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Made With Creative Commons
Made With Creative Commons is a book about sharing. It is about sharing
textbooks, music, data, art, and more. People, organizations, and businesses all over the world are sharing their work using Creative Commons licenses because
they want to encourage the public to reuse their works, to copy them, to modify them. They are Made with Creative Commons.
But if they are giving their work away to the public for free, how do they make money?
This is the question this book sets out to answer. There are 24 in-depth examples of different ways to sustain what you do when you share your work. And there are lessons, about how to make money but also about what sharing really looks like -- why we do it and what it can bring to the economy and the world. Full of practical advice and inspiring stories, Made with Creative Commons is a book that will show you what it really means to share.
textbooks, music, data, art, and more. People, organizations, and businesses all over the world are sharing their work using Creative Commons licenses because
they want to encourage the public to reuse their works, to copy them, to modify them. They are Made with Creative Commons.
But if they are giving their work away to the public for free, how do they make money?
This is the question this book sets out to answer. There are 24 in-depth examples of different ways to sustain what you do when you share your work. And there are lessons, about how to make money but also about what sharing really looks like -- why we do it and what it can bring to the economy and the world. Full of practical advice and inspiring stories, Made with Creative Commons is a book that will show you what it really means to share.
- GenresNonfictionBusiness
160 pages, Paperback
First published May 5, 2017
6 people are currently reading
34 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
July 12, 2017
I think it'd be fair to call this a long "white paper" on how various individuals and organizations have used the Creative Commons licensing scheme as the basis for generating value in an enterprise, rather than thinking of it as a book or manual on how to do the same thing for yourself. There is relatively little guidance; instead Paul Stacey and Sarah Pearson spend their time talking about the ideals supported by the licenses and what specific liberties an author grants to the public with each version of the license. And they also spend a seemingly interminable span of text discussing how being Made With Creative Commons is really a state of mind, before moving on to a set of case studies that discuss the application of Creative Commons to specific business models in the real world.
The introduction to the CC licensing scheme was dull for me because I was already familiar with the material. It also was exceedingly long-winded, partly because Pearson and Stacey were being very thorough.
The discussion of the mindset behind Creative Commons was pretentious, and it read like the contents of a Search Engine Optimization handbook from 2007. Just awful. Worst of all, they mentioned being Made With Creative Commons (always boldfaced) an average of once per paragraph. It was wholly and egregiously unnecessary, and by the time I was a third of the way through the book, I was thinking about quitting.
The case studies were actually decent, probably because they were the section of the book in which Pearson and Stacey were least evident as authors. Each one gave the name of the organization or individual under discussion, who was interviewed as a source for the study, and what version of the Creative Commons license is used, as well as a single-sentence blurb regarding what the organization does and how it gathers revenue. The case studies proper were of varying length, but usually went into some detail about the ideals, mission and product/service offered by an organization in addition to discussing how the organization both creates value (which is distinct from how it creates content/information) and how it gathers revenue. The latter can be anything from donations from people who care about the mission (a non-profit organization that creates and localizes HIV-prevention education software for specific cultures and languages), to people who buy a physical product for which the schematics are published under a CC license (Sparkfun, an electronics manufacturer that makes its money by doing much better quality and service compared to Chinese factories that use the exact same design with shoddier materials and poor QC).
If the piece has a weakness (other than the atrocious Made With Creative Commons thing), it would be that Stacey and Pearson do not adequately represent instances where artists are able to make a solid living with CC licenses. Amanda Palmer (formerly of the Dresden Dolls) and sci-fi writer Cory Doctorow are case studies, but I think it fair to remark that neither of them got famous with CC. Rather, they became famous and then decided to embrace Creative Commons. Being able to make a living as a writer or singer/songwriter is (as Doctorow is quoted in his case study) as plausible as winning the lottery. It happens, but probably a CC license isn't going to help or hurt.
I think that's important to keep in mind, because even though the case studies selected for the book were about a whole bunch of different applications of the Creative Commons licenses, writers, musicians and artists publish the vast majority of media available under Creative Commons, and most of them do not make a living at it, or even receive substantial financial compensation or recognition for their work.
The introduction to the CC licensing scheme was dull for me because I was already familiar with the material. It also was exceedingly long-winded, partly because Pearson and Stacey were being very thorough.
The discussion of the mindset behind Creative Commons was pretentious, and it read like the contents of a Search Engine Optimization handbook from 2007. Just awful. Worst of all, they mentioned being Made With Creative Commons (always boldfaced) an average of once per paragraph. It was wholly and egregiously unnecessary, and by the time I was a third of the way through the book, I was thinking about quitting.
The case studies were actually decent, probably because they were the section of the book in which Pearson and Stacey were least evident as authors. Each one gave the name of the organization or individual under discussion, who was interviewed as a source for the study, and what version of the Creative Commons license is used, as well as a single-sentence blurb regarding what the organization does and how it gathers revenue. The case studies proper were of varying length, but usually went into some detail about the ideals, mission and product/service offered by an organization in addition to discussing how the organization both creates value (which is distinct from how it creates content/information) and how it gathers revenue. The latter can be anything from donations from people who care about the mission (a non-profit organization that creates and localizes HIV-prevention education software for specific cultures and languages), to people who buy a physical product for which the schematics are published under a CC license (Sparkfun, an electronics manufacturer that makes its money by doing much better quality and service compared to Chinese factories that use the exact same design with shoddier materials and poor QC).
