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Forum on Creative Commons and Open Educational Resources Held in Renmin University of China

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Forum on Creative Commons and Open Educational Resources hosted by Creative Commons China Mainland and supported by OpenCourseWare Consortium took place on Oct 17th in Renmin University of China

The Forum brought together representatives from various fields and organs devoting to promoting open educational resources such as the Center of the Excellent Curriculum Resources (JingPinKe) of Ministry of Education, the National Science Library (NSL), the Computer Network Information Center of Chinese Academy of Sciences(CNIC), the Department of Digital Resources of the National Library of China (NLC), China Education and Research Network (CERNET) and universities like Renmin University of China, Tsinghua University and Shanghai Jiaotong University, as well as famous Internet enterprises, like Mozilla Online, Netease, Sina, ifeng, together with other users and promoters of CC licenses and OER such as Kong Bohua Chinese Medical School, NGO 2.0, Science Squirrel, Social Learn Lab, YaoRui Education Consulting Co., ltd, and HackerSpace. The participants conducted an in-depth discussion on a series of topics including how to share educational resources by open licenses, the significance of CC licenses to OER, the domestic OER practice, the experiences in construction of the open platforms to share OER, and how to initiate legal sharing in the OER domain and promote the prosperity of society and culture. There were almost 70 participants in the forum, which made it a grand get-together in the field of OER. The forum was broadcasted live on Creative Commons China Mainland’s microblogs of Sina and Netease.

Keynote Speeches by the Guests on the Forum


The Project Lead of Creative Commons China Mainland, Professor Chunyan Wang of the Law School of Renmin University of China introduced the background on the forum and stated in her opening address that CC and OCWC share the common spirit of opening and sharing. And CC makes the open sharing of educational resources possible by providing the legal tools. There is a close cooperation between CC and OER. (For more information on CC China Mainland, see http://cn.creativecommons.org/) The Executive Director of OCWC, the supporter of the forum, Mary Lou recognized the work of Creative Commons China Mainland in OER, and stated that the primary intension to create OER is to provide more people with the access to educational resources and knowledge as well as a more convenient approach to improve their work, study and life. (For more information of OCW Consortium, see http://www.ocwconsortium.org/ )

Mr. Wangli Dong, the Senior Consultant of the Center of Excellent Curriculum Resources (JingPinKe) of the Ministry of Education, introduced to the participants the current situation and the future development of the Integration Project and the Center of the National Excellent Curriculum Resources and shared his thoughts and inspirations in the operation of OER. (For more information of JingPinKe, see http://www.jingpinke.com/)

Mr. Lingqian Kong, the representative successor of the intangible cultural heritage of Kong Bohua Chinese medicine family, CEO of Kong Yi Tang Technology Limited (Beijing) gave a speech on “Chinese Medicine Culture and OER”. He elaborated from three aspects: sharing knowledge leading to a society of harmony and integrity; to be people-oriented and society-oriented; OER in Chinese Medicine. (For more information of Kong Yi Tang, see http://www.kongyitang.com/)

Mr. Lianglin Hu, the Senior Engineer of the Center of Scientific Statistics, Computer Network Information Center (CNIC) of Chinese Academy of Science, gave a speech on “Sharing the Scientific Statistics”. He firstly introduced the history, current situation and the future plans of the Center of Scientific Statistics, and raised the problems exiting in the citation of scientific statistics. He also expressed the willingness to have further discussion and cooperation on Science Commons with Creative Commons China Mainland. (For more information of CNIC, see http://www.cnic.cn/)

Ms. Aiping Jiang, the Deputy General Manager of CERNET said in her speech on “CERNET and the Sharing of Educational Resources” that CERNET has set up the platform of sharing educational resources (www.oer.edu.cn) and provides access services. CERNET is trying to make full use of the educational resources of the universities to make further contribution to the sharing of knowledge. (For more information of CERNET, see http://www.cernet.edu.cn/)

