Open Media Review

Identi.ca Account

2008-07-23T17:15:22Z

Mike Linksvayer, from the Creative Commons, commented when I set up the site’s Twitter stream that an Identi.ca account would be more appropriate given the site’s focus. I retorted that it would only be useful if there was a nice WordPress plugin, like TwitterTools, to automate updating Identi.ca automatically.

I was just about to roll my sleeves up and see if I could hack an existing plugin to provide this functionality when a quick search revealed someone beat me to it for which I am hugely grateful.

So now you have your choice of micro-blogging services for getting near real time update of when new posts go up. As Mike pointed out, Identi.ca is dedicate to the same freedoms that are at the core of open media so I encourage you to consider it if you haven’t already.

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Results of Free, Online Edition of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods

2008-07-12T14:10:47Z

This seems to be the week where many publishers’ experiments with giving works away are coming to fruition. I already shared Bloggasm’s interview with authors participating in Tor’s free ebook promotion. Now Neil Gaiman shares the results of the edition of American Gods that was posted online to celebrate his blog’s seventh anniversary.

Curious that both programs could be described as cross subsidies to drive site traffic and that both were limited time offers. It is progress, I suppose, but still falls short of the incredibly high bar authors like Matthew Wayne Selznick and Cory Doctorow set by releasing their ebooks under a perpetual CC license.

Neil shares pretty much the entire letter from his publisher (scan down to the third section of the post), Harper Collins, with some relevant stats from Bookscan. The results are generally positive with the only ding coming, rightly so, in the frustration the majority of readers felt with the poor online format. There is hope, both on that front and that we’ll see more freely available works from Gaiman and his publisher again:

Given that Harper Collins sold a lot more of all my books while the free American Gods was out there, with sales of all my titles up 40% through independent bookshops, I think I can safely say that we’ll be doing it — or rather, something similar — again. And that the 56% of people who didn’t enjoy the online reading experience may be a lot happier with how we do it next time out.

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New Edition of Brave Men Run, Matthew Wayne Selznick’s CC Licensed Novel Launches July 13th

2008-07-12T14:09:27Z

Matt released his novel a few years back simultaneously as a podcast, a set of DRM-free electronic editions, and a print-on-demand edition. He has even utilized the Creative Commons Developing Nations license to allow commercial uses in countries that can most benefit from freer access to knowledge.

Brave Men Run - A Novel of the Sovereign Era is a wonderful piece of fiction. I’ve only recently read it (sorry Matt, very full reading list) and have to agree with whoever described it as a comic book story if John Hughes wrote it.

He recently signed a deal with Swarm Press, a new imprint, to publish a new paper back edition. That edition will hit Amazon on July 13th.

Mur Lafferty has a great interview with Matt that explains the history of the book as part of a larger creative project he started as well as his thoughts on signing a publishing deal as an enthusiastic DIY advocate. If you subscribe to many podcasts, you may have heard Matt speak elsewhere about the forthcoming edition. Since Swarm is a small press imprint, Matt’s promotional skills developed as an independent creator will be put to good use getting the word out.

The core of his promotion is another launch rush on Amazon with full details on his web site. If the novel sounds interesting, or you’ve read or heard it previously, you can help by purchasing a copy of the book on Amazon on the 13th. To encourage and reward fans, Matt will be sharing streaming video every hour, on the hour starting around 7AM PDT in which he’ll relate live updates on the book’s progress on Amazon’s charts and he’ll be reading new short works by many well known authors in podcast fiction circles set in the Sovereign universe.

We wish Matt the best of luck. This is a wonderful work from an author who epitomizes the best of open content. I, for one, plan to be an Amazon on Sunday and choking the tubes watching his live stream.

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Flickr User CC Licensing Survey

2008-07-12T14:10:01Z

Alek Tarkowski from CC Poland is conducting a survey on how CC licenses are understood and used through the Flickr photo sharing service. Identify information is purely optional, so you can take the survey completely anonymously. Alex is using the data to develop a report and the Creative Commons folks are looking to add it to their ongoing case study.

I hope that it can also be used as a basis to help clarify Flickr’s support of CC licenses.

In the last year or so, there have been a couple of cases I have found distressing with CC at their core. CC was ultimately dismissed from the Virgin suit but the remarks of the plaintiff made it clear there is still quite a bit of confusion over licensing options at Flickr in general and the obligations of CC in particular for both licensers and licensees. Recently we’ve also had the Myxer suit which exposes some of the same issues as well as simply touching on concerns the CC folks have been working on for some time, like identifying works and uses in a more machine friendly fashion.

As the most popular license for open media, we are big fans of Creative Commons. Personally, I know there is much more work to be done on education folks on how best to use these licenses and what the effects their choice of license will have on practical situations involving their covered works. This survey seems like an excellent way to help share those concerns alongside some useful data on a service that does a brisk traffic in CC licensed material.

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New Suggest a Link Form

2008-07-10T17:47:25Z

Got a story you think Open Media Review should be covering? Use the new suggest a link form to submit specific links for consideration. Your name and particulars are optional but if you choose to share them, we promise to only use them to give you credit for the submission.

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Twitter Stream

2008-07-10T17:45:35Z

Open Media Review now has a dedicated Twitter stream. Posts here will also go out via Twitter, instantly.

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Tor Authors on Results of Free Electronic Books

2008-07-10T16:50:19Z

Bloggasm has a nice piece summing up the results of Tor’s free ebook giveaway so far. I like that the poster spoke with participating authors directly. The worst case saw the giveaway have no effect one way or another on the author’s sales. One of the authors interviewed was John Scalzi who as usual has some pretty articulate thoughts on the subject.

