06 +0000 https://creativecommons.org/?p=62237 After introducing the CC Italy Chapter to you in July and the CC Netherlands Chapter in August, we are now traveling to Southeast Asia to introduce the CC Bangladesh Chapter!  The Creative Commons Global Network (CCGN) consists of 45 CC Country Chapters spread across the globe. They’re the home for a community of advocates, activists,…

The post Meet CC Bangladesh, Our Next Feature for CC Network Fridays! appeared first on Creative Commons.

]]>
After introducing the CC Italy Chapter to you in July and the CC Netherlands Chapter in August, we are now traveling to Southeast Asia to introduce the CC Bangladesh Chapter! 

The Creative Commons Global Network (CCGN) consists of 45 CC Country Chapters spread across the globe. They’re the home for a community of advocates, activists, educators, artists, lawyers, and users who share CC’s vision and values. They implement and strengthen open access policies, copyright reform, open education, and open culture in the communities in which they live.

To help showcase their work, we’re excited to continue our blog series and social media initiative: CC Network Fridays. At least one Friday a month, we’re traveling around the world through our blog and on Twitter (using #CCNetworkFridays) to a different CC Chapter, introducing their teams, discussing their work, and celebrating their commitment to open! 

Say hello to CC Bangladesh!

The CC Bangladesh Chapter was formed in June 2018. Its Chapter Lead is Nasir Khan and its representative to the CC Global Network Council is Mostafa Azad Kamal. Since the beginning, the Chapter has been involved in promoting and supporting open education and copyright but over the last year, in particular, it has enhanced its activities covering almost all CCGN Platforms. For this post, we spoke to CC Bangladesh member Mohammed Galib Hasan Abir who told us a bit more about the Chapter’s work. He responded in both English and Bengali


CC: What open movement work is your Chapter actively involved in? What would you like to achieve with your work?

CC Bangladesh: Currently, CC Bangladesh is working on Open Education, Copyright, and Open Data. We have a group of dedicated volunteers working on these individual activities. Though Open Education is not a new term in Bangladesh, we’re currently working on advancing OER policy-level work for future objectives. We are planning to collaborate more with other organizations to achieve this goal. Our representative Mostafa Azad Kamal personally developed two institutional Open Policies policies so far for Bangladesh Open University and the Dhaka Ahsania Mission—both were supported by the Commonwealth of Learning. Besides this he also worked on National OER policy which is with the ministry for final approval.  

CC Bangladesh: বর্তমানে ক্রিয়েটিভ কমন্স  বাংলাদেশ চ্যাপ্টার উন্মুক্ত শিক্ষা ,কপিরাইট,উন্মুক্ত তথ্য ইত্যাদি বিষয় নিয়ে কাজ করছে। আমাদের স্বতন্ত্র স্বেচ্ছাসেবীর একটি দল  রয়েছে যারা এই স্বতন্ত্র প্রকল্পগুলোতে  কাজ করছে । যদিও উন্মুক্ত শিক্ষা বাংলাদেশের প্রেক্ষাপটে নতুন কোন ধারণা  নয় তবে বর্তমানে ক্রিয়েটিভ কমন্স  বাংলাদেশ চ্যাপ্টার ভবিষ্যতের লক্ষ্যে উন্নত নীতিমালা বাস্তবায়নের জন্য কাজ করছে, যার জন্য আমরা অন্যান্য সহযোগী সংস্থার সাথে আরও সহযোগী কাজের জন্য পরিকল্পনা করছি। ক্রিয়েটিভ কমন্সে আমাদের দেশের প্রতিনিধি মোস্তফা আজাদ কামাল ব্যক্তিগতভাবে দুটি প্রতিষ্ঠানের নীতিমালা বিকাশ করেছেন একটি হলো বাংলাদেশ উন্মুক্ত বিশ্ববিদ্যালয় এর জন্য উন্মুক্ত শিক্ষা নীতিমালা এবং অন্যটি ঢাকা আহসানিয়া মিশন এর জন্য  এবং উভয়ই কমনওয়েলথ অব লার্নিং দ্বারা সমর্থিত ছিল। এছাড়াও  তিনি বাংলাদেশের জাতীয় উন্মুক্ত শিক্ষা নীতি প্রণয়নে  কাজ করেছেন যা বর্তমানে  চূড়ান্ত অনুমোদনের জন্য মন্ত্রানালয়ে  কাছে অপেক্ষাধীন রয়েছে।

CC: What exciting project has your Chapter engaged in recently?