Ms. Ruobing Zhang from Department of Digital Resources of the National Library of China (NLC) introduced the application of CC models in the construction of digital resources in libraries from the following aspects: the development of CC models, the application of CC in libraries, the significance and construction of CC models in the digital resources in libraries. (For more information of NLC, see http://www.nlc.gov.cn/)

Professor Chunyang Wang gave a speech on “Creative Commons and Open Educational Resources”. The transition from traditional education to open education calls for a flexible and free authorization model, which is the very reason why CC attracts partners from different fields and communities. Open license is a kind of contract, which allows for the open access to the relevant resources. One of the important roles of CC China Mainland is to promote the application of CC licenses in the OER domain. She also introduced the practice of CC China Mainland in OER, including the cooperation with UNESCO and an OER volunteer plan.

Mini-presentation: Sharing the Experiences of the Communities

In the second section, many representatives from universities, online communities, NGOs and internet enterprises which promote OER projects gave mini-presentations to share experiences. Professor Zeyu Chen from Shanghai Jiaotong University introduced the origin, current situation and future plans of OER in Shanghai Jiaotong University.(See http://ocw.onlinesjtu.com/) Mr. Yuanzheng Guo, the General Manager of Mozilla Online, a long-term partner of CC China Mainland, introduced the Drumbeat platform of the open source community of Mozilla Online (See http://www.mozilla.org/drumbeat/), which supports users’ online sharing.

Ms. Jingsong Mei, the Director of the Educational Channel of Sina.com, gave a presentation on “OER in the Age of Microblog”. The open course project of Sina has accomplished the application on all platforms from webpages, blogs to mobile devices. This project has achieved a leap in the development by promotion on the microblog platform, combination with the hot issues, and independent translation of courses. (See http://edu.sina.com.cn/video/open/)

Professor Xueyong Gu from Tsinghua University shared his opinions on “How to Design Integrated Learning Activities with Open-sourced Resources”. By open-sourced resources, engineering education is integrated with humanistic education, and engineering technology transforms humanistic experiences. This kind of opening and sharing brings us a new structure of knowledge, which leads to a new society. (For more information of Professor Gu’s project on open source hardware, see http://toyhouse.cc/)

Ms. Xiuli Zhuang, the founder of the Social Learn Lab and teacher of the School of Educational Technology, Beijing Normal University introduced the practice of Social Learn Lab in OER. Based on Web 2.0, the Social Learn Lab provides the students with a cyber environment of open experiences. (For more information of the Social Learn Lab, see http://sociallearnlab.org/)

Mr. Kui Zhou, a member of the NGO 2.0 Project and teacher of Tsinghua University, talked on the topic “Grassroots Public Welfare in the Age of Web 2.0”. NGO 2.0 is a project initiated by Professor Wang Jin of MIT New Media Action Lab in 2008, which is dedicated to improving the media literacy and creative thinking of grassroot NGOs in China. The training courses and materials of NGO 2.0 are shared under CC license. (For information of NGO 2.0, see http://www.ngo20.com/)

Mr. Kang Li, a cyber culture scholar, discussed with the participants the practice of CC. His speech is based on two main words in the theme of the forum, commons and open, to illustrate different levels of opening and sharing. And advocate a proper and positive philosophy of opening and sharing in the promotion of OER.

Mr. Hengxin Chen,an editor of Netease open course project, introduced the practice of Netease open courses. Netease became a member of OCWC in 2011, as the only Chinese enterprise member of the consortium. So far, Netease has invested 15 million RMB in to this project and issued more than 6000 volumes of open courses. (See http://open.163.com/)

Ms. Jingjing Li, a senior editor from ifeng open course project shared ifeng’s experiences on OER as a new comer to the community of open courses. This project tries to provide users with the best, most various and most popular contents, which does not only provide the videos of the courses, but also the background, logics, relevant opinions and experiences, to make comprehensive open courses. (See http://v.ifeng.com/gongkaike/index.shtml)

Orange, a senior member of Science Squirrel, a long-term user of CC license, talked on the topic “Building the Bridge of Sharing Science”. (For more information of Science Squirrel, see http://songshuhui.net/) Mr. Wang Tian, the CEO of YaoRui Education Consulting Co., ltd made a speech on “Chinese OER- a Cloudy Future”.

