Creative Community in Qatar Comes Out to Support Digital Rights Organizations
Doha, Qatar: The Qatar affiliate of Creative Commons was officially launched with a gathering of more than 700 people at the Museum of Islamic Art on May 31, 2011. The launch showcased regional DJs and VJs, featured live visual mixing and remixing of art, movies and comics, and highlighted a variety of creative projects in Qatar that utilize Creative Commons licenses, including photography, essays, blogs, a student-film, fashion and even a web TV series.
Creative Commons is an international non-profit organization that is committed to maximizing the creative benefits of the Internet. It has developed flexible content-rights licenses which serve to complement traditional copyrights and reflect the realities of the digitally connected world. Creative Commons licenses encourage content creators to share their work more openly to maximize collaboration and innovation, while still maintain the rights of the creator. Creative Commons Qatar will work to foster a community of Creative Commons advocates, artists and content creators in the country, with the goal of growing an environment in Qatar that embraces openness, sharing and collaboration, leading to greater innovation and hopefully spurring more Arab-originated content.
"Creative Commons is all about encouraging people to share their creative works more openly with the broader digital community. The Internet has made it so much easier to share our creativity, and when it is shared, it has the potential to grow, flourish and inspire. Qatar is a young, dynamic country, and the creativity from this region should be shared as broadly as possible. Creative Commons Qatar can help make that happen by offering resources that make sharing easy, scalable and legal," said Brian Wesolowski, the Affiliate Lead for Creative Commons Qatar and Publications Manager at ictQATAR.
ictQATAR signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Creative Commons to bring the affiliate to Qatar. Creative Commons currently operates in 70 countries. ictQATAR will serve as a lead supporter for Creative Commons Qatar, however the affiliate will operate as a community, non-profit organization.
"We are delighted to see Creative Commons growing in the Arab region as a concrete alternative to the copy and paste culture which has been a major obstacle to fostering innovation and original content creation. We are proud to be working in a region which has the most precious resource -a vibrant youth, which is key to keeping cultures moving, renovating and innovating. The launch of CC Qatar represents a major step towards openness in the distribution process and sharing of original content creation. ictQATAR is pioneering in integrating these values into its core strategy as a government institution and in acknowledging their importance for the future of culture," said Donatella Della Ratta, Arab World Manager, Creative Commons.
At the launch, Al Jazeera showcased their Creative Commons Repository, which includes broadcast quality footage that can be used by any network, broadcaster or individual as long as it is attributed to Al Jazeera. Initially the Repository housed exclusive footage from the war on Gaza, when Al Jazeera was the only network on the ground, but it has since been expanded to include other important footage, including some from major events in the Arab world.
"As a pioneer in news and media Al Jazeera is always looking for ways to make its unique content accessible and with the flexibility of Creative Commons licensing we expect to introduce our outstanding coverage to an even wider audience across the world," said Mohamed Nanabhay, Head of Online at Al Jazeera English. "We look forward to growing the repository and also working with Creative Commons Qatar on local initiatives around news and documentaries."
"Creative Commons is an amazing way for me to share my work, help me be part of a bigger community and it allows me to get fresh ideas and perspectives that I can apply to my work," said Mohammed Nairooz, whose photography was featured at the launch. He is also an actor in the Web television series, Mish Mish, that was premiered at the launch. Nairooz was one of more than 20 Qatar-based creatives whose work was highlighted at the Creative Commons Qatar launch.
Following the launch, Creative Commons Qatar is planning a series of workshops for content creators and other community engagement activities. The first workshop is taking place June 1, 2011 and focuses on how visual artists can use Creative Commons in their works. Creative Commons Qatar will also work closely with prominent organizations in Qatar to encourage the use of the licenses on a variety of work, including original content, research and data.
For more information about Creative Commons Qatar and to see some of the local works done under Creative Commons licenses, visit www.creativecommons.qa. You can also follow Creative Commons Qatar on Twitter @ccqatar.
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ABOUT ictQATAR
The Supreme Council of Information and Communication Technology (ictQATAR) connects people to the technologies that enrich their lives, drive economic development and inspire confidence in the future. ictQATAR is entrusted with two primary authorities: as the country's independent and fair regulator of the telecommunications market, and as the government body that nurtures innovative technologies to benefit those who live and work in Qatar.
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email: hnadim@ict.gov.qa
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© Press Release 2011
