[wos] Definition of Free Cultural Works 1.0 Released

[Erik Moeller]

New "Definition of Free Cultural Works" Challenges Authors to Rethink
Copyright Law

''The Internet, February 14, 2007.'' --
A diverse group of writers has released the first version of the
"Definition of Free Cultural Works." The authors have identified a
minimum set of freedoms which they believe should be granted to all
users of copyrighted materials. Created on a wiki with the feedback of
Wikipedia users, open source hackers, artists, scientists, and lawyers,
the definition lists the following core freedoms:

* The freedom to use and perform the work
* The freedom to study the work and apply the information
* The freedom to redistribute copies
* The freedom to distribute derivative works.

Inspired by the Free Software Definition and the ideals of the free
software and open source movements, these conditions are meant to apply
to any conceivable work. In reality, these freedoms must be granted
explicitly by authors, through the use of licenses which confer them. On
the website of the definition, <http://freedomdefined.org/>, a list of
these licenses can be found. Furthermore, authors are encouraged to
identify their works as Free Cultural Works using a set of logos and
buttons.

The definition was initiated by Benjamin Mako Hill, a Debian GNU/Linux
developer, and Erik Möller, an author and long-time Wikipedia user.
Wikipedia already follows similar principles to those established by the
definition. Angela Beesley, Wikimedia Advisory Board Chair and
co-founder of Wikia.com; Mia Garlick, general counsel of Creative
Commons; and Elizabeth Stark of the Free Culture Student Movement acted
as moderators, while Richard Stallman of the Free Software Foundation
and Lawrence Lessig of Creative Commons provided helpful feedback.

As more and more people recognize that there are alternatives to
traditional copyright, phrases like "open source," "open access," "open
content," "free content," and "commons" are increasingly used. But many
of these phrases are ambiguous when it comes to distinguishing works and
licenses which grant all the above freedoms, and those which only confer
limited rights. For example, a popular license restricts the commercial
use of works, whereas the authors believe that such use must be
permitted for a work to be considered Free. Instead of limiting
commercial use, they recommend using a clever legal trick called
"copyleft:" requiring all users of the work to make their combined and
derivative works freely available.

Möller and Hill encourage authors to rethink copyright law and use one
of the Free Culture Licenses to help build a genuine free and open
culture.

== Links ==

* http://freedomdefined.org/ - Official homepage of the definition
* http://freedomdefined.org/Licenses - Information about specific
licenses
* http://freedomdefined.org/Logos_and_buttons - Logos and buttons for
identifying free cultural works

== Contact ==

* Erik Möller - eloquence (at) gmail (dot) com - +49-30-45491008
* Benjamin Mako Hill - mako (at) atdot (dot) cc

-- 
Peace & Love,
Erik