take me
use me
share me
i’m licensed
to be
re
mix
ed.
those ideas
these words
the painted
scrawling blathering
ruse
moves us from
mine to ours.
i can feel it in you
just as you’re feeling
it in me:
nothing original
nothing new
nothing owned
everything free.
dancing derivatives
denizens of a developing
culture.
unattached and untethered
blurred and modified
(r)evolutionary
copied and copied and copied.
a commons
in which we give and take
remix and build and create
and share and evolve.
non-commercial
and not for profit
call me an idealist
and I will call you one too.
take me
use me
share me
i’m licensed
and ready to be
made into you,
as i take you into me
and carve a we.
no monsanto
no pfizer
no property
this is buddha
this is marx
this is freedom
this is sharing
this is free
give credit where credit is due
then take the thing and add to it
too.
this new thing,
the one that belongs to neither you or me
give it away and let a third voice sing it free.
i am creative commons licensed
everything i think
i feel and create
is there for you:
use it,
adapt it
share it.
give it away once you’re done with it,
tell people where you found it
don’t try to make money from it.
Last week, I got my favorite Creative Commons License (Attribution, Non-Commercial, ShareAlike) tattooed on my arm. I didn’t tattoo the symbols on my arm, because I think it is cute to cite photos I use for presentations. I tattooed the license on my arm because I see it as a badge of honor! Despite some of the criticism I have recently read, I see the vision of Creative Commons:
Our vision is nothing less than realizing the full potential of the Internet — universal access to research and education, full participation in culture — to drive a new era of development, growth, and productivity.
as something bigger than just teaching kids how to use images they find on the Internet. I see The Commons cause as bigger than piracy and media use. I see Creative Commons as the building block of a new culture. A culture in which cooperation trumps competition. Where we understand the derivative nature of human intellectual and artistic growth and try to build new laws to deal with a world where Everything is a Remix.
I see Creative Commons as an alternative to the very concept of copyright, and not only in the field of digital media. I hope to inspire kids to see their ideas are extensions of generations of thinking. I hope to challenge the idea of intellectual property as something that can be owned. I want kids to see that they are a link in an infinite chain of ideas. I want kids to see that while companies can copyright genetic codes in food production or own powerful medicines, that perhaps they can create a world that would be better served with a culture that chooses to share and build upon ideas, rather than owning them. Perhaps we can create a culture beyond commercialism and profits, one were we strive for sustainability and evolution.
I know these ideas may seem romantic, idealistic and perhaps a bit naive. I was raised on Imagine and Blowing in the Wind. Did you expect anything less? So while like the UN, the actual power of CC may be limited, I chose to tattoo the label on my arm because I value and love the idea of a shared commons. A place where the cultural and natural resources are accessible to all members of a society, including natural materials such as air, water, and a habitable earth. These resources are held in common, not owned privately.
What are your thoughts on Creative Commons?
Jabiz remixed.
take me
use me
share me
[re] mix me
those ideas
these words
the painted
scrawling blathering
ruse
moves us from
mine to ours.
i can feel it in you
just as you’re feeling
it in me:
nothing original
[everything and nothing is] new
nothing owned
everything [and nothing] free.
dancing derivatives
denizens of a developing
culture.
unattached and untethered
blurred and modified
(r)evolutionary
copied and copied and copied.
[iteration to iteration]
give and take [iterate]
remix and build and [re]create
and share and evolve.
call me an idealist
and I will call you one too.
take me
use me
share me
i’m [already] ready to be
[re]made into you,
as i take you into me
and carve a we.
no [to no]
no control
no [‘creative’ control or] commons
this is freedom
this is sharing
this is free
give credit where credit is due
[or not—it’s up to you]
take [it, break it, remake it, retake] it
too.
this [re]new[ed] thing,
[…] belongs to neither you [n]or me
give it away and let a third voice sing it free.
everything i think
i feel and create
is there for you:
use it,
adapt it
share it.
give it away once you’re done with it,
tell people where you found it
or don’t.
credit or take the credit.
the choice is yours.
created by Jabiz
[recreated by a proteanteacher]
This also takes pressure off our students to feel the weight of creative acts as independent, lonely, isolated work. Creative Commons reminds us that everything creative is also about connectivity.
When I think of Creative commons, I am reminded of the philosophy of life according to a statement made by a Kindergarten teacher. This teacher stated that everything we need in life, we learn in kindergarten. One of the first things that we learned at that tender age was to share and to share alike. As we grew, we were able to build upon that sharing until competition reared its ugly head. Creative Commons is a place where we can connect, share and collaborate while teaching and learning. I can remember when my husband started working at a clock company and this elderly gentleman who was about to retire after 38 years refused to train him. He told my husband and I quote, “sea sick water bound if you can’t swim you are bound to drown.” I just couldn’t believe that the “master clockman” was willing to take his knowledge to the grave. However, that is exactly what he did. Now concerning students of today, I think that we should encourage them to pass their knowledge on so that they will have room to receive more.
Hi Tracy,
Sorry I have been so bad about responding to your many thoughtful comments on my blog. I really appreciate you taking the time to read and interact with the material.
I couldn’t agree more! My contention is that no one needs CC to share, in fact most people that share do it perfectly fine, without needing to navigate the permutations of CC attribution. Help yourself and help others.
Hey Sean,
I get that we don’t need CC, but if you agree with the symbolic logic behind the idea, then why not have a place where we can rally behind and use as a fulcrum for creating this new culture. Also, while I am not a lawyer, it seems that we do need some kind of legal mechanism to use when we battle the copyright laws and ways of thinking.
There might be better ways of tackling all of this, but CC to me at least, seems like a simple great place to start
It’s a strange thing, you see it feels to me like we are strangely at opposite end of the continuum, and yet in exactly the same place at the same time. That’s why I can whole heartedly agree with your sentiments, your ‘idealism’ and yet … passionately reject the entire notion that we (and, worse, our students) need to litter everything we/they (re)use with forms of ‘legalese’ that are, ironically, not even legal :/
My background is in Graphic and Web design, so trust me I’ve had my fair share of wrangles with being ripped off, but CC just makes no difference at all, it’s just a distraction, and reinforces the unhelpful myth of ‘IP’ which I have to say, I detest.
I love simplicity, CC is a messy complexity. I don’t expect you to agree with me, (especially as it has been indelibly etched into your epidermis!) what I *do* hope is that you and others who are CC enthusiasts can respect my reasons for rejecting it, as I (you can sense my irkometer rising) am so tired if being made to feel like a digital pariah whenever this topic surfaces—only around a tiny tech/twitter demographic I might add.
Sounds like you have a gripe with a specific group of people, I do not want to get involved with that. As for our students, I like CC as an entry point to conversations about ownerships, sharing, culture etc….I do not spend too much time on the pragmatics as it does not take that long. Find a photo cite it.
Anyway, thanks for making me think and interacting with my ideas.