Version 1.1 of the definition has been released. Please help updating it, contribute translations, and help us with the design of logos and buttons to identify free cultural works and licenses!
Editing Announcement
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
The edit can be undone. Please check the comparison below to verify that this is what you want to do, and then publish the changes below to finish undoing the edit.
| Latest revision | Your text | ||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
The free culture movement is growing. Hackers have created a completely free operating system called GNU/Linux that can be used and shared by anyone for any purpose. A community of volunteers has built the largest encyclopedia in history, Wikipedia, which is used by more people every day than CNN.com or AOL.com. Thousands of individuals have chosen to upload photos to Flickr.com under free licenses. But - just a minute. What exactly is a "free license"? | The free culture movement is growing. Hackers have created a completely free operating system called GNU/Linux that can be used and shared by anyone for any purpose. A community of volunteers has built the largest encyclopedia in history, Wikipedia, which is used by more people every day than CNN.com or AOL.com. Thousands of individuals have chosen to upload photos to Flickr.com under free licenses. But - just a minute. What exactly is a "free license"? | ||
| Line 9: | Line 7: | ||
Neither these names nor the text of the definition itself are final yet. In the spirit of free and open collaboration, we invite your feedback and changes. The definition is published in a wiki. You can find it at: | Neither these names nor the text of the definition itself are final yet. In the spirit of free and open collaboration, we invite your feedback and changes. The definition is published in a wiki. You can find it at: | ||
http://freedomdefined.org/ | |||
Please use the URL <http://freedomdefined.org/static/> (including the trailing slash) when submitting this link to high-traffic websites. | Please use the URL <http://freedomdefined.org/static/> (including the trailing slash) when submitting this link to high-traffic websites. | ||
There is a stable and an unstable version of the definition. The stable version is protected, while the unstable one | There is a stable and an unstable version of the definition. The stable version is protected, while the unstable one can be edited by anyone. Be bold and make changes to the unstable version, or make suggestions on the discussion page. Over time, we hope to reach a consensus. To assist in this process, the following moderators will help: | ||
* Erik Möller - co-initiator of the definition. Free software developer, author and long time Wikimedian, where he initiated two projects: Wikinews and the Wikimedia Commons. | * Erik Möller - co-initiator of the definition. Free software developer, author and long time Wikimedian, where he initiated two projects: Wikinews and the Wikimedia Commons. | ||
* Benjamin Mako Hill - co-initiator of the definition. Debian hacker and author of the Debian GNU/Linux 3.1 Bible, board member of Software in the Public Interest, Software Freedom International, and the Ubuntu Foundation. | * Benjamin Mako Hill - co-initiator of the definition. Debian hacker and author of the Debian GNU/Linux 3.1 Bible, board member of Software in the Public Interest, Software Freedom International, and the Ubuntu Foundation. | ||
* Mia Garlick. General Counsel at Creative Commons, and an expert on IP law. Creative Commons is, of course, the project which offers many easy-to-use licenses to authors and artists, some of which are free content licenses and some of which are not. | * Mia Garlick. General Counsel at Creative Commons, and an expert on IP law. Creative Commons is, of course, the project which offers many easy-to-use licenses to authors and artists, some of which are free content licenses and some of which are not. | ||
* Angela Beesley. One of the two elected trustees of the Wikimedia Foundation | * Angela Beesley. One of the two elected trustees of the Wikimedia Foundation, a Board member of Ourmedia, and the Vice President of Wikia, Inc. | ||
None of | None of them is acting here in an official capacity related to their affiliations. Please treat their comments as personal opinion unless otherwise noted. The Creative Commons project has welcomed the effort to clearly classify existing groups of licenses, and will work to supplement this definition with one which covers a larger class of licenses and works. | ||
In addition to changes to the definition itself, we invite you to submit logos that can be attached to works or licenses which are free under this definition: | In addition to changes to the definition itself, we invite you to submit logos that can be attached to works or licenses which are free under this definition: | ||
http://freedomdefined.org/Logo_contest | |||
One note on the choice of name. Not all people will be happy to label their works "content", as it is also a term that is heavily used in commerce. This is why | One note on the choice of name. Not all people will be happy to label their works "content", as it is also a term that is heavily used in commerce. This is why Mako and I have compromised on the name "Free Content and Expression Definition" for the definition itself. We are suggesting "Free Expression" as an alternative term that may lend itself particularly to usage in the context of artistic works. However, we remain open on discussing the issue of naming, and invite your feedback in this regard. We considered calling it "Wii", but sadly noticed that the name was taken already. | ||
All that being said, I hope that you will join the open editing phase or the logo contest. Even if there will be very little feedback, I hope we will be able to release a 1.0 version of this definition fairly soon. | |||
Please forward this announcement to other relevant message boards and mailing lists. | Please forward this announcement to other relevant message boards and mailing lists. | ||