Meena Hwang, the Director of Community Outreach of OpenCourseWare Consortium, gave a conclusion speech for the forum. She firstly thanked Creative Commons China Mainland for building the platform of communication for OER users and promoters and recognized the practice of CC China Mainland in OER. She was inspired by the practice of OER in China, and she had full confidence in the future of OER cause in China.

Professor Chunyan Wang stated at the end of the forum that CC China Mainland will continue its efforts in the OER domain to further promote the development of OER in China. CC China Mainland will also make further endeavor to build platforms of communications and cooperation for open course communities and promote the open sharing of knowledge and educational resources.

Creative Commons’ Role in Copyright’s Future

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Founder of Creative Commons, Professor Lawrence Lessig Gave a Lecture in Renmin University of China

In the afternoon of November 14, 2010, founder of Creative Commons, world-renowned scholar Professor Lawrence Lessig was invited to Yifu Conference Center of Renmin University of China(RUC) to deliver a lecture: Creative Commons’ Role in Copyright’s Future.

This event was hosted by the Law School and Intellectual Property Academy of RUC, and was organized by Creative Commons China Mainland. Mozzila Online, Hudong.com and ChinaLabs, the leading institutions in open source and internet culture, have contributed their support to this event. Following the lecture, Professor Lessig participated in a conversation with the leaders of various media and internet initiatives in China, to share his thoughts and ideas on digital copyright and knowledge innovation. More than 400 participants from various fields including government sections, colleges and universities, science and research institutions, IT enterprises, media, culture and art joined this event.

At 5:30 p.m., Professor GUO Shoukang, a famous legal scholar of RUC announced the opening of the event. Professor LIU Chuntian, president of Intellectual Property Academy and Professor WANG Yi, Deputy Dean of Law School of RUC, gave welcoming remarks on behalf of the hosts. Professor LIU Chuntian indicated that the Creative Commons movement is positive and sustainable. He expressed the interests of RUC researchers on this movement, as the project lead of CC China Mainland, Professor WANG Chunyan is herself a scholar of Law School of RUC. He said that the intellectual educational and researching institutions of RUC welcome Creative Commons’ concept and activities, and that CC will have a bright future both in China and in the world. Professor WANG Yi stressed the importance of conversations between leaders of various internet initiatives for resolving issues concerning conflict of interests. He recognized the social impact of Creative Commons in balancing the interests between different parties, and extended his wishes for CC to be as popular as the most played online games to common Chinese people.

After that, Professor Lessig started his lecture. He began with several interesting stories to describe the history and status in quo of U.S copyright system. He indicated that during the last century, the complicated copyright laws are becoming more and more technical and difficult to understand, and the control of copyright essentially applies to the common lives of most people. On the other hand, media technology such as discs and recorders increased the distribution of professional artists’ work, but decreased the chance of participation of amateurs in creative activities. And the culture therefore became a passive, “read-only” culture in the past 100 years. However, in this century, the new technology enabled the general public to be able to participate again to various form of creations, and to reproduce a “Read & Write” culture. He then presented several most wonderful remix fine works to the audience, and indicated that the current copyright system no longer suits the digital age.

In a digital era, every single use of online works means copying the original work, which made many problems for the current copyright laws. The amateur creative culture is reviving, but the law doesn’t support it well. For these reasons, Lessig said that WIPO should lead a process to fix the architecture of copyright law, and the countries like China should push this process. In short term the volunteer licensing of creative works should be encouraged to show respect and balance the copyright regulations, and this is exactly the objective of Creative Commons. He also introduced a number of CC-licensed websites to the Chinese audiences, and stressed the importance of establishment of CC China Mainland.

