FYI: EFF Releases Public Music License to Promote Audio Freedom

[Andy Müller-Maguhn <andy@ccc.de>]

http://www.eff.org/IP/Open_licenses/20010421_eff_oal_pr.html

EFF Releases Public Music License to Promote Audio Freedom:

Artists and Audiences Strike New Deal to Protect Public Commons

For Immediate Release -- Apr. 21, 2001

Contact:

Robin Gross, EFF Staff Attorney (Intellectual Property & Fair Use)
robin@eff.org +1 415 863 5459

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) introduced a new tool designed to
empower both artists and audiences at the New York Music & Internet Expo on
April 21, 2001. As part of its Campaign for Audiovisual Free Expression
(CAFE), EFF's Open Audio License allows anyone to freely copy, share,
perform, and adapt music in exchange for providing credit to the artist for
her gift to humanity.

EFF's Open Audio License enables musicians and society to build upon and
share creative expression creating a rich public commons. Artists who chose
to release a song under the public license can build their reputation by
offering unfettered access to their orginal works in exchange for
recognition. Open Audio works are designated as "(O)" by the author and may
be lawfully traded on file-sharing systems such as Napster or played by
traditional and Web DJs royalty-free. Numerous musicians have traditionally
taken advantage of super-distribution of their music, such as the Grateful
Dead, a band that attributes much of its success to its encouragement of
fans to freely copy and share their music.

"EFF's Open Audience License hopes to use the power of copyright to protect
copyright's ultimate objectives a vibrant and accessible public domain,
incentivising creativity, and promoting the free exchange of ideas," said
EFF Staff Attorney for Intellectual Property Robin Gross. "EFF's public
music license strikes a new deal between creators and the public, granting
more freedoms to the public to experience music while ensuring the artist
is compensated."

The online civil liberties group launched CAFE in June 1999 to address
complex social and legal issues raised by new technological measures for
protecting intellectual property. EFF believes that new intellectual
property laws and technologies harm - nearly eliminate - the public's fair
use rights, and make criminals of people doing perfectly legitimate things.


To read EFF's Open Audio License & supporting documents, see:
http://www.eff.org/IP/Open_licenses

For more information on EFF's CAFE campaign, see: http://www.eff.org/cafe

About EFF:

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading civil liberties
organization working to protect rights in the digital world. Founded in
1990, EFF actively encourages and challenges industry and government to
support free expression, privacy, and openness in the information society.
EFF is a member-supported organization and maintains one of the most
linked-to Web sites in the world