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Free Culture Archives

We live in a time of big challenges and major opportunities, especially with regard to the use of media and technology. However, as always, the dinosaurs of the previous era are trying, understandably, to stifly innovation by using the law to lock down their cultural assets. In addition, there is a new direction that many artists and companies are choosing, one of balance and open-ness with regard to copyright and other intellectual rights. We encourage you to consider using Creative Commons licenses in your work, to ensure that there will be a free culture and free market of ideas and culture to build upon for the next generations.

November 12, 2008

Reality Art meets Google Street View in Pittsburgh

Via Adverblog, check this interesting approach to bring a long street in Pittsburgh to life through Google Maps Street View.

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November 11, 2008

RiP: a Remix Manifesto

Seems like a solid video project on the evolution of remix culture.

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October 6, 2008

Colin as a Featured Commoner on the CC blog

Check an interview with yours truly over on the Creative Commons blog. Feels cool to be recognized by the folks over at CC. Thanks Cameron!

Colin Mutchler is one of the original CC success stories. Back in 2003, he posted his song, My Life, to Opsound under a CC BY-SA license. A month later a violinist name Nora Beth added a violin track, calling the new work My Life Changed. It was one of the first instances of CC facilitating unsolicited collaboration, laying the ground work for the amazing remix culture we have seen develop over the past 5 years. Mutchler has since expanded his resume, working on photography and media production as well as his music. We caught up with him recently to find more about what he has been up to since we last checked in - needless to say, it has been a while.

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September 28, 2008

Language of My Reality - through TubeMogul

After 3 years, I finally uploaded a video version of "Language of My Reality" through TubeMogul to Youtube, MySpace, and others. The best part about TubeMogul is that you only have to submit to one place, then it automatically submits to multiple sites and allows you to track metrics across all of them.

Read the full lyrics if interested.

Language of My Reality
by Colin Mutchler
2005

I am speaking the language of my reality,
images expressed, the distinctions between
my experience of moments of illegality
and the slanted views of they mean.

to me it’s about the choices we’re making,
the lives we're leading,
and the futures we’re creating

we are a generation raised on media
an image nation that sees the biased news, the many truths,
and yeah, buys sweatshop shoes

whose stories are being told,
whose stories are still owned by the ten o’clock blues?
and whose stories am I telling in my privileged shoes?

white, hippy, suburban, family, business, pharmaceutical industry,
dollars and stress, and love
that paid my way, sourced my days.

you see if we want to move forward
we need to acknowledge and build on the past.

so whether we shoot, or speak, or edit, or click through media,
we choose the direction of his encyclopedia, his story
which is becoming our story,

as we gain the power to lead the interpretation,
license the information, and
be the strategic communication
that hears competing views
and reconstructs the worlds’ truths.

I say that I'm a strong and powerful leader for love and freedom,
but behind the fear and the confusion
and the judgement and the stess
I see fighting images of beats and breath.

yes, things seem to be breaking down,
from church boy confessions and corporate transgressions,
to tommy and grandma getting sued as a copyright lesson,
and quote “men of peace” using solders and weapons,
yes these are the days of break down, break through
a time of forgiveness, to begin again,
truth and reconciliation

yes I am speaking the language of my reality,
images expressed, the distinctions between
my experience of moments of illegality
and the slanted views of what they mean.

--

These lyrics are licensed with a Creative Commons Attribution license.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/

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August 3, 2008

Trailer for the book Crowdsourcing

Interesting to see a video trailer for a book, makes sense especially for something like this. The next wave after Crowdsourcing in my view is Crowdfunding for the future.

Croudsourcing Trailer

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