As for the future of copyright system, Professor Lessig summarizes his expectation that the law shall be simple, efficient, effective and realistic and be regulated selectively. As the war against piracy will never have an end, a better way is to adjust the law to have a balanced peace, not killing technologies such as P2P.

After the lecture, Project Lead of CC China Mainland, Professor WANG Chunyan started the conversation session; she introduced several top leaders of internet, culture and art initiatives to discuss with Lessig on several important issues.

Director of Board and CEO of Mozzila Online, Dr. GONG Li raised the first question. He said that the fact is that the copyright protection in China is far from being perfect, and asked what China’s role will be in this context. Profess Lessig answered that CC licenses actually encourage more respect to copyright. China is already doing great job in copyright protection, and it is the U.S being too extreme to force China to accept a very strict copyright law. A reasonable legal system should “make more sense”, not to be extreme.

From ChinaLab, Dr. FANG Xingdong highly praised the academic achievements of Professor Lessig, and asked about Lessig’s own experience from Stanford to Harvard. Lessig humorously described this experience and introduced his new focused topic – the institutional corruption in the U.S – to the audience.

Founder and CEO of Hudong.com, Dr. PAN Haidong asked Professor Lessig whether and how CC will provide technical protection for copyright works. Lessig explained that CC helps people to identify copyright status, but does not provide technological means of protection. He also extended his worries about the instability of digital media, while DRM is so abusively used by many large enterprises.

Well-known curator, artist OU Ning’s requested Professor Lessig to comment on the extreme controls of patent by large enterprises in DNA technologies. Lessig answered that the extreme control of patent, as well as the extreme control in copyright, is not good for innovation. Many of the basic technology of our age, such as computer programs and computer itself, are totally free. Extreme controls are only good for lawyers and “big players” in a certain field, but do not encourage innovation.

Considering the impact of the Western IP system, especially the U.S. IP system, on the Chinese IP system, the audience are specially interested in the Eldred v. Ashcroft case, Professor WANG Chunyan then requested Professor Lessig to give some comments on the Eldred v. Ashcroft case, in which he challenged the constitutionality of the 1998 Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act. Lessig stressed that the continuous extensions of term of existing copyright “make no sense”, and are not good at all for creative incentives. However, this case is a beginning of the free culture movement, and is also one of the direct reasons that CC was found.

Dr. ZHANG Xiaoxing, Chief Engineer of the National Cultural Information Resources Sharing Project, requested Professor Lessig to share the short-term plan of CC and to put some comments on Google lawsuits for its digital library. Lessig said in two years CC will be more transparently used by the large internet initiatives such as Facebook, Twitter and Microsoft, and try to become a part of the infrastructure of the internet. As for the Google lawsuit, Lessig described the approaches of Google in resolving copyright issues and again indicated that the architecture of copyright is no longer appropriate for a digital age.

Through the lecture, the audience had much deeper understandings in openness and innovation, copyright reform and the international Creative Commons movement. The participants actively expressed their recognition of the concept of Creative Commons, and their interest in participation in CC movement. We believe that with the combined effort of all participants from various fields, Creative Commons will ensure a great future of better copyright system in China.

Photos of the event:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/41288223@N02/sets/72157625271924083/

OPENNESS AND INNOVATION——A Speech by Professor Lawrence Lessig of Harvard University, Founder of Creative Commons and a Summit Dialogue

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On November 14, 2010, Professor Lawrence Lessig, a world-renowned scholar and the founder of Creative Commons, will come to Renmin University of China to deliver a fascinating lecture on Openness and Innovation – the Relationship between New Technology, Culture and Innovation. Following his lecture, Professor Lessig will participate in a conversation with the leaders of various media and internet initiatives in China, to share his thoughts and ideas on digital copyright and knowledge innovation.