If the piece has a weakness (other than the atrocious Made With Creative Commons thing), it would be that Stacey and Pearson do not adequately represent instances where artists are able to make a solid living with CC licenses. Amanda Palmer (formerly of the Dresden Dolls) and sci-fi writer Cory Doctorow are case studies, but I think it fair to remark that neither of them got famous with CC. Rather, they became famous and then decided to embrace Creative Commons. Being able to make a living as a writer or singer/songwriter is (as Doctorow is quoted in his case study) as plausible as winning the lottery. It happens, but probably a CC license isn't going to help or hurt.
I think that's important to keep in mind, because even though the case studies selected for the book were about a whole bunch of different applications of the Creative Commons licenses, writers, musicians and artists publish the vast majority of media available under Creative Commons, and most of them do not make a living at it, or even receive substantial financial compensation or recognition for their work.
June 7, 2017
A good account of the benefits of giving stuff away. Whenever something becomes abundant, we discover that we don't have (or no longer have) enough of something else. Therein lie opportunities. But it sometimes takes a while to figure out what that something else is, and how to make the most of it. This book tries to find some answers to that question.
The most interesting part is the case studies - 24 organisations and individuals explain how Creative Commons makes it possible to do what they do. They cover all kinds of activities, though it's telling that most of them are in the educational or non-profit sectors.
The most interesting part is the case studies - 24 organisations and individuals explain how Creative Commons makes it possible to do what they do. They cover all kinds of activities, though it's telling that most of them are in the educational or non-profit sectors.
July 17, 2017
This is a very good introductions to Creative Commons and the types of business models that have been built up around them. The "sharing economy" is here and it is a matter of how we can leverage it in both our personal and professional lives to make a difference in ways that are consistent with our personal goals. The latter half of the book gets a little long as the author spends too much time building out an Encyclopedia of various companies. It felt like it was more of an advertisement of the companies and/or the CC process than really providing any specific insights into the businesses themselves.
December 30, 2019
Memahami tentang Hak Cipta
dan berbagi karya Cipta.
Buku ini memberikanku perspektif baru tentang hasil karya
justru dengan berbagi, maka karyamu lebih bernilai.
seringkali terjebak dengan pemikiran nilai ekonomis. tapi contoh-contoh dibuku ini menarik.
Nilai ekonomis sebenarnya tetap kau dapatkan, namun caranya saja yang berbeda.
hm...aku suka konsepnya, makanya tetap kuterapkan saat mengambil foto dan rujukan buku.
harus dibiasakan. sekali-kali ya..buka websitenya, saat lupa kode hak ciptanya.
tapi untuk karya cipta Arsitektur...aku belum bisa berbagi seperti ini. hehehhe
dan berbagi karya Cipta.
Buku ini memberikanku perspektif baru tentang hasil karya
justru dengan berbagi, maka karyamu lebih bernilai.
seringkali terjebak dengan pemikiran nilai ekonomis. tapi contoh-contoh dibuku ini menarik.
Nilai ekonomis sebenarnya tetap kau dapatkan, namun caranya saja yang berbeda.
hm...aku suka konsepnya, makanya tetap kuterapkan saat mengambil foto dan rujukan buku.
harus dibiasakan. sekali-kali ya..buka websitenya, saat lupa kode hak ciptanya.
tapi untuk karya cipta Arsitektur...aku belum bisa berbagi seperti ini. hehehhe
December 7, 2019
Anda yang punya semangat berbagi dan terbuka, sangat cocok dengan buku ini. Diawal dijelaskan filosofi kenapa ada common, sehingga anda akan commoning :) Commoning bukan berarti Anda tidak bisa berbisnis, ada banyak cara, inspirasi dan studi kasus yang dihadirkan pada bagian kedua buku ini.
Untuk creator dan yang punya karya, tidak ada salahnya juga mempertimbangkan lisensi crative commons sebagai strategi bisnis Anda.
Untuk creator dan yang punya karya, tidak ada salahnya juga mempertimbangkan lisensi crative commons sebagai strategi bisnis Anda.
December 22, 2023
An overview of Creative Commons licenses and various business models built around them. This is useful and thought-provoking material.
The book convinced me to publish my own books under CC-BY-SA:
- https://github.com/ralienpp/book-one
- https://github.com/ralienpp/book-two
- https://github.com/ralienpp/book-three
After reading this book I decided to focus on the product, rather than worry about a business model.
The book convinced me to publish my own books under CC-BY-SA:
- https://github.com/ralienpp/book-one
- https://github.com/ralienpp/book-two
- https://github.com/ralienpp/book-three
After reading this book I decided to focus on the product, rather than worry about a business model.
May 9, 2017
The book gives a good overview how to combine open with making a business. You don't have to choose between the two, combining them makes it better for your company and the commons.
May 19, 2017
Great way to see a variety of CC projects.
January 1, 2018
A must read for anyone curious about Creative Commons or business models that utilize open source methodologies.
August 5, 2025
First time I was aware about CC and got this book are when I volunteered in Wikimedia projects and gathered in one of their event. This book explain the concept of Creative Commons, what is the history behind it, and what is happening right now in the digital industry. It's also have curated list of projects across the globe which is used the CC instead of copyright. It was useful for you that work on creative, academic, and digital industry who concerns about copyright issues and try to find some alternative idea for collaboration.
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December 18, 2017Read by ACRL Member of the Week Sarah C. Clayton. Learn more about Sarah on the ACRL Insider Blog.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews