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Chieka on Boing Boing TV
Left: Chieka models her AFDB
Right: Chieka on Boing Boing TV
Copyright must be the most misunderstood aspect of life online. Many people feel (wrongly) that what they see online is theirs for the taking. In my role as Community Manager at Flickr, I’ve received angry missives from people post DMCA takedown along the the lines of “but I found it on the internet, it’s free!”. Well, no it’s not.
I love Creative Commons. I embraced this evolution of copyright very early on. It’s trying to find a way for individuals to share their work in ways that they are comfortable with. Given that my photos are shared here and on Flickr under Creative Commons it’s always interesting to me to see where my work turns up. My photo of Chieka in her aluminum foil beanie has been included in this Boing Boing TV clip that dramatizes spam.
I have a couple of thoughts about the inclusion:
1) I initially thought that Boing Boing was using the work uncredited. I’d viewed the video on a 3rd party site. Upon going to the source, there is credit in text under the video itself. I don’t think this is good enough. Given that Boing Boing TV can be embedded by 3rd parties, that accompanying information isn’t along for the ride.
2) Chieka in her beanie is licensed as “Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic“. I would say that Boing Boing TV is a commercial endeavor. Don’t the bits air on Virgin America? That along with the ad driven site classify Boing Boing TV as a commercial. Am I wrong? Otherwise, I would think that “no derivatives” would preclude the reshaping and sparkles.
What am I going to do about it? Nothing. We’ve all recently seen how issues around use of work and the respect owed to the creator can take on a life of their own. I don’t want to particularly engage with any form of mob rule around a crappy phone cam shot of my chihuahua in a tin foil hat. And sadly, I don’t feel that Boing Boing would care all that much. They are a force unto themselves.
Here’s what I’d like to see: those using Creative Commons need to work harder to respect the work of those who are licensing their photos in this new way. There’s no greater way for a project like this to fail if people don’t take the time to do the right thing. Pick photos with the right kind of license. Don’t assume that a Creative Commons license of any flavour it carte blanche. It’s not. Take the time to credit the work in in a way that is respectful to the creators. If you’re making a video, put the credits at the end. If people continually see their photos misused, they’re likely to abandon the project altogether and that would be a great shame.
Now go make yourself a tin foil hat.
UPDATE: 6:52 PM PACIFIC 03/06/08 — it looks like Boing Boing TV has pulled the image of Chieka in her tin foil hat from the video, though the credit still remains on the page (I’ve copied and pasted the text below and you can see my “credit” emboldened).
Bags of Hush
When Claire and I were little, our step-father’s call for “bags of hush” was are cue to calm the fuck down. I’ve always liked the idea of a bag of hush. It would be lighter than air and once opened, would roll out in waves like the mist from dry ice (and you would have to twirl as dry ice and ballet are forever twined in my brain).
Our new apartment is so quiet. Almost too quiet. I find myself lying in bed missing some of what came to be natural sounds of apartment life in San Francisco: people going through your garbage in the wee hours or the snippets of drunken conversation as people made their way home after last call. But back to the quiet.
My current theory to our quietness is that there’s a house elf standing on the roof with a never ending bag of hush. The hush is rolling out continuously, providing a blanket of quiet for all those who dwell under our roof. I’m not sure how I can scientifically prove this theory, but I’m going to stick with it for the time being.
I have a concern that we’re not down with the custom. Are we supposed to leave out plates of cookies or mugs of spiced rum? It would be a massive shame if we were to fail in the appropriate payment or show of appreciation and our house elf were to take a hike. Any thoughts?
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Heather Powazek Champ never leaves the house without a camera. A Canadian by birth, she now calls San Francisco home. More »
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