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Free Culture Research Workshop

Harvard Law School October 23, 2009

Sponsored by: Berkman, NEXA, iCommons

The Free Culture 2009 research workshop builds on the enthusiasm generated by the First Interdisciplinary Research Workshop on Free Culture which took place during the 2008 iSummit in Sapporo, Japan. It presents a unique opportunity for scholars whose work contributes to the promotion, study or criticism of an emerging Free Culture, to engage with a multidisciplinary group of academic peers and practitioners, identify the most important research opportunities and challenges, and attempt to chart the future of Free Culture.

Our aim is to provide an opportunity for scholars and practitioners to discuss their findings, experiences, and vision for a Free Culture with peers whose backgrounds extend beyond individual disciplines, because we believe that the wider participation in the creative process (and consequently in the formation and dissemination of our modern culture) enabled by new Internet technologies, innovative legal solutions and new business models, are far-reaching and therefore deserve to be examined through the lens of multidisciplinary inquiry. More specifically, this year's workshop will be focused on:

(a) participant interaction and joint reflection on key findings from cutting edge research in the field (b) the development of a research agenda, with the identification of key topics for future research (c) facilitating research collaborations and exchange of ideas between different academic institutions engaged in Free Culture research (d) fostering useful academic outputs over the next 12+ months (e) considering policy recommendations or a policy orientation that may emerge as a result of Free Culture research and scholarship

Program design and participant selection will be guided by these objectives, as set by the organizing committee in consultation with the host institution.

Agenda

The event will consist mainly of sessions oriented towards discussion and idea generation. The organizing committee will therefore strive to convene those parties that will be most helpful in engendering dialogue and providing perspectives on the future of free culture research. To that end we will do our utmost to convene academics and others who have already made an impact with their works and actions in shaping the landscape of free culture. An open call for short essays (similar in length to an extended abstract, for details see below) will complement this effort and provide opportunities for wider participation and discussion. Submitted essays will be reviewed by the program committee and the authors of accepted submissions will be invited to attend the event. We will only be able to accept a small number of participants through the open call given the small size of the event, and we seek your understanding in this respect. Every accepted essay will be disseminated before, during and after the workshop and will provide useful inputs for the structuring of the discussions and working sessions to take place during the event. However, we wish to emphasize that the focus this year will be on participant interaction and idea generation rather than on traditional podium presentation. Being invited to the workshop is therefore also not a guarantee that you will be able to present your own work, but rather an invitation to contribute your expertise and perspectives to the discussions and outcomes that the workshop will foster.

This is a draft agenda and will change as we approach the date of the workshop. As we mentioned in the invitation, there will be few formal talks, rather, but with your help, we are confident that everyone will have both an interest in and ability to participate meaningfully. To that end, we will identify moderators for sessions 2-4 listed on the wiki who will help lead discussions around the emergent themes identified and clustered with related essays.

All sessions will take place in Hauser Hall Room 104 at Harvard Law School. (Map: http://map.harvard.edu/level3.cfm?mapname=camb_allston&tile=F6&quadrant=C&series=N)

09:00 - 09:15 Welcome: Introduction to event and reiteration of workshop's aims

09:15 - 10:45 Session 1: Master class on free culture research led by 1-2 senior academics

10:45 - 11:00 Break

11:00 - 12:30 Session 2: Lessons from Practice

• What are successful models of organization and motivation in online communities that focus on commons-based peer production?
• How successfully have Creative Commons and other similar initiatives managed to mobilize resources, as well as set and communicate their agenda at a global level?
• What is the real impact and user perceptions of open licensing around the world and how do these differ from (local and global) expectations?

Related essays: (note: essays often raise multiple related issues and thus often do not fall squarely under one theme - this categorization is for practical purposes only)

• Leonhard Dobusch - Free Culture Communities: Facing Organizational Challenges (Doc)
• Antonio Lafuente, Andoni Alonso, Marcos García - A Lab Without Walls. A Proposal to Reshape a Policy for the Commons (PDF)
• Ronaldo Lemos - Brazil & the Internet: A Love/Hate Affair (PDF)
• Mayer Fuster Morell - Governance of online creation communities around the building of digital commons Provision of platforms of participation (Doc)
• Jhessica Reia - Alternative Licensing and the Free Culture Community in Sao Paulo (PDF)
• Michelle Thorne and Rachel Cobcroft - Capturing the Commons: (Ways Forward for) The CC Case Studies Initiative (PDF)
• Jude Yew - ccMixter: A study of motivations and emergent creative practices that results from open sharing and remixing (PDF)

12:30 - 13:30 Lunch

13:30 - 15:00 Session 3: Free Culture and the Marketplace

• Do creators operate differently in commercial vis-a-vis non-commercial environments? How can we best explore how social psychological, hedonic and financial motivations for production and participation play out in practice?
• Is it possible to reconcile private property and intellectual commons without falling into contradiction, or is the commons-based paradigm of production destined to antagonize the logic of markets?
• How much control does the market need to operate effectively and how much freedom can it tolerate?