Date and Time:   18:00 ~ 20:00, November 14, 2010 (Sunday)

Location:  The Lecture Hall of Yifu Conference Center, Renmin University of China

Hosts:  Law School of Renmin University of China and the Intellectual Property Academy of Renmin University of China

Organizer: Creative Commons China Mainland

Supporters:  Mozilla China, Hudong, Chinalabs

Keynote: Lawrence Lessig,

Participants:  FANG Xingdong, GONG Li, GUO He, PAN Haidong, OU Ning

Moderator:  WANG Chunyan, Project Lead of Creative Commons China Mainland and Associate Professor of Renmin University of China Law School

Language: English and Chinese (simultaneous translation provided)

Admission:  Free

Agenda

Time Activity Participants
17:30 – 17:55 Registration  
17:58 -18:00 Opening Moderator: Prof.GUO Shoukang

Professor of Renmin University of China, Chairholder of UNESCO Chair in Copyright and Neighbouring Rights

18:00 -18:10 Welcoming Remarks Prof. LIU Chuntian

President of Intellectual Property Academy of Renmin University of China

Prof. WANG Yi

Deputy Dean of Renmin University of China Law School

18:15 -19:00 Keynote Speech:

Creative Common’s Role in Copyright’s Future

Prof. Lawrence Lessig

Director of Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics of Harvard University, Founder of Creative Commons

19:00 -20:00 A Conversation with Lawrence Lessig, the Founder of Creative Commons Dr. FANG Xingdong, Founder of BlogChina

Dr. GONG Li, Board Chairman and CEO of Mozilla online

Prof. GUO He, Deputy President of Intellectual Property Academy of Renmin University of China 

Dr. PAN Haidong, Founder and CEO of Hudong.com

Mr. OU Ning, Curator of Get it Louder Exhibition, Director of Shao Foundation

Moderator:

Prof. WANG Chunyan  Associate Professor of Renmin University of China Law School, Project Lead of Creative Commons China Mainland

20:00 Close  

 

Please send e-mail to reg@cn.creativecommons.org or send private message to @知识共享中国大陆 through Sina Twitter (t.sina.com.cn) for registration.

To register, please include your: Name, Email address, Telephone and Affiliation

A Study of Qingyuan Dialect An Old Retiree Publishes Dialectology Book under CCL

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This CC-licensed book is written by Mr. WU Shiqiu, a 74-years-old retiree in Qingyuan, Zhejiang Province. WU has been a worker in a small local factory until he retired in 1996. He has never had higher education than elementary school, yet he managed to finish this great study all by his own effort.

In 1996, WU learned that two Japanese scholars had come to his town for a research in Qingyuan dialect, as it is a unique dialect that reserved an abundance of ancient Chinese idioms and pronunciations. WU was greatly impressed and he then decided to make a study himself.

From then onwards, WU spent all his energies on this study. He walked every street in Qingyuan, visiting old folks, listening to and recording quarrels, bargaining and any other conversations made in public. Without a printer, scanner or even a computer, WU finished most of his work by handwriting. He studied linguistics, philology and phonetics, and international phonetic alphabet to mark his beloved dialect.

The book is published in May, 2010 and is highly regarded by scholars home and abroad. And Mr. WU has embraced Creative Commons, he decided to publish this book under CC-BY-NC-ND.

Creative Commoner: Kong Lingqian

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Creative Commons and the Inheritance of TCM Culture
– An Interview with Mr. Kong Lingqian, Founder of Kong Bohua TCM School


Mr. Kong Lingqian

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is an essential component of traditional Chinese culture. Its importance is not only clinically proven in the medical field of China, but also progressively recognized by the outside world. The culture behind this science is also getting more and more attention. Now Kong Bohua Clinic and Kong Bohua TCM school have made the decision to release all their teaching materials under CC Licenses, in order for better promotion the TCM culture. These two organizations are founded by Mr. Kong Lingqian, grandson of Mr. Kong Bohua who was among the four greatest TCM masters of Beijing,

Liu Ping, journalist of CCQ just had an interview with Mr. Kong Lingqian, president of Kong Bohua Clinic and Kong Bohua TCM School, for his ideas towards the inheritance and development of TCM culture.