CC Bangladesh: We worked on Open Data and related initiatives by conducting a seminar mini conference. In October 2019, we celebrated Open Access Week with other open source organizations, such as the Bangladesh Open University who contributed as a co-organizer. Besides this, in 2020 we arranged the Open Data Day 2020 Program with the Open Knowledge Foundation, the theme for this year was “Bringing the benefits of open resources to Bangladesh.” We plan to observe these two events every year as it is also a promotional event for us. 

CC Bangladesh: ক্রিয়েটিভ কমন্স বাংলাদেশ চ্যাপ্টারে আমি ব্যাক্তিগতভাবে উন্মুক্ত তথ্য এবং এর সাথে সম্পর্কিত কিছু কাজের জন্য উদ্যোগ গ্রহন করি এবং কয়েকটা সেমিনার ও ছোটো আকারের সম্মেলন এর আয়োজন করি। ২০১৯ সাল থেকে ক্রিয়েটিভ কমন্স  বাংলাদেশ চ্যাপ্টার ওপেন অ্যাক্সেস সপ্তাহ উদযাপন করছে এবং তারা অন্যান্য ওপেন সোর্স সংস্থাগুলির সাথে একটি যৌথ কর্মসূচির ব্যবস্থা করছে যেখানে বাংলাদেশ উন্মুক্ত বিশ্ববিদ্যালয় একটি সহ-সংগঠক হিসাবে অবদান রাখছে  (কর্মসূচির বিস্তারিত), (কর্মসূচির বিস্তারিত)। ২০২০ সালে ক্রিয়েটিভ কমন্স  বাংলাদেশ চ্যাপ্টার ওপেন নলেজ ফাউন্ডেশনের সাথে যৌথভাবে ওপেন ডেটা ডে ২০২০ কর্মসূচির আয়োজন করেছে, এই বছরের প্রতিপাদ্য বিষয় ছিল “বাংলাদেশে উন্মুক্ত সংস্থার সুবিধাসমুহ প্রণয়ন” (কর্মসূচির বিস্তারিত)। ক্রিয়েটিভ কমন্স বাংলাদেশ চ্যাপ্টার বার্ষিক পরিকল্পনা হিসাবে প্রতি বছর এই দুটি কর্মসূচি পালনের পরিকল্পনা করছে যা এই চ্যাপ্টারের প্রচারমূলক কর্মসূচির অন্তর্গত।

CC: What do you find inspiring and rewarding about your work in the open movement?

CC Bangladesh: Working with the open movement is always a pleasure for us. We have been involved with this movement for the last five years and everyday it is a new day to think about how we can do more social good for society. We believe this kind of movement makes the world smaller and more connected with people of every region. This helps in trying to understand different cultures, histories, etc. We’ve already seen how these types of connections work efficiently in the case of a pandemic, when we have the chance to think about the world as a whole. 

CC Bangladesh: মুক্ত আন্দোলনের সাথে কাজ করা আমার পক্ষে সর্বদা আনন্দকর । আমি বিগত পাঁচ বছর ধরে এই আন্দোলনের সাথে জড়িত আছি এবং যা আমাকে প্রতিদিন সমাজের নিত্য নতুন সমস্যা এবং সমাধান সম্পর্কে ভাবতে সাহায্য করে আমি বিশ্বাস করি যে এই ধরণের আন্দোলন এবং এর সাথে আমার সম্পর্ক স্থাপনে এটি বিশ্বকে আমার নিকট আরও ক্ষুদ্র আকারে উপস্থাপন করে তুলেছে যেখানে আমরা কোনোনা কোন ভাবে বিশ্বের প্রতিটি অঞ্চলের মানুষের সাথে সংযুক্ত রয়েছি এবং তাদের সংস্কৃতি, ইতিহাস ইত্যাদি বোঝার চেষ্টা করছিআমরা ইতিমধ্যে লক্ষ্য করেছি  যে এই ধরণের সংযুক্তি যেকোনও ধরণের মহামারীতে কীভাবে দক্ষতার সাথে কাজ করে, যা আমাদেরকে সুযোগ করে দেয় পুরো বিশ্ব সম্পর্কে চিন্তা করার  

CC: What are your plans for the future? 

