The Power of Open

The Power of Open is close to 50 page report on the success and impact of Creative Commons Licensing over the past decade through the experiences of artist, educators, scientists and institutions.

We have featured and reviewed many Creative Commons artists here on FrostClick and unconditionally support the licensing format as a tool that enables free sharing of information & resources to realize “the full potential of the internet”.

Creative Commons began providing licenses for the open sharing of content only a decade ago. Now more than 400 million CC-licensed works are available on the Internet, from music and photos, to research findings and entire college courses. Creative Commons created the legal and technical infrastructure that allows effective sharing of knowledge, art and data by individuals, organizations and governments. More importantly, millions of creators took advantage of that infrastructure to share work that enriches the global commons for all humanity.

From The Power of Open

Some amazing quotes from the report:

June Cohen – TEDTalks
“This phenomenal growth is entirely driven by free and open distribution, CC licensing has enabled sharing in ways well beyond what we could have done on our own.”

Jonathan Worth – Photographer
“We don’t have all the answers, but CC lets me choose my flavor and helps me take advantage of the things working against me.”

Nina Paley – Artist
“I’ve never had more money coming at me than when I started using Creative Commons BY-SA. I have a higher profile. I don’t spend anything on promotion. My fans are doing it for me and buying merchandise. Sharing put me on the map.”

DJ Vadim – Musician
“Music is a conversation, between creators and listeners, each bringing their own experiences to the melting pot.”

Solana Larsen – Global Voices
“Creative Commons gives us the liberty to facilitate translations into more than a dozen languages daily.”

Frances Pinter – Bloomsbury Academic
“Publishers are worried that making content available for free will cannibalize print sales, but we believe that for certain types of books, free promotes the print.”

Dan Zaccagnino – Indaba Music
“There was a lot of push-back in the beginning, but we’ve proven to musicians and record labels that there’s so much benefit to licensing with CC.”

Curt Smith – Artist
“CC is a smart way to go for any artist. Why would anyone want to go around suing their fans?”

Melinda Lee – Uncensored Interview
“We want to take a look at what people are doing and allow for that in our production strategy.”

Sylvain Zimmer – Jamendo
“We want musicians to see Creative Commons licenses, Jamendo, and the idea of free music as a real and beneficial alternative for music distribution.”

Salman Khan – Khan Academy
“If I get hit by a bus tomorrow, I could still continue to teach a million people a year.”

The Report is available in print version as well and has been translated to other languages.

Related Links:
The Power of Open Official Website
The Power of Open on CC blog

Except where otherwise noted, content in The Power of Open is licensed under aCreative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
Contact us about The Power of Open at info@thepowerofopen.org.