being digital means making copies

users want to copy our copies

in order to create new things

we make culture by building on others’ ideas

“ Anyone who has lost track of time when using a computer knows the propensity to dream, the urge to make dreams come true and the tendency to miss lunch. ” - tim berners-lee

but making copies means addressing rights

“ If the only way a library can offer an internet exhibit is to hire a lawyer to clear the rights to every image and sound, then the copyright system is burdening creativity in a way that has never been seen before ” - larry lessig

Our Copyright Act 1994 consists of 242 pages divided into 236 sections and 4 schedules. Parts of the Copyright Act 1962 or the Copyright Act 1913 may still apply to works created before 1994.

so we ask our users to do this instead

William J. Glanville 1853-1932

this is what Lessig calls “remix”

which is fine until I self-publish for $20

or share it on flickr for free

and yet these images are 102 years old

when we digitise we need to know why

we need to expect users want to copy

so they can create new things

and make culture by building on others’ ideas flickr image by Zanthia

we need to make it easy to tell them their rights

we started with remix

asking for content with no known copyright

and stuff that can be made Creative Commons Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

which wasn’t always easy

it is easy to see copyrights as only for the creator

but they are also rights for users

which we block by making it hard to copy and use

or by implying copyright on the public domain

we have the tools we need. Let’s do the work.