Monthly Archives: September 2009

Cultural Capital by Tama Leaver

For those who have been waiting on tenterhooks, the moment has finally arrived – Creative Commons has released the findings of its survey on How the Online Population Understands Noncommercial Use.

From the press release:

The report details the results of a research study launched in September 2008 to explore differences between commercial and noncommercial uses of content found online, as those uses are understood by various communities and in connection with a wide variety of content. Generous support for the study was provided by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

The study investigated understandings of noncommercial use and the Creative Commons “NC” license term through online surveys of content creators and users in the U.S., open access polls of global “Creative Commons Friends and Family,” interviews with thought leaders, and focus groups with participants from around the
world who create and use a wide variety of online content and media. The research behind Defining “Noncommercial” was conducted by Netpop Research, under advisement from academics and a working group consisting of several Creative Commons jurisdiction project members as well as Creative Commons staff and board members.

Some of the more interesting findings from the study are:

* everyone seems to agree that uses where people make money or that involve advertising are commercial, while “personal and private” uses are noncommercial;
* other than that there isn’t one clear definition of noncommercial, with most people making judgment calls based on the details of the use in question;
* in most circumstances, there isn’t much difference between how creators and users see commercial use; however, the people most likely to be using Creative Commons licences (ie Creative Commons Friends and Family) do seem to use a broader definition of noncommercial than others; and
* perhaps most importantly, most people are comfortable with the current CC definition of noncommercial, although there were some suggestions for improvement.

The report is, of course, published under a CC Attribution licence, with the data from the surveys published under a CC0 public domain waiver. So, as CC points out in its announcement, the report on “noncommercial” may unambiguously be used for commercial purposes.

You can find links to the full text of the report, as well as the press release and background information, in the main CC blog post.
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Our friends at Digital Fringe are at it again! The 2009 festival is calling for entries right now!!

Presented by the crazy crew at Horse Bazaar in association with Melbourne Fringe and Film Victoria, Digital Fringe is a worldwide web-based digital art festival providing artists with the opportunity to showcase their work to a global audience. The chosen submissions will be screened through an extensive network of hundreds of public screens as well as played on the [http://digitalfringe.com.au Digital Fringe website]. The festival hosts an extensive range of digital art from visual works or animation, abstract, video art, short film, motion graphics, photography and other stills. Works are screened globally at a wide range of venues from bars and cafes to art galleries and cultural institutions and even public plazas like Federation Square.

Copyright of all works entered in the festival remains with the artist. Digital Fringe encourages participating artists to utilise the Creative Commons licensing scheme to choose the type of licence that best suits their needs. It’s up to you, the artist, to decide what rights you want to reserve and what rights you want to share.

Anyone can participate by submitting art or offering a venue. Entries must be received by 14 September to be included in the DVD distributed to over 200 screens. 2009 festival dates are from 23 September – 11 October.
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