04 May 2005
All hail the commons!
How exciting is it to be involved with the internet at the dawn of the creative commons?! This has huge repercussions for the creative industries of the future. Imagine a place where people can create whatever they want and then offer it in a database for every-one else to use. As I have stated earlier in the "26 April 2005" entry, I believe that every-one wants to have their voice heard. Everone wants to feel like they have participated in some way to the collective good of the world. Fundamentally, every-one wants to be loved for their unique qualities. By allowing every-one to have a voice, the internet provides a spawning ground for free expression. When these expressive gestures, whether they be written, photographic, artistic or musical, become integrated into a network of creativity, they become elevated into a higher structure of meaning.
Perhaps I am alone in my emphatic enthusiasm for this concept. Members of my tutorial group today were more concerned about whether they would be paid for their creations or not. I think they fail to see things from my perspective, and that this is a revolutionary moment in history. It is like communism is returning with avengance. What better way to undermine the major corporations than to give creative content away freely? Imagine if this collaborative, creative content grows exponentially, to become more fantastic than any paid project. Who would pay to have access to copyrighted goods when their quality is inferior to communally created masterpieces?
I realise there still is a place for capitalism and that every-one needs to put food on their table somehow. Capitalism is a very successful system, and these communal commons may not neccessarily overthrow an entire system of economics. But where the arts are concerned, this communitarian approach could see entirely new forms of education and creativity unfolding. People would be driven by their hearts rather than their need for money. Our day jobs would still prevail, but our spare time could be spent passionately helping grow communal projects. Knowing that our own work could be reused by others would give us a sence of pride and achievement that money could possibly not emulate. Knowing that our work has improved the world in some way gives tremendous satisfaction.
The trouble for me in the past has always been - How to get my work out there? Money is no issue for me and I would gladly paricipate in projects where others could build upon my concepts, or I could build upon theirs. I guess there is no way of owning concepts because once the idea is out then it's free for all. But why not offer your ideas for free? Science has always offered new information freely with peer review and inner satisfaction being the soul rewards. (Does money reward the soul?) Only recently have scientists got on the capitalist bandwagon and started patenting their own discoveries and owning living things! Do people really think buying up rights to knowledge is going to improve the world? Benjamin Franklin obviously knew it wouldn't because he refused to patent many of his ideas stating, "We shoud be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours, and this we shoud do freely and generously." (cited in Meikle, 2002).
Creative commons are fantastic. They allow unhindered growth and sharing of information by allowing creative content to be used, reworked, improved and reused. I truely hope that this is a sneek preview of a changing world where motivations are changing away from capital aquisition towards communal prosperity.
Perhaps I am alone in my emphatic enthusiasm for this concept. Members of my tutorial group today were more concerned about whether they would be paid for their creations or not. I think they fail to see things from my perspective, and that this is a revolutionary moment in history. It is like communism is returning with avengance. What better way to undermine the major corporations than to give creative content away freely? Imagine if this collaborative, creative content grows exponentially, to become more fantastic than any paid project. Who would pay to have access to copyrighted goods when their quality is inferior to communally created masterpieces?
I realise there still is a place for capitalism and that every-one needs to put food on their table somehow. Capitalism is a very successful system, and these communal commons may not neccessarily overthrow an entire system of economics. But where the arts are concerned, this communitarian approach could see entirely new forms of education and creativity unfolding. People would be driven by their hearts rather than their need for money. Our day jobs would still prevail, but our spare time could be spent passionately helping grow communal projects. Knowing that our own work could be reused by others would give us a sence of pride and achievement that money could possibly not emulate. Knowing that our work has improved the world in some way gives tremendous satisfaction.
The trouble for me in the past has always been - How to get my work out there? Money is no issue for me and I would gladly paricipate in projects where others could build upon my concepts, or I could build upon theirs. I guess there is no way of owning concepts because once the idea is out then it's free for all. But why not offer your ideas for free? Science has always offered new information freely with peer review and inner satisfaction being the soul rewards. (Does money reward the soul?) Only recently have scientists got on the capitalist bandwagon and started patenting their own discoveries and owning living things! Do people really think buying up rights to knowledge is going to improve the world? Benjamin Franklin obviously knew it wouldn't because he refused to patent many of his ideas stating, "We shoud be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours, and this we shoud do freely and generously." (cited in Meikle, 2002).
Creative commons are fantastic. They allow unhindered growth and sharing of information by allowing creative content to be used, reworked, improved and reused. I truely hope that this is a sneek preview of a changing world where motivations are changing away from capital aquisition towards communal prosperity.
