August « 2010 « Nina Paley’s Blog

Four Freedoms of Free Culture

In my endless attempt to explain what’s wrong with Creative Commons’ “non-commercial” and “no derivatives” restrictions, I came across this 2005 article by Benjamin Mako Hill:

Free Software’s fundamental document is Richard Stallman’s Free Software Definitions (FSD) [3]. At its core, the FSD lists four freedoms:

The freedom to run the program, for any purpose;
The freedom to study how the program works, and adapt it to your needs;
The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor;
The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits;

…For the CC founders and many of CC’s advocates, FOSS’s success is a source of inspiration.

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Inspiration (a.k.a. Artist’s Prayer)

Our Idea
Which art in the Ether
That cannot be named;

Thy Vision come
Thy Will be done
On Earth, as it is in Abstraction.

Give us this day our daily Spark
And forgive us our criticisms
As we forgive those who critique against us;

And lead us not into stagnation
But deliver us from Ego;

For Thine is the Vision
And the Power
And the Glory forever.

Amen.

Our Idea Which art in the Ether That cannot be named; Thy Vision come Thy Will be done On Earth, as it is in Abstraction. Give us this

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Mimi & Eunice: Now 12.5% Smaller!

Due to the prevalence of narrow blogs, Brett Thompson modified the default embed size of Mimi & Eunice comics from 640 pixels wide to a mere 560 pixels. Thanks again, Brett!

Everyone: please embed these everywhere!

Due to the prevalence of narrow blogs, Brett Thompson modified the default embed size of Mimi & Eunice comics from 640 pixels wide to a mere 560 pixels.

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An Honor from Public Knowledge

Other news I’ve been remiss in not posting until now: I’ve been chosen to receive an IP3 Award from Public Knowledge!

Awards are given to individuals who over the past year (or over the course of their careers) who have advanced the public interest in one of the three areas of ��IP�� ?Intellectual Property, Information Policy and Internet Protocol. The awards will be presented at a ceremony Oct. 13 in Washington, D.C.

My stellar fellow awardees include Pamela Samuelson, Susan Crawford, Michael Geist. I’m really honored; this isn’t for Sita Sings the Blues (except maybe for how I released it), it’s for my Free Culture advocacy.

Other news I’ve

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The Betty Boop Festival

Boy have I been remiss in posting news. First item: I spent last weekend in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, attending the Betty Boop Festival.

There I learned about the fascinating subculture of Betty Boop collectors. Betty was big in Japan in the 1930’s – I had no idea. I wish there were pictures of Japanese Betty collectibles online I could share with you, but there aren’t; maybe Betty collectors are all cagey due to the intense licensing restrictions that surround the character.

I also learned more about animation legend Grim Natwick, who grew up in Wisconsin Rapids before moving to LA and changing cultural history.

I met a lot of people including Madison filmmaker Robert

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