Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Every hour billions of ideas are being born all over the world.
91% never go beyond the conceptual level
5% end up in a dustbin
3% are being shelved
and only 1% has the extraordinary potential
to develop into a unique creation.
These are creations such as music,
text,
image,
film
or other any other form that may be saved on a computer.
This story relates the life of such a creation
by the name of “CC”.
“My creator was a human being – just like you.
He had a lasting influence on my future life
and on the life of my twin sister.
But immediately after birth her and my life took different paths.
After a short while I found myself surrounded by other creators.
All were welcomed
and allowed meet me in an open space.
From the very beginning my creator let the world participate in my existence.
Modifications,
impulses,
feedbacks and constructive criticism
were absorbed and contributed to my development.
This has facilitated my healthy and rapid growth.
Whilst I was being strengthened and enriched by constant impulses from the community
my sister stagnated.
She was isolated.
I never envied her for her life.
Her view of the world and its diversity was impeded by blinkers.
It was a milestone in my life
when my creator introduced me to a giant exchange platform.
There is a great number of these wonderful virtual bazaars for digital contents,
i.e. Wikipedia, Jamendo, fixit.com,
Flickr, Soundcloud, Spinexpress and many others.
Here I got to know many more creations.
I soon discovered that I was becoming an incitement and inspiration for new contents myself!
This discovery of voluntary give and take,
this enormous diversity and independance had a lasting impact on me.
It is like a big pot from which everybody may take out and also add to.
Some creators refer to this system as gifteconomy or peer-production.
The purpose here is not profit-making in a traditional capitalist sense.
These communities function according to quite a different value system:
Freedom,
self organisation,
cooperation,
responsibility and the common good
are some of the key words describing the character of these communities.
I tried to find out
why there were suddenly new creations inspired through me.
I realised that we all shared a common basis.:
the Creative Commons Licence.
My name “CC” is derived from this concept.
This licence was basically developped by a law professor
and his students at the Stanford Law School in 2001.
It takes its orientation from the basic values of openness and sharing.
In the digital area of copy&paste
Artists, cultural and media workers as well as researchers
thus have finally received an important tool for their work.
Based on the CC modules “by”,
“Non-Commercial”,
“No Derivatives”,
“Share Alike”,
creators can compile a licence according to their needs
and thus determine the legal conditions
under which their creations may be published
and made available.
Wow!
These rules and standards constitute the framework for a huge community
who together create digital commons for one another –
for the entire planet.
My sister C -
who is controlled by copyright -
was presented on a silver place and with a lot of effort to prospective customers.
She has become a sad and lonely bird in a golden cage.
In the meantime, our lives have became so different
that it is difficult to imagine
that we once originated from the same creator.
I therefore have written the following message
which is directed to all creators:
‘It is within your discretion to add your own
unique creative works, contents and creations to the cultural commons.
With the Creative Commons Licences you determine
what shall be done with your contribution and how far the use of your creation may go.
You are thus an elementary building stone of the communal public good
that is accessible to all human beings and will continue to be so tomorrow!’
There are many stories like the one of CC and his sister C.
It is your decision under which star your creation will be born.