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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.

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: Introduction of session theme(s) by moderator followed by discussion

12:30 - 13:30 Lunch

13:30 - 15:00 Session 3: Introduction of session theme(s) by moderator followed by discussion

15:00 - 15:15 Short Break

15:15 - 16:45 Session 4: Introduction of session theme(s) by moderator followed by discussion

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 Dinner

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

• Day after: if you are a member of the organizing committee and/or have a strong interest in contributing towards concrete deliverables and the organization of next year's event, please reserve some time in the morning for a smaller meeting to discuss these.

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

1. Amar Ashar ashar@cyber.law.harvard.edu Berkman Center for Internet & Society

Giorgos Cheliotis gcheliotis@gmail.com National University of Singapore Urs Gasser ugasser@cyber.law.harvard.edu Berkman Center for Internet & Society Lawrence Lessig lessig@pobox.com Harvard Law School Colin Maclay cmaclay@cyber.law.harvard.edu Berkman Center for Internet & Society Juan Carlos de Martin demartin@polito.it NEXA Center for Internet & Society Elizabeth Stark elizabeth.stark@yale.edu Yale ISP/ iCommons Prodromos Tsiavos p.tsiavos@lse.ac.uk LSE Jonathan Zittrain zittrain@law.harvard.edu Berkman Center for Internet & Society Terry Fisher tfisher@law.harvard.edu Berkman Center for Internet & Society Yochai Benkler yochai_benkler@harvard.edu Berkman Center for Internet & Society Volker Grassmuck vgrass@rz.hu-berlin.de independent researcher Philippe Aigrain philippe.aigrain@sopinspace.com independent researcher David Bollier david@bollier.org independent researcher James Grimmelman james@grimmelmann.net NY Law School Bodo Balasz bodo@mokk.bme.hu Budapest University of Technology and Economics Eric Von Hippel evhippel@MIT.EDU MIT Sloan Judith Donath judith@media.mit.edu MIT Media Lab Jude Yew jyew@umich.edu University of Michigan Aaron Shaw ashaw@cyber.law.harvard.edu Berkman/UC Berkeley Jan Philipp Schmidt phi.schmidt@gmail.com UWC/UNU-MERIT Mathias Klang klang@ituniv.se Lund University Herko Hietanen herkko.hietanen@hiit.fi Helsinki Institute of Information Technology Tyng-Ruey Chuang trc@iis.sinica.edu.tw Academia Sinica Alek Tarkowski alek@creativecommons.pl University of Warsaw Anas Tawileh anas@tawileh.net Cardiff University Wolf Richter wolf.richter@oii.ox.ac.uk OII Melanie Dulong de Rosnay mdulong@uva.nl University of Amsterdam Gabriella Coleman biella@nyu.edu New York Univerity Nagla Rizk naglarzk@gmail.com American University in Cairo Julie Cohen jec@law.georgetown.edu Georgetown Law/HLS John Palfrey Berkman Center Sonya Dunne sonya.dunne@gmail.com

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

• Remote Participation Channels

• Original CFP: Call for Participation