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CAO Fei, a Leading Pioneer in the New Generation of New Media Art

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caofei

CAO Fei, born in 1978 in Guangzhou, one of the most internationally famed Chinese contemporary artists, is among the earliest renowned Creative Commoner artists in China. From year 2000, she started to gain a significant position by a series of exquisite works including San Yuan Li Project, Cosplayers, HiP Hop Guangzhou, Hip Hop Fukuoka, Hip Hop New York, PRD Anti-Heroes, Father and Whose Utopia. From 2007 she started to create I. Mirror and RMB City based on Second Life, an online 3D virtual world. Those works have received international recognition, being praised as epics describing the digital era.

CC China Mainland interviewed Cao Fei, for her own world of art, her stories with CC and her ideas towards art in a digital era.

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Creative Commons with Beijing Open Party in the “Warmth of a Bright Spring”

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Open Party is a monthly social activity co-organized by a number of Beijing communities with technical background. It is intended to create a platform whereby all the participants can express and exchange their ideas through a special means of “Unconference”. The topics of these activities are however not technical-limited, subjects like living, traveling, art, entrepreneurship, business, investment and marketing are also welcomed here. Its March gathering was named “Warmth of a Bright Spring”, which took place in ThoughtWorks Office in Beijing Guohua Plaza, Dongzhimen. Project member of Creative Commons China Mainland, Zhu Handong and He Xiaolin was invited to take part in this gathering.

Open Party takes an “unconference” form, which features freedom, openness and interactiveness. The guests and participants are made equal in delivering their ideas in an open atmosphere. For each gathering of this activity, there are invited guests providing fresh topics for participants to decide which one to take part in. While the speakers sharing the topics, the listeners are free to participate in any brainstorm any time they want. They are encouraged to join whatever topic discussion they are interested in, or to walk along through different groups and just listen to the discussions. They can also write down their own topics that may just jumped into their minds and call for a discussion themselves. Their pace in the venue are essentially a resourceful pool of creativity, offering more and more new ideas.

It’s the second time CC participating in Open Party gatherings. This time, in the “Warmth of a Bright Spring”, Mr. Zhu Handong of CC China Mainland shared his understandings in the impact of Internet sharing movement to artistic creations, as he is an active artist himself. He also gave introductions of the artistic promotions of CC China Mainland. A good many participants had certain knowledge of CC licenses, especially those from LUPA(Leadership of Open Source University Promotion Alliance), who had already embraced CC’s concept of share, remix, reuse – legally. The people with IT background were also highly interested in this global CC trend, for its task of resolving the controversy between information distribution and acquisition, and its mission to realize a productive interaction between creation and distribution. The participants had quite illuminative and delightful discussion with CC project members.

(For more information of this gathering, please click: http://www.beijing-open-party.org/)

2010 Screenage Art Document Exhibition to be Opened on April 18

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Hosted by Songzhuang Art Center, the 2010 Screenage Art Document Exhibition will open on April 18, 2010. The exhibition is composed of multiple sections including the Field, the Domain, the Emotion, Natural – Unnatural, and Gathering – Recalling. After the opening ceremony, a forum of Contemporary Image Authoring and the Oriental Cultural View will take place in the Academic Hall of Songzhuang Art Center.

A number of CC-licensed photographic and video works are to be shown in this exhibition; and Creative Commons China Mainland, as one of the supporting organization of this event,  will have its representatives to present in the opening ceremony. Your support to this event will be highly appreciated.

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Creative Commoner: Yan Jun

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Yan Jun, music commentator, writer, poet and audio artist. Born in Lanzhou and now reside in Beijing. Founder of Sub Jam, presider of WaterLand Kwanyin, planner of Mini Midi, operator of Kwanyin Records, imaginative founder of Beijing Sound Planning Committee, and one of the major promoters of underground Rock & Roll in Beijing’s 1990s.

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Website will shut down temporarily

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Due to system maintenance, the website of Creative Commons China Mainland will be shut down temporarily on GMT12:00, Feb. 27, and is expected to resume on GMT12:00, March 1st. Sorry for any inconvenience.