Related essays: (note: essays often raise multiple related issues and thus often do not fall squarely under one theme - this categorization is for practical purposes only)

• Tyng-Ruey Chuang - Artifact, Self, and Collective: Some Thoughts on Free Culture (PDF)
• Judith Donath
• Mathias Klang - The three main hurdles in the path of free culture (Doc)
• Volker Grassmuck - IP4D – Sustainable Production of and Fair Trade in Creative Expressions (PDF)
• James Grimmelmann (Doc)
• Yuri Takhteyev - The Source in Free Culture (PDF)
• Ariel Vercelli - Rethinking the intellectual common goods: tensions between appropriation and liberation of intellectual goods and works in the digital age (PDF)

15:00 - 15:15 Short Break

15:15 - 16:45 Session 4: Free Culture in Society

• Can Creative Commons be reconceptualized as a social movement? Is Free Culture the goal of this movement and if so, what does it mean really? What are the implications of regarding CC and related efforts as elements of a social movement? Or are there better ways of thinking about CC and Free Culture?
• What are the broader social and political implications of efforts towards a Free Culture and how are these perceived by third parties? Also, how can we develop a more nuanced understanding of 'freedom', that is more inclusive of different perspectives?
• How do we envision a future of social engagement around issues of freedom and control on the Internet? What will be at stake and how can advocates of more open models of production and self-expression be more effective in influencing policy?

Related essays: (note: essays often raise multiple related issues and thus often do not fall squarely under one theme - this categorization is for practical purposes only)

• Philippe Aigrain - Diversity of Attention and Symmetry of Media: A Free Culture Research Agenda (PDF)
• Bodó Balázs - when its truly free: underground content sharing networks as models for sustainable commons based peer networks (PDF)
• Brian Ballentine - Exploring the Role(s) of Ethics in the Future of Free Culture and the Need to Improve Pedagogical Strategies for the Remix Student (Doc)
• Julie Cohen - Beyond Free Culture: Configuring the Networked Self (License: CC No Derivatives) (PDF)
• Gabriella Coleman - Anthropological Musings on the Politics of F/OSS (Doc)
• Wolf Richter - Creative Commons as a Social Enterprise (Doc)
• Nagla Rizk - Thoughts/Suggested Points of Departure (Doc)
• Alek Tarkowski - The consequences of framing free culture as a social movement (PDF)
• Frank Tobia - A first-principles approach to free culture (Doc)
• Zac Zimmer - What We Talk About When We Talk About Commons (Doc)

16:45 - 17:00 Short Break

17:00 - 18:00 Session 5: From ideas to results - how do we tackle the grand challenges?

19:00 - 21:00 Self Organized Dinners

Notes

• Master Class: organizers will select 2-3 of the submitted essays for review and comment by 1-2 senior academics, followed by discussion on the issues raised by the submissions

• Sessions 2-4: themes identified by organizers based on invited essays. A moderator will introduce the theme for each session and summarize the key points in related essays. Then all participants will be invited to discuss any and all issues pertaining to the theme.

• Session 5: moderator will wrap up the key themes of the workshop and any issues that may have emerged during previous sessions. The floor will then open for all participants to provide additional comments and recommendations on actionable items that could help move research and practice on these issues forward.

• Dinner: TBD

Written Submissions

• Philippe Aigrain - Diversity of Attention and Symmetry of Media: A Free Culture Research Agenda (PDF)
• Bodó Balázs - when its truly free: underground content sharing networks as models for sustainable commons based peer networks (PDF)
• Brian Ballentine - Exploring the Role(s) of Ethics in the Future of Free Culture and the Need to Improve Pedagogical Strategies for the Remix Student (Doc)
• Tyng-Ruey Chuang - Artifact, Self, and Collective: Some Thoughts on Free Culture (PDF)
• Julie Cohen - Beyond Free Culture: Configuring the Networked Self (License: CC No Derivatives) (PDF)
• Gabriella Coleman - Anthropological Musings on the Politics of F/OSS (Doc)
• Leonhard Dobusch - Free Culture Communities: Facing Organizational Challenges (Doc)
• Judith Donath
• Mathias Klang - The three main hurdles in the path of free culture (Doc)
• Volker Grassmuck - IP4D – Sustainable Production of and Fair Trade in Creative Expressions (PDF)
• James Grimmelmann (Doc)
• Antonio Lafuente, Andoni Alonso, Marcos García - A Lab Without Walls. A Proposal to Reshape a Policy for the Commons (PDF)
• Ronaldo Lemos - Brazil & the Internet: A Love/Hate Affair (PDF)
• Mayer Fuster Morell - Governance of online creation communities around the building of digital commons Provision of platforms of participation (Doc)
• Jhessica Reia - Alternative Licensing and the Free Culture Community in Sao Paulo (PDF)
• Wolf Richter - Creative Commons as a Social Enterprise (Doc)
• Nagla Rizk - Thoughts/Suggested Points of Departure (Doc)
• Yuri Takhteyev - The Source in Free Culture (PDF)
• Alek Tarkowski - The consequences of framing free culture as a social movement (PDF)
• Michell Thorne and Rachel Cobcroft - Capturing the Commons: (Ways Forward for) The CC Case Studies Initiative (PDF)
• Frank Tobia - A first-principles approach to free culture (Doc)
• Ariel Vercelli - Rethinking the intellectual common goods: tensions between appropriation and liberation of intellectual goods and works in the digital age (PDF)
• Jude Yew - ccMixter: A study of motivations and emergent creative practices that results from open sharing and remixing (PDF)
• Zac Zimmer - What We Talk About When We Talk About Commons (Doc)