“‘Scientifically’?” he wrote to me in an email. “Probably not, unless you somehow managed to control (or at least account for and factor in) every incident of someone discussing your work and or going down a decision path to acquire the work, which is probably more work than it’s worth. But I don’t think that ’scientifically’ is the standard required here; I think ‘heuristically’ is probably better. If you consistently see a rise in sales of an author’s work after the release of a free e-book, then heuristically you have a good idea it’s beneficial.”

I think there’s a key implication, here, to which the article did not speak. Anything that increases visibility of a work is generally going to help the author. If a free ebook doesn’t directly lead to a sale, it may yield benefits in other ways. In particular, an ebook could simply fuel word of mouth buzz, especially in blogs and podcasts where the availability of the work makes it attractive for review and discussion.

The Tor giveaway is more of a cross subsidy, as it is tied to their newsletter. In return for helping them t build a readership for the newsletter and the forthcoming site, you get free ebooks. I think direct release is more effective, especially since most of the time I have seen authors do so, it has been part of a larger marketing push which improves the author’s identity as a brand.

Unfortunately, the giveaway looks like it will be wrapping up with the launch of Tor’s new site. Several of the authors expressed an interest in giving away their works beyond that. Since Tor has published several of Cory Doctorow’s books, perhaps if those authors were to approach the publisher about using CC or similar licenses for future works, they’d be agreeable.

Technorati Tags: ebooks, traditional publishing

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Site Relaunched

2008-07-09T22:07:51Z

Mur and I have completed moving this site to a new host, one I administrate, as she has stepped down as editor-in-chief and in lieu of shuttering the site offered me the job. I accepted figuring I’d give it a go, in terms of trying to meet a more regular posting schedule as well as re-invigorating the team of contributors, existing and new.

As part of the re-launch, I am soliciting fresh contributors. Please send me a brief CV if you are interested. I am looking for strong overlap in the editorial focus of this site as well as a track record of regular submission. You can reach me at cmdln at thecommandline dot net.

The site right now is a straight port of the old data, so all the old posts and comments are here, with a new theme and an upgraded installation of WordPress. If you have any questions, concerns, or technical problems with the site, let me know.

Stay tuned for more updates as the re-launched site moves forward.

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|\| | |/| - Trent Reznor to fans: “Thank you”

2008-07-09T21:48:31Z

I’m sure you’ve heard of this by now… but have you heard it yet?

I’ve been listening to the FLAC version since Monday. &All I could possibly say is wow! . . . no *uberWow*.

‘theslip’ is nine inch nails latest album. But unlike ‘Ghost[1-4]‘ nin’s last four digital albums, which Trent Reznor also released online. Where as Ghost gave you the option to pay; theslip is only available for free. Than with theslip you also get all of the cover art, inserts, &etc with the downloads.

Which after you download, you can do literally anything with. I’m already playing around w/remixing portions of track 7 & 9. They’re my two personal faves, for the moment at least.

The last difference between Ghost &theslip is the where as Ghost[1-4] were only instrumentals/digital. theslip is just as lyrically intense as nin’s previous halo albums.

So, as always, take a few minutes or hours, depending on your bandwidth, than, what else? enjoy yourself!

clipped from dl.nin.com

999,999
1,000,000
letting you
discipline
echoplex
head down
lights in the sky
corona radiata
the four of us are dying
demon seed

length: 43:45

streaming audio
available at iLike.

the slip is licensed under a
creative commons attribution
non-commercial
share alike license.

we encourage you to
remix it
share it with your friends,
post it on your blog,
play it on your podcast,
give it to strangers,
etc.

www.nin.com

as a thank you to our fans for your continued support, we are
giving away the new nine inch nails album one hundred percent free,
exclusively via nin.com.

the music is available in a variety of formats including high-quality MP3, FLAC or
M4A lossless at CD quality and even higher-than-CD
quality 24/96 WAVE. your link will include all options - all free.
all downloads include a PDF with artwork and credits.

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D(iscover) the R(eal) M(eaning) of ‘free’

2008-07-09T21:49:23Z

Just to make sure I haven’t confused anyone no there is no DRM on the music at opsound. &Yeah you’re prolly thinking: okay this is prolly a bunch of hippy crap or looped-samples. Well you could prolly find it there, I haven’t yet. Instead its inspired my current, &now entire, music collection. As an open source artist where I express my art using code, distributed as software, &completely truly for free. I’ve always felt this was the best model of distributing art, of all forms. Before there was Beatnik Turtle, Geoff Smith, or Jonathan Coulton(all of whom I love). But first there was opsound the ‘free’ record label. My fave feature: their feeds. Genres, artists, newest songs, &more they offer feeds for them all. So go browse their online store, find some new music, have way to much fun, &support them &their artists. Tell your friends; send opsound &their artists emails; see want free media can really be; &most importantly enjoy yourself. Oh… &you can donate too, *wink*

clipped from opsound.org

opsound

Opsound is a gift economy in action, an experiment in applying the model of free software to music. Musicians and sound artists are invited to add their work to the Opsound pool using a copyleft license developed by Creative Commons. Listeners are invited to download, share, remix, and reimagine.

Anyone is encouraged to contribute sound files to the Opsound’s open sound pool.

All material for the sound pool will be released under a Creative Commons license (the “Attribution-ShareAlike license“), a copyleft license in the spirit of open source software license which allows for all kinds of copying, remixing, use, and reuse while retaining an attribution to the original artist. [more info]

Opsound: Free Love, Free Music.

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