Thursday, 24 May 2012
Doha: Creative Commons Qatar (CCQ) marked its one year anniversary with a range of interactive activities at Carnegie Mellon University-Qatar yesterday. In an event supported by Supreme Council of Information and Communication Technology (ictQatar), many individuals, along with representatives of various organisations from Qatar's burgeoning creative community came together to share their experiences of using CC.
"Creative Commons is truly about bringing people together. It's about sharing ideas and building networks. It's about collaboration and innovation. It's about being creative with others," said Brian Wesolowski, CCQ community lead and ictQatar Director of Communications.
"Creative Commons helps us to move from cut and paste with no attribution, to copy and share with attribution and recognition. We are never going to return to a society where locked down, airtight copyright controls work- and this is a good thing. But still, we want to respect the rights of creative people, and keep that creativity moving forward."
Sharing his personal experience with CC at the anniversary celebrations was local cartoonist and artist Khalid Ali. He showcased his work and explained why he chose to work under CC licences. "I decided to use CC for my work because as a political cartoonist during the Arab Spring it was the least I could do to be supportive. People were giving their lives and become part of this community that is about sharing and collaborating to bring about change," he said.
Ali explained that free sharing gave exposure to his work as he came face-to-face with a global audience. "During the riots in Egypt, an activist downloaded my work on Hosni Mubarak and drew it on a street wall in Egypt. The interesting thing was that he gave me credit for my work when he easily couldn't have done so."
Apart from individuals benefiting from CC licences, Mathaf and Al Jazeera have also collaborated with CCQ.
Mada (Qatar assistive technology centre) shared how CC is helping them to share content, including open source software to improve the lives of people with disabilities.
A new film project, Dohati, was also featured at the event. The community-led project encourages people to share what living in Qatar means to them. Attendees were encouraged to participate in the project by sharing their stories on camera.
CC is an international non-profit organisation that is committed to maximising the creative benefits of the Internet. It has developed flexible content-rights licences which serve to complement traditional copyrights and reflect the realities of the digitally connected world.
ictQatar signed a memorandum of understanding with CC in 2010 to serve as the official hosts for an affiliate in Qatar. There are more than 70 official affiliates worldwide, with CC Qatar being the first hosted by a government institution.
© The Peninsula 2012