CC Bangladesh: We plan to engage in further initiatives to promote open education and internet literacy in rural settings—especially female participation in open education and internet activities in Bangladesh, which is needed. Statistics show that women’s participation in the open movement and open internet activities is much lower, so we will focus on this issue and look for increasing women’s participation. One of our members has already been advised to work on gender issues in Bangladesh. Besides that, we plan to run an Internet for All campaign with the support of CC and our local government. Our Country representative Mostafa Azad Kamal is trying to connect with the University Grants Commission, Ministry of Education and ICT Ministry to start a wider open mission. Hope we will see a bigger impact by 2022. We are trying to sync our education system with the open pedagogies under the framework of Digital Bangladesh initiative of the government.

CC Bangladesh: ক্রিয়েটিভ কমন্স  বাংলাদেশ উন্মুক্ত শিক্ষা ও ইন্টারনেট শিক্ষা এবং সেগুলা গ্রামীণ স্তরের প্রচারের জন্য কিছু উদ্যোগের পরিকল্পনা করছেবিশেষ করে বাংলাদেশে উন্মুক্ত শিক্ষা এবং ইন্টারনেট কার্যক্রমের ক্ষেত্রে মেয়েদের অংশগ্রহনের ব্যাপারে । পরিসংখ্যান দেখায় যে উন্মুক্ত আন্দোলনে এবং উন্মুক্ত ইন্টারনেট ক্রিয়াকলাপে মেয়েদের অংশগ্রহণ ছেলেদের তুলনায় বেশ কম, সে কারনেই আমরা ক্রিয়েটিভ কমন্স  বাংলাদেশ চ্যাপ্টার এই বিষয়ে মনোনিবেশ করবো এবং মেয়েদের  অংশগ্রহণ বৃদ্ধি করার জন্য কিছু কার্যক্রম গ্রহণ করবো। ইতিমধ্যে আমাদের চ্যাপ্টারের একজন সদস্যকে মেয়েদের অংশগ্রহণ বাড়াতে কাজ করার পরামর্শ দেওয়া হয়েছে। ক্রিয়েটিভ কমন্স  বাংলাদেশ ও স্থানীয় সরকারের সহায়তায় “ইন্টারনেটের সবার জন্য” কর্মসূচির পরিকল্পনা করা হয়েছে। এছাড়াও আমাদের চ্যাপ্টার প্রতিনিধি মোস্তফা আজাদ কামাল আরও বৃহত্তর উন্মুক্ত আন্দোলন শুরু করার জন্য বিশ্ববিদ্যালয় মঞ্জুরী কমিশন, শিক্ষা মন্ত্রণালয় এবং আইসিটি মন্ত্রণালয়ের  সাথে সংযোগ স্থাপনের চেষ্টা করছেন। আশা করি আমরা ২০২২ সালের মধ্যে তার একটি বড় প্রভাব দেখতে পাব। আমরা আমাদের শিক্ষাব্যবস্থাকে সরকারের ডিজিটাল বাংলাদেশ কাঠামোর আওতায় বিভিন্ন উদ্যোগের সাথে একীভূত করার চেষ্টা করছি।

CC: Anything else you want to share?

CC Bangladesh: We’re keen to promote open activities, open education, and Internet for All activities in Bangladesh. That’s why our members are developing their working module together. With the support of CC and other organizations, we are confident that we can achieve our goals.

CC Bangladesh: ক্রিয়েটিভ কমন্স  বাংলাদেশ চ্যাপ্টার বাংলাদেশে সকলের জন্য উন্মুক্ত কার্যক্রম, মুক্ত শিক্ষা, সবার জন্য ইন্টারনেট প্রচার করতে আগ্রহী। এ কারণেই চ্যাপ্টারের সদস্যরা পৃথকভাবে ও দলগতভাবে তাদের কার্যক্রম চালিয়ে যাচ্ছে। ক্রিয়েটিভ কমন্স  এবং অন্যান্য সংস্থার সমর্থন নিয়ে আশা করি ক্রিয়েটিভ কমন্স  বাংলাদেশ চ্যাপ্টার তার লক্ষ্যগুলি অর্জন করতে পারবে।

Thank you to the CC Bangladesh team, especially Mohammed Galib Hasan Abir for contributing to the CC Network Fridays feature, and for all of their work in the open community! To see this conversation on Twitter, click here. To become a member of the CCGN, visit our website!

