Today I spoke at Seattle Central Community College to a Media Ethics class regarding Creative Commons and the Free Culture movement. This was a refreshing experience the students were very engaged in the discussion. This was one of the more receptive groups I have spoken to in Seattle, which is usually very frosty towards CC and FC in general. The realization that everyone is a creators bring to a discussion of FC an important element of how easy it is to create content. The previous coach potato generation does not understand how easy it is to create a work, but this younger generation sees the world as an active canvas for creations.
Here are the slides from the talk:
At the end of the class we started to broach the topic of Girl Talk and fair use. There were strong feelings on both sides due to the finical gain from selling CD’s and the impossibility of clearing all rights. GT has exposed a real tension in the law that is breaking traditional notions of control and creativity.