The UK Arts Council funded this report into how UK artists are using Creative Commons licenses and their relationship to traditional copyright. The majority of those surveyed that were using CC licenses were using the "Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives" license (45%).
One of the conclusions of the report is that many creative individuals are not sure how to release their work with much confusion of what copyright and licensing means. Another interesting aspect of the report is looking at what "collaboration" really means. Most contributors to the report did not see the act of re-mixing, or using "found" footage, as any sort of collaboration with the original providers of content. What this means in terms of incentives for creators of re-use-able material in the long run is anyone's guess but it is a good reality check that "online community" can be anything but. It would be good to see a more independent report on CC licensing (the Open Business organisation help run CC UK) but worthwhile reading for anyone interested in this space.
"Hollywood's vision taking us back to the Stone Age".
An alarming summary of the lengths to which entertainment companies are prepared to go in order to block the creation and distribution of media devices that do not support Digital Rights Enforcement.
A European Charter for Film Online was presented at this year's Cannes Film Festival. The market for legal online video and film downloads is opening. EUobserver.com
TurboSquid is one of the highest profile online marketplaces for digital assets. The site provides a wide variety of digital media files ranging from 3D models and meshes, shaders and sound effects, through to texture maps and tutorials.
New blog grandtextauto by the people behind the Fascade interactive narrative project due out later this year.
Every game, every mod, nothing more nothing less - modDB.com. Kind of like Slashdot for game MOD people.
The Sound Designers from "La Cuisine" shake their booties !!!, more kookiness from the Paris sound design team who did the soundtrack for my Horses for Courses film.
Grist from the rumour mill, music industry analyst Bob Lefetz predicts a buy-out of EMI and a resurgence of Napster, supported by major labels. In The Lefsetz Letter, his mailing list aimed at music industry execs, Bob writes:
So, now on Roxio's Napster, you'll be able to trade both EMI and Sony product. It won't be long before the other label groups come to the party.
The BBC's television license fee may be somewhat controversial but it sure contributes to a lot of useful resources. A quick scan across the published BBC R&D whitepapers web site came up with the following interesting papers.
Virtual identities in interactive broadcasting
Real-time production and delivery of 3D media
Simutainment: A factual TV documentary as a 3D interactive experience
Evolving technical architecture for BBC public service digital television
Use of image-based 3D modelling techniques in broadcast applications
Use of 3-D techniques for Virtual Production
The Museums and the Web 2003 conference has papers online, including one on the use of cinematic techniques in a multimedia museum guide.
"The more you click your mouse, the greater the chance of suffering from pain, swelling and other repetitive strain injuries in the hand, neck and shoulder, two teams of Danish researchers told a scientific conference." Computer mouse key culprit in repetitive strain injuries.
Will MMORPGs soon require health warnings? Recent articles on Ultima Online economics (in WIRED Jan/03) and interviews with Everyquest veterans (PCPowerplay Jan 03 - share a link anyone?) highlight the unhealthy aspects to game play.
A screendaily.com article on european animated film reports that
production of animated feature films in Europe is at an all-time high, according to a study of the industry published by Cartoon, the European animation association. The full report costs 300 EUR
The UK Government has issued its first policy on Open Source.
While it is undoubtedly a good thing that open source is being acknowledged, the policy ducks the issue of the wider implications of open source. Open source, it argues, needs to be considered in terms of value for money and to avoid vendor lock-in.
Nowhere is the notion of actually contributing open source funding or IP. Nor is there any mention of benefits to be had from giving value back to the community.
The argument for OSS providing better security is watered down with caveats.
"Properly configured OSS can be at least as secure as proprietary systems, and OSS is currently subject to fewer Internet attacks"
Thus the UK Government can rightly claim to have responded to the calls for a policy in this area without having to buy into the open source model per se (and support the development of further open source technology). Better than nothing but no huge incentive for government departments to give up their proprietary software procurement deals yet.
Conceptually fascinating, in substance nothing yet... Cryptids by Butterfly.net.
Info courtesy of e3dnews.