?: Featured image has icons by Guilherme Furtado and Vectors Point via Noun Project (CC BY 3.0).

The post Meet CC Bangladesh, Our Next Feature for CC Network Fridays! appeared first on Creative Commons.

]]>
Meet CC Netherlands, Our Next Feature for CC Network Fridays! https://creativecommons.org/2020/08/14/meet-cc-netherlands-cc-network-fridays/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=meet-cc-netherlands-cc-network-fridays Fri, 14 Aug 2020 20:56:39 +0000 https://creativecommons.org/?p=62087 Last month we introduced the CC Chapter in Italy to you! This month we’re traveling north to the CC Chapter in The Netherlands! The Creative Commons Global Network (CCGN) consists of 43 CC Country Chapters spread across the globe. They’re the home for a community of advocates, activists, educators, artists, lawyers, and users who share…

The post Meet CC Netherlands, Our Next Feature for CC Network Fridays! appeared first on Creative Commons.

]]>
Last month we introduced the CC Chapter in Italy to you! This month we’re traveling north to the CC Chapter in The Netherlands! The Creative Commons Global Network (CCGN) consists of 43 CC Country Chapters spread across the globe. They’re the home for a community of advocates, activists, educators, artists, lawyers, and users who share CC’s vision and values. They implement and strengthen open access policies, copyright reform, open education, and open culture in the communities in which they live.

To help showcase their work, we’re excited to continue our blog series and social media initiative: CC Network Fridays. At least one Friday a month, we’ll travel around the world through our blog and on Twitter (using #CCNetworkFridays) to a different CC Chapter, introducing their teams, discussing their work, and celebrating their commitment to open! 

Next up is CC Netherlands!

The CC Dutch Chapter was formed in September 2018. Its Chapter Lead is Maarten Zeinstra and its representative to the CC Global Network Council is Lisette Kalshoven. Since the beginning, the Chapter has been involved in promoting and supporting openly licensed music, open GLAM, open education but over the last year, in particular, it has enhanced its activities covering almost all CCGN Platforms. To learn more about their work, we reached out to CC Netherlands to ask a few questions. They responded in both English and Dutch


CC: What open movement work is your Chapter actively involved in? What would you like to achieve with your work?

CC Netherlands: We like to work together with the whole open sector. Open Licenses are awesome, but even more so when applied to sectors that really benefit knowledge creation and sharing. That’s why we have members from diverse backgrounds. You can see all Open Netherland members here. Are you a person living in the Netherlands? Join us!

CC: Op welke open thema’s is jullie chapter actief? Wat zouden jullie graag willen bereiken?

CC Nederland: Wij werken graag samen met de hele open sector. Open licenties zijn fantastisch, nog meer als ze daadwerkelijk gebruikt worden door de sectoren die kennis creeëren en delen. Daarom hebben we leden van diverse sectoren. Op onze site kun je zien wie er allemaal lid is van Open Nederland. Woon je ook in Nederland! Sluit je dan aan!

CC: What exciting project has your Chapter engaged in recently?

CC Netherlands: We are worried about the implementation of the DSM directive in Dutch copyright law. Exceptions and limitations are paramount in a working copyright system, and automatic filtering threatens those. We have been active in working towards a positive implementation of the new ‘Copyright Directive’ (#DSM) – informing government and parliament on the importance of open knowledge, licenses and broad implementation of exceptions and limitations.

CC: Wat is een project waar jullie chapter recent aan gewerkt heeft?

CC Nederland: Wij maken ons zorgen over de manier waarop de Europese richtlijn voor auteursrechten in Nederland wordt geïmplementeerd. Uitzonderingen en beperkingen op het auteursrecht zijn belangrijk voor een goed werkend stelsel. Automatische filters zijn hier een bedreiging voor. De afgelopen tijd hebben we ons ingezet om de implementatie positief te beïnvloeden, o.a. door de overheid en het parlement te informeren over het belang van open kennis, licenties en een juiste implementatie van de uitzonderingen en beperkingen.