Resources

Add links to articles, research, people and more.

Attendees

Please add your email address / contact info / updated affiliation if you would like to connect with other attendees.

1. Philippe Aigrain | philippe.aigrain@sopinspace.com | Sopinspace, Society for Public Information Spaces
2. Andoni Alonso | Commons Lab, Medialab-Prado
3. Amar Ashar | ashar@cyber.law.harvard.edu | Berkman Center for Internet & Society
4. Bodo Balasz | Budapest University of Technology and Economics
5. Brian Ballentine | West Virginia University
6. Yochai Benkler | Berkman Center for Internet & Society
7. Giorgos Cheliotis | gcheliotis@gmail.com | National University of Singapore
8. Tyng-Ruey Chuang | Academia Sinica
9. Julie Cohen | Georgetown Law/HLS
10. Gabriella Coleman | New York Univerity
11. Juan Carlos de Martin | demartin@polito.it | NEXA Center for Internet & Society
12. Leonhard Dobusch | Free University Berlin
13. Judith Donath | Berkman Center for Internet & Society
14. Melanie Dulong de Rosnay | University of Amsterdam
15. Sonya Dunne
16. Terry Fisher | Berkman Center for Internet & Society
17. Brian Fitzgerald | Queensland University of Technology
18. Marcos García | marcos@medialab-prado.es | Commons Lab, Medialab-Prado
19. Urs Gasser | ugasser@cyber.law.harvard.edu | Berkman Center for Internet & Society
20. Volker Grassmuck | independent researcher
21. James Grimmelman | NY Law School
22. Maria Haig | UW Milwaukee
23. Herko Hietanen | Helsinki Institute of Information Technology
24. Mathias Klang | Lund University
25. Ronaldo Lemos | Fundacao Getulio Vargas
26. Lawrence Lessig | Harvard Law School
27. Sheen Levine | Singapore Management University
28. Colin Maclay | cmaclay@cyber.law.harvard.edu | Berkman Center for Internet & Society
29. Mayo Fuster Morell | European University Institute
30. John Palfrey | Berkman Center
31. Lisa Petrides | ISKME
32. Jhessica F. Reia
33. Wolf Richter | OII
34. Nagla Rizk | American University in Cairo
35. Jan Philipp Schmidt | UWC/UNU-MERIT
36. Aaron Shaw | Berkman/UC Berkeley
37. Elizabeth Stark | elizabeth.stark@yale.edu | Yale ISP/ iCommons
38. Yuri Takhteyev | University of Toronto
39. Alek Tarkowski | alek@creativecommons.pl | University of Warsaw / CC Poland
40. Anas Tawileh | Cardiff University
41. Frank Tobia
42. Prodromos Tsiavos | p.tsiavos@lse.ac.uk | LSE
43. Ariel Vercelli | Universidad Nacional de Quilmes
44. Eric Von Hippel | MIT Sloan
45. Jude Yew | jyew@umich.edu | University of Michigan
46. Zac Zimmer | Cornell University
47. Jonathan Zittrain | Berkman Center for Internet & Society

Logistical Information

• Location: Hauser Hall Room 104 (Map: http://map.harvard.edu/level3.cfm?mapname=camb_allston&tile=F6&quadrant=C&series=N)
• Hotel Information: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/wiki/Hotel_Information_and_Directions_to_HLS/Berkman
• Driving Directions: http://www.law.harvard.edu/about/contact/directions.php#Driving
• Subway Directions: http://www.law.harvard.edu/about/contact/directions.php#Subway
• Bus Directions: http://www.law.harvard.edu/about/contact/directions.php#Bus
• Wireless internet access will be available at the workshop
• Parking is not available through Harvard Law School, but there are several parking garages in Harvard Square
• Questions? Contact Amar Ashar at ashar@cyber.law.harvard.edu

• Participation Tools
  • Twitter / Identica hashtag:

• Original CFP: Call for Participation