[okfn-discuss] Fwd: Al Jazeera Announces Launch of Free Footage Under Creative Commons License

Wed Jan 14 22:51:40 UTC 2009

Al Jazeera has started releasing some content under a CC-BY license:

  http://cc.aljazeera.net

J.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Eric Steuer <eric at creativecommons.org>
Date: Tue, Jan 13, 2009 at 10:12 PM
Subject: [cc-community] PRESS RELEASE: Al Jazeera Announces Launch of
Free Footage Under Creative Commons License
To: cc-community at lists.ibiblio.org

PDF attached; text below
==

Al Jazeera Announces Launch of Free Footage Under Creative Commons License

Doha, Qatar - January 13, 2009

Al Jazeera Network today announced the world's first repository of
broadcast-quality video footage released under the Creative Commons
3.0 Attribution license. Select Al Jazeera video footage – at this
time, footage of the War in Gaza - will be available for free to be
downloaded, shared, remixed, subtitled and eventually rebroadcasted by
users and TV stations across the world with acknowledgement to Al
Jazeera.

Al Jazeera will release its exclusive Arabic and English coverage
produced by the Network's correspondents and crews in the Gaza Strip
online at http://cc.aljazeera.net. The ongoing war and crisis in Gaza,
together with the scarcity of news footage available, make the
repository a key resource for anyone producing content about the
current situation.

This is the first time that video footage produced by a news
broadcaster is released under the Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution
license, which allows for both commercial and non-commercial use.

Mohamed Nanabhay, who headed New Media at Al Jazeera and launched the
project, stated: "As one of the only international broadcasters in
Gaza, our coverage of the war has been unsurpassed. The launch of Al
Jazeera's Creative Commons Repository means that our Gaza footage will
be made available under the most permissive Creative Commons license
(CC-BY). With the flexibility of the license, we expect to introduce
our outstanding coverage to an even wider audience across the world.
This means that news outlets, filmmakers and bloggers will be able to
easily share, remix, and reuse our footage."

Lawrence Lessig – founder of the Creative Commons organization and
Professor of Law at Stanford University – stated: "Al Jazeera is
teaching an important lesson about how free speech gets built and
supported. By providing a free resource for the world, the network is
encouraging wider debate, and a richer understanding."

Joichi Ito – CEO of Creative Commons and a world-renowned technology
entrepreneur – added: "Video news footage is an essential part of
modern journalism. Providing material under a Creative Commons license
to allow commercial and amateur use is an enormous contribution to the
global dialogue around important events. Al Jazeera has set the
example and the standard that we hope others will follow."

As a pioneer in news and media, Al Jazeera is always looking for ways
to make its unique content accessible to audiences across the world
and the launch of Al Jazeera's Creative Commons Repository is another
concrete step in this direction.

For details on downloading and accessing content from Al Jazeera's
Creative Commons Repository please go to http://cc.aljazeera.net or
contact creativecommons at aljazeera.net.

About Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera started out over twelve years ago as the first independent
Arabic news channel in the world dedicated to providing comprehensive
television news and live debate for the Arab world. In 2006, Al
Jazeera was ranked by brandchannel.com as the most impactful
television broadcast news brand globally.  As a result of its
expansion and the creation of new channels and services, Al Jazeera
was formally named the Al Jazeera Network in March 2006, transforming
its operation into an international media corporation. The Al Jazeera
Network now consists of the flagship Al Jazeera Arabic channel, Al
Jazeera English, Al Jazeera Documentary, Al Jazeera Sport, Al
Jazeera.net (the English and Arabic web sites), the Al Jazeera Media
Training and Development Center, the Al Jazeera Center for Studies, Al
Jazeera Mubasher (Live), and Al Jazeera Mobile.

About Creative Commons

Creative Commons is a not-for-profit organization, founded in 2001,
that promotes the creative re-use of intellectual and artistic works,
whether owned or in the public domain. Through its free copyright
licenses, Creative Commons offers authors, artists, scientists, and
educators the choice of a flexible range of protections and freedoms
that build upon the "all rights reserved" concept of traditional
copyright to enable a voluntary "some rights reserved" approach.
Creative Commons was built with and is sustained by the generous
support of organizations including the Center for the Public Domain,
the Omidyar Network, The Rockefeller Foundation, The John D. and
Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and The William and Flora Hewlett
Foundation, as well as members of the public. The Creative Commons
licensing suite has been ported to 50 jurisdictions around the world.
For more information about Creative Commons, visit
http://creativecommons.org.

Contact

Lauren McCollough
Media Relations, Al Jazeera Network
press.int at aljazeera.net
+974 489 6046

Eric Steuer
Creative Director, Creative Commons
eric at creativecommons.org

Donatella Della Ratta
Arab World Media and Development Manager, Creative Commons
donatella at creativecommons.org
++39 339 2248940
++963 949095651

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