CC: What do you find inspiring and rewarding about your work in the open movement?

CC Netherlands: The Dutch Chapter and @OpenNederland, the association that runs the Chapter, brings people together from all the corners of the open world in NL, open design, healthcare, heritage, education, and more. Thus far this has led to crossovers that did not take place before, like looking at open education from the user experience of a student: what can open education mean for your entire learning path from toddler to adult? 

CC: Wat vinden jullie inspirerend en waar halen jullie voldoening uit bij jullie werk in de open beweging?

CC Nederland: Het Nederlandse chapter en Open Nederland, de vereniging die het chapter ondersteund, brengen mensen bij elkaar uit alle hoeken van de open beweging. Bijvoorbeeld open design, gezondheidszorg, erfgoed, onderwijs en meer. Dit heeft al geleid tot kruisbestuivingen die niet eerder plaats hebben gevonden, zoals het bekijken van open onderwijs vanuit het perspectief van een leerling. Wat kan open onderwijs betekenen voor iemands onderwijs carrière, van kleuter tot volwassene? 

CC: What projects in your country are using CC licenses that you’d like to highlight?

  • We are proud of our open music scene, including Tribe of Noise which also purchased the Free Music Archive in 2019. 
  • Dutch GLAMs have been active with open licensing for a long time. Beyond our beautiful Rijksmuseum, also have a look at the Re:VIVE project, which invites artists to remix old archival sounds; @benglabs, which aims to make audiovisual heritage open and searchable; or the beautiful collection of the city archive of Den Bosch, with these billiard playing ladies
  • Kenny Vleugels, a game developer from NL, creates really cool CC0 game assets. 
  • We like to party when it is Public Domain Day in the Netherlands. We organise a fun and informative day with lectures about the Public Domain, but also about the creators whose work now entered the Public Domain. See full videos and photos from the 2020 edition here. International coordination takes place through pdday.org.
  • Did you know the Dutch government uses CC0 as their standard on all text and data on websites? They have been doing so since 2010, and were—as far as we know—the first to do so. See the notice here
  • We also have an award for the best re-use of open government data, the Stuiveling Open Data award. The 2019 winners researched fraud in healthcare using open data.
  • Sharing government news in the current Corona-crisis is more important than ever, but it can be tough to weed through. The Open State Foundation has made all local government news accessible through one platform, all openly licensed.

CC: Wat zijn projecten die CC licenties gebruiken en die je graag onder de aandacht wil brengen?

  • We zijn trots op de Nederlandse muziek scène, waaronder Tribe of Noise dat in 2019 Free Music Archive overgenomen heeft.
  • Nederlandse culturele instellingen delen hun collecties al geruime tijd met open licenties. Naast het welbekende Rijksmuseum zijn er ook initiatieven zoals 
  • Re:VIVE, een project waarbij kunstenaars en muzikanten uitgenodigd worden om geluiden uit archieven te remixen, 
  • @benglabs, dat audiovisuele archieven ontsluit en doorzoekbaar maakt,
  • Of de fantastische collectie van het archief van Den Bosch, met deze biljartsters.
  • Kenny Vleugels maakt gave CC0 gelicenseerde game componenten,
  • We vieren jaarlijks Publiek Domeindag, een leuke en informatieve dag waarbij we aandacht besteden aan de werken die publiek domein zijn geworden en de makers van deze werken. De foto’s en video’s van Publiek Domeindag 2020 zijn hier te zien. Internationale coördinatie van publiek Domeindag vieringen ondersteunen we met pdday.org.
  • Wist je dat de Nederlandse overheid standaard CC0 gebruikt voor alle  tekst en data op hun websites? Dit doen ze al sinds 2010, voor zover wij weten waren ze de eerste overheid om dit te doen. Zie ook deze pagina.
  • Er is een prijs voor het beste gebruik van open data in Nederland, de Stuiveling Open Data Award (SODA). De winnaars van 2019 deden, op basis van open data, onderzoek naar fraude in de zorgsector.
  • Het delen van nieuws van de overheid is zeer belangrijk in de huidige Corona-crisis, maar het kan lastig zijn om de juiste informatie te vinden. Open State heeft al het nieuws op lokaal niveau op één platform gebundeld, onder een open licentie.

CC: What are your plans for the future? 

CC Netherlands: We hope to grow our membership in the coming year, engage more with our community, and do more outward-facing projects.

CC: Wat zijn jullie toekomstplannen?

CC Nederland: We willen nog meer leden aantrekken, onze huidige leden activeren en meer betrekken bij onze werkzaamheden en meer zichtbare projecten doen.

CC: Anything else you want to share?

CC Netherlands: The rise of algorithms determining possible copyright infringement can also have a negative impact on open content, because these algorithms do not take open licensing in account enough. That’s why we’ve started working on “Filter me niet” (Filter me not) in which we look for ways to indicate that you’re purposefully CC licensing to let others remix your work. The first results are in Dutch only, here.

CC: Wat wil je verder nog delen?

CC Nederland: Toenemend gebruik van algoritmes, om potentiële auteursrechtenschendingen te identificeren, heeft negatieve consequenties voor open content. Deze algoritmes houden onvoldoende rekening met open licenties. Daarom zijn we Filter Me Niet begonnen, een project waarin we manieren onderzoeken om actief aan te geven dat je bewust Creative Commons licenties gebruikt om je werk beschikbaar te stellen voor hergebruik. Een eerste resultaat is te zien op www.filtermeniet.nl.

Thank you to the CC Netherlands team, especially Lisette Kalshoven and Sebastiaan ter Burg for contributing to the CC Network Fridays feature, and for all of their work in the open community! To see this conversation on Twitter, click here. To become a member of the CCGN, visit our website!

?: Featured image has icons by Guilherme Furtado and Vectors Point via Noun Project (CC BY 3.0).

The post Meet CC Netherlands, Our Next Feature for CC Network Fridays! appeared first on Creative Commons.

]]>
The Increasingly Open World of Photography: A Conversation With Exposure’s Luke Beard https://creativecommons.org/2020/07/13/open-world-of-photography-with-exposures-luke-beard/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=open-world-of-photography-with-exposures-luke-beard Mon, 13 Jul 2020 14:20:05 +0000 https://creativecommons.org/?p=61840 Over 300 million images are uploaded to Facebook a day. Yes, just Facebook. Once other social media and photo-sharing platforms like Flickr, Unsplash, Instagram, etc. are taken into account, that number quickly grows into the billions.  A lot has changed since the dawn of photography in the 19th century—when Nicéphore Niépce (a.k.a. the “Father of…

The post The Increasingly Open World of Photography: A Conversation With Exposure’s Luke Beard appeared first on Creative Commons.

]]>
Over 300 million images are uploaded to Facebook a day. Yes, just Facebook. Once other social media and photo-sharing platforms like Flickr, Unsplash, Instagram, etc. are taken into account, that number quickly grows into the billions. 

A lot has changed since the dawn of photography in the 19th century—when Nicéphore Niépce (a.k.a. the “Father of Photography”) peered through his camera obscura from his upstairs window in France and created the oldest surviving photographic image in 1826. At that time, and for over a century, photography was restricted to (primarily white and Western) wealthy hobbyists and career professionals. However, photography has become more democratized, digitized, and open over time. This process began in the 1940s with Kodak’s “Brownie” camera, then quickened with the invention of the digital camera in the late 1980s, and finally culminated with the smartphone in the early 2000s. In 2019, the Pew Research Center estimated that 1/3rd of the world’s population has a smartphone. This means that billions of people have access to a camera! 

Niépce's View from the Window at Le Gras (1826 or 1827)

Niépce’s “View from the Window at Le Gras” (1826 or 1827), the world’s oldest surviving photographic image, made using a camera obscura. Original plate (left) by Niépce; colorized reoriented enhancement (right) by Nguyen. Licensed CC BY-SA.

Along with the democratization and digitization of photography came the rise of open licensing (the CC License Suite was first released in 2002) and “free” photo-sharing and stock photography websites (Flickr was founded in 2004). Although these trends have many benefits, they’ve generally made professional photographers feel uneasy. As photographer and filmmaker Erin Jennings wrote in a 2019 essay, “Not only has accessible digital photography threatened the commercial photography industry, it has also thrown into question the very self-worth of many photographers whose identities were mired in the exclusivity of the analog process.” As a photographer, I understand this uneasiness as well as the apprehension that comes with publishing images under open licenses. I’ve certainly wondered: Is it OK that I’m willingly handing organizations and companies the ability to use my work for “free”? Will this lead to the expectation that photography should always be free? Does this devalue professional photography?

