From June—August 2019, Creative Commons hosted eight CC Certificate classes for Academic Librarians and Educators. Participants in the classes studied Creative Commons licenses, copyright, the public domain, and open practices. Certificate students developed open licensing proficiency and deepened their understanding of the broader context for open advocacy. See examples of the assignments participants shared under CC licenses here!

Graduates from these classes included 67 educators and 90 librarians. Together, they joined the Certificate alumni community of 442 remarkable people making extraordinary changes in every region of the world. From translating Certificate content in multiple languages, to hosting workshops to developing entire graduate-level courses, CC Certificate alumni bring a new level of advocacy to open education and open access.

#MondayMotivation my @creativecommons certification came in! Still super proud of the work I accomplished and the knowledge I gained to move forward in my librarianship. #LibraryTwitter pic.twitter.com/DmFCrcTXcp

— Elizabeth Beaver Batte (@beaverbatte) September 9, 2019

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Image: Elizabeth Batte tweeted her Certificate graduating from the June 2019 class. She will join Jeanne Pavy, another June Certificate graduate, and present how they plan to use gained knowledge on campus, and the impact of CC licenses in higher education at the 2019 LOUIS User Conference on October 15.

The 2nd #Creatives #Commons Algeria Chapter meeting was held this morning at the University of Bejaia. I’ve given a session titled: what is Creative Commons? @algeria_cc @creativecommons pic.twitter.com/OelHf0o6q8

— Kamel Belhamel (@kamelbelhamel) September 24, 2019

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Image: Certificate alumnus, Kamel Belhamel, puts his CC knowledge to great use at the University of Bejaia, in Algeria. View his slides and the 2nd CC Algeria Chapter meeting notes.

Here’s what our alumni are saying:

• 72% use the knowledge they gained from the course at least weekly
• 86% use the knowledge they gained from the course at least quarterly
• 62% are consulted by colleagues as an open licensing expert since graduation

Interested in taking the CC Certificate? Don’t miss out—we are now accepting new registrations for our 2020 courses!

The post Congratulations to Our 157 June CC Certificate Graduates! appeared first on Creative Commons.

Today is the International Day for Universal Access to Information (IDUAI).

You may be wondering why this day is necessary—particularly in 2019, when the average person is inundated with an estimated 34 gigabytes of information every day, from emails and text messages to Youtube videos and news programs. In fact, it’s easy to take information for granted. However, access to public information, in particular, is not universal.

“Although technology has increased the amount of information and systematized the collection of data, people and communities across the world still lack access to critical, public information,” explains Bushra Ebadi. As a researcher and Executive Committee Member of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO, Bushra relies on public information to study and develop solutions for issues such as insecurity, corruption, inequality, and climate change.

Access to information “is an integral part of the right to freedom of expression” and “a key enabler towards inclusive knowledge societies.”

According to Moez Chakchouk, UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information, access to information “is an integral part of the right to freedom of expression” and “a key enabler towards inclusive knowledge societies.” Despite this, UNESCO says that many governments “do not have national legislation on access to information as a specific expression of the law,” otherwise known as freedom of information legislation. This means that millions of people do not have the right or the ability to access public information. Further, “Even when these laws exist they are not necessarily abided by,” adds Bushra, “there can be a lot of red tape to access information in a timely manner.”

This lack of access is particularly worrying for researchers and activists, like Bushra. Without universal, open access to data from governments or research institutions, for example, developing effective solutions to global problems is difficult.

A Closer Look At Government Data

Increasingly, governments are using tools like Creative Commons’ CC0 Public Domain Dedication (CC Zero) to maximize the “re-use of data and databases” by clarifying that these resources are in the public domain and not restricted by copyright. However, there are many instances when data collected by governments are not made easily accessible (e.g., through an online data portal or open source data set).

In 2017, the World Wide Web Foundation found that almost every country included in its Open Data Barometer report failed to adequately share important data with the public. For example, only 71% of the observed government data sets were published online, only 25% were available via an open license, and only 7% of government data sets were truly open—meaning they “can be freely used, modified, and shared by anyone for any purpose.” The Foundation also reported that many of the available data sets were “incomplete, out of date, of low quality, and fragmented.”

In her work, Bushra often relies on government data to conduct policy research, but has routinely experienced problems. “The relevance of the data is largely dependent on how and what information was collected, as well as the format it is available in,” she explains. While studying issues related to forced migration and gender discrimination in the Global South, for example, she found it difficult to access reliable data.

“By restricting access to those who can afford it or have power and privilege, we support a system and culture of elitism…”

To compensate for this lack of data, researchers must often rely on data collected by non-government entities—which are typically kept behind expensive paywalls. According to Bushra, this is particularly detrimental. “By restricting access to those who can afford it or have power and privilege, we support a system and culture of elitism in which a select group of people with access are able to dictate what is done with information and how it is used.”