Along with the democratization and digitization of photography came the rise of open licensing and “free” photo-sharing and stock photography websites; although these trends have many benefits, they’ve also made professional photographers feel uneasy.

Luke Beard

Luke Beard, Photographer and Designer; CEO and Founder of Exposure.

Over time, I’ve learned more about the purpose of open licenses and the rights photographers are guaranteed under them. For instance, the attribution requirement under CC licenses can actually help maintain the connection between photograph and photographer because the photographer’s name must be attributed if their work is reused. In the age of image theft and image overload, that’s significant. The range of licenses available also gives photographers more freedom to determine how their photography can be used beyond “all rights reserved,” and clarify that to potential users. For up-and-coming photographers, this can be especially useful for building a personal brand and an audience of potential clients.  Personally, I try to always openly license my work—something I recently learned was possible on Exposure, a storytelling platform for photographers and visual storytellers. After using the platform for years, it was a pleasant surprise to learn that the company had enabled CC BY-ND as a licensing option. It also made me curious: Why did a platform that serves as a creative outlet for professional photographers and storytellers decide to allow open licensing as an option?

To find out, I contacted Exposure Founder and CEO Luke Beard via email. A photographer himself, I also wanted to know his personal thoughts about open licensing and the democratization of photography. Our conversation below has been lightly edited for clarity and length. 


VH: The growing democratization of photography has led to a plethora of images online, primarily through free photo-sharing and stock photography websites. Has this trend impacted your identity as a professional photographer? Do you think it’s harming the industry? 

LB: I’d argue that Instagram has done more to change photography in the last decade than legacy and fledgling photo communities built around free sharing or stock [photography]. Instagram has a fairly large conversion rate. Its scale, reach, and impact on photography still feels unprecedented. It’s effectively one of the biggest stewards of the medium the world has ever seen.

The “professional photographer” part of my identity has a strong feeling around giving anything away for “free.” There are both potentially good and potentially negative outcomes, but it also depends on the context. You certainly learn a lot about what feels right or worth it by exploring free avenues. The communities that grow around services like Flickr can be incredible, and I’m sure many working photographers today got their start there. The proliferation of ways to discover photography though free, stock, or sharing [platforms] has certainly raised the bar both competition-wise and creativity-wise, and I’d say it has been a net positive.  

VH: There’s an ongoing debate within photography circles about open licensing and whether or not it harms professional photographers. What do you see as the benefits and drawbacks?

LB: The value of photography has simultaneously been raised and lowered as the internet economy has grown. As a visual medium—with amazing screens in the hands of ~3.5 billion people—photography has so much to offer for the foreseeable future.  

Exposure's Homepage

Exposure houses creative works from individual photographers, non-profit organizations, governments, and more.

Open licensing also has a lot to offer photographers who are looking for new and interesting ways to share their craft and earn work. On the one hand, you have platforms with a huge reach that take on the hard work of distributing and hosting your photos in exchange for an open license (e.g. Unsplash). The long-tail upside might be that someone thinks your style of photography is perfect and hires you for a shoot. The flip side is that free and openly licensed photos may lose all concept that there is a photographer behind the photo. This devalues both the photographer and the photo. I personally struggle with the idea of normalizing good photography as something that has no cost or doesn’t require credit—although, it’s important to point out that CC licenses do require attribution. A comparison would be this one: it’s hard to make good software, but free applications normalize the idea that software should cost nothing. 

There is still lots of work to be done to reap the benefits of open licensing, and the majority of this work falls to the stewards of the platforms and tools.

Without openly licensed photos, however, we wouldn’t have visually rich Wikipedia pages or great collections like NASA’s image gallery. For individual photographers, I think there still has to be a better way. Maybe the answer is a blockchain solution through micropayments or maybe just a better marketplace platform. There is still lots of work to be done to reap the benefits of open licensing, and the majority of this work falls to the stewards of the platforms and tools. I’m hopeful the benefits will greatly outweigh the negatives. 

VH: Can you explain why Exposure decided to offer an open licensing option and if there were any specific challenges when making and implementing that decision?

We have taken baby steps into offering an open license as a feature. For context, it’s a toggle you can switch “on” or “off” for specific stories. As the creator, you agree to a CC BY-ND license for your photography within that story. This idea initially came about because we wanted to give Exposure members the ability to allow their family, friends, or clients to download their photos. Since the launch, however, we have seen it used for academic and non-profit purposes too, so we plan on expanding it this year by adding more licenses and the ability to license entire stories (including written content) and not just the individual photos. Our non-profit customers have expressed how helpful this would be to share their cause.

VH: Does Exposure educate users on this open licensing option or advertise it in any way?

The photo downloads feature is advertised as a paid feature because there is an infrastructure cost associated with allowing photos to be downloaded. When the feature is enabled by the member, we give a full legal description of how the license works and also a “basic” description in simpler terms. When a visitor downloads any photo that is under the open license they also see a similar dialog and download agreement that indicates the requirements of the license, including attribution to the photographer/source. This way, they know how and where they can use the photo before they actually download it.

Exposure Screenshot of Download Agreement

An example of Exposure’s Download Agreement and use of CC BY-ND. Source: “The Space People” by Victoria Heath (CC BY-ND).

VH: Taking a step back from open licensing, can you share with us one or two of the most impactful stories that have been shared on your platform?

That’s a tough one, as there have been thousands over the years, but right now I’m extra proud to host and share stories on climate change, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, this story from Doctors without Borders (MSF) which shares the struggle to get the supplies needed to fight COVID-19 in Yemen; this piece by the United Nations Development Programme’s Climate Office telling the story of climate-resilient farming and food security in the outer islands of Kiribati; and this story of Black Lives Matter protests in Cobb County, Georgia by a local photographer.  

VH: The goal of the open movement is to build a more equitable, inclusive, and innovative world through sharing—do you believe sharing photography, and creative content more broadly, has a role in achieving that goal?

Openly sharing information has always happened within communities. I strongly believe the open movement has achieved great things since the first few days of ARPANET and the birth of the modern internet. Creative content still has room to mature to be a truly accessible, inclusive, and equitable medium as more people get access to the internet. But as a whole, visual content has had a huge impact by engaging most of the world—now more than any other time in history. There are things that worry me about our ability to achieve any sort of “open web” goal, these include the consolidated power of “Big Tech,” eroding net neutrality, and the disparity of access to reliable and affordable (if not free) internet connections—as recently seen with the impact of COVID-19 on students without a reliable internet connection at home.

VH: Photography as a profession has suffered from a lack of racial, ethnic, and gender diversity which has led to a mirrored lack of diversity in the images created (e.g. stock photos). What actions do you think individual photographers like yourself, and platforms like Exposure, can take to help increase diversity in the industry?

A quote mentioned in Ibram X. Kendi’s book, How to Be an Antiracist has recently been very impactful in my thinking about just this. The quote is credited to Harry A. Blackmun from the 1978 Supreme Court case, Regents of the University of California v. Bakke. Blackmun wrote, “…in order to treat some persons equally, we must treat them differently.”

There is no progress without change and the status quo of taking a neutral stance does not allow for oppressed voices to be heard.

When I think about how this could be implemented in photography and the platforms that support it, I see several paths to a more equitable community: actively raising, promoting, and empowering the work of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) and gender diverse photographers; giving resources to those same communities to enhance their ability to work, and; public platforms taking a zero-tolerance policy for hate speech and racism of any kind. There is no progress without change and the status quo of taking a neutral stance does not allow for oppressed voices to be heard. Exposure, as a platform, can do more on all these fronts, but the future looks bright for more giving and more empowering initiatives. Our Black Lives Matter support statement outlines what we are doing right now, and there is more to come in the future. 

VH: Luke, thank you for speaking with me! By the way, there are a growing number of openly licensed collections that are working to increase diversity in stock photography. These include Nappy, the Gender Spectrum Collection, Disabled and Here Collection, and Women in Tech. Check them out!

?: Featured image by Kollage Kid, titled “Lighthouse” and licensed CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

The post The Increasingly Open World of Photography: A Conversation With Exposure’s Luke Beard appeared first on Creative Commons.

]]>