The Power of Information

Universal, open access to public information, particularly government data, not only facilitates scientific collaboration and innovation, it also empowers communities that have been historically marginalized and silenced.

“Access to information is intrinsically tied to the right to know and the right to exist,” Bushra emphasizes, “and without access to information, citizens lack the tools they need to hold their governments and people in power accountable.”

Information is powerful—that’s why, even in 2019, the International Day for Universal Access to Information remains not only important, but necessary.

To learn more and get involved, visit UNESCO’s website or sign up for their newsletter.

The post Access to Information Is Not Universal: Here’s Why That Matters appeared first on Creative Commons.

Earlier this year, we met Patrick Böhler, a journalist and executive editor of SWI swissinfo.ch, the international news service of Switzerland’s public broadcaster. In our conversation, we discussed the ways that various media companies and journalistic projects have used Creative Commons licensing to increase public access to their stories.

We were excited when Patrick circled back recently to tell us about his latest project, The Pangolin Reports, which launches today in newspapers and online media in several countries. The result of a nine-month investigation by more than 30 journalists around the world, The Pangolin Reports is a series of investigative reports that document the poaching and smuggling of pangolins, the scaly anteaters that are known to be the most illegally traded mammals in the world.

Böhler and an international team of journalists known as the Global Environment Reporting Collective worked in 14 newsrooms across Asia, Africa, and Europe to produce The Pangolin Reports. The series, released under Creative Commons’ BY-NC-ND license, builds on local reporters’ expertise in order to generate worldwide awareness about the multi-million-dollar black market for pangolins—and the criminal network behind the supply chain.

The Pangolin Reports is designed to spark a larger conversation about animal trafficking and to inspire a global campaign to help save the pangolin. To learn more about the project (including information about its CC license), visit pangolinreports.com. If you’re interested in joining and/or supporting the Global Environment Reporting Collective, write to contact@pangolinreports.com.

The post The Pangolin Reports: CC Journalism About the World’s Most Trafficked Mammal appeared first on Creative Commons.

In 2016, Creative Commons launched a small grant program called “The Awesome Fund.” In total, 19 grants funded a wide range of creative projects led by members of the CC network.

The Long Road to the Hall of Fame

One of the grant recipients was Réda Zine, an author, director, and producer based in Italy. Zine used the grant to help complete his feature length documentary, The Long Road to the Hall of Fame, which tells the story of Tony King (a.k.a. Malik Farrakhan).

Tony King is a former National Football League player, model, and actor—he appeared in films such as Shaft and Gordon’s War. In the 1980s, however, King transitioned from actor to political activist by joining the Nation of Islam and changing his name to Malik Farrakhan. Eventually, he became chief of security for the hip-hop group Public Enemy. 

By documenting the life and work of Tony King (a.k.a. Malik Farrakhan), the film explores how King’s life “is a parable spanning the last 40 years of African-American history.”

Released under CC BY-NC, you can now watch the full documentary on Vimeo.

 

The post Documentary “The Long Road to the Hall of Fame” Available Under CC License appeared first on Creative Commons.

Good news for people and groups working on ways to empower creators: Today, Coil announced Grant for the Web, a new $100 million fund to benefit creators and promote the open Web Monetization standard.

Grant for the Web is funded and led by Coil, in collaboration with Creative Commons and Mozilla. The fund hopes to address some of the most serious problems facing the Web, including privacy abuses related to ads and unethical sponsored content, by fixing web monetization and disrupting content subscription services.

The program will fund individuals, projects, and global communities that contribute to a privacy-centric, open, and accessible web monetization ecosystem. Specifically, the Grant for the Web program encourages content creators and software developers to develop and test new business models using Web Monetization, an open web standard that has been proposed to the W3C Web Incubator Community Group. 

Grant for the Web is committed to awarding at least 50% of all grant dollars to proposed software projects and content projects that will be openly licensed. Special consideration will be given to projects that reflect the values of the global commons, such as: 

• Increasing users’ autonomy, privacy, and control over their own data 
• Promoting diversity and inclusion on the internet 
• Increasing access to the full capacity of the internet, both for content consumption and content creation, for historically marginalized or disadvantaged communities and individuals

Representatives from Coil, Creative Commons, and Mozilla will make up the initial Grant for the Web Advisory Council, which governs the fund’s activities. Additionally, Coil, Creative Commons, and Mozilla will each designate an advisor to serve on a Technical Advisory Group. The purpose of this group will be to guide the direction of the program, and to review grant applications from a technical perspective and in turn provide recommendations to the Advisory Council.

As collaborators on this project, we’re excited to help foster new and innovative business models that will address issues facing the Web today.  For more information and updates about Grant for the Web, including upcoming calls for proposals, visit http://grantfortheweb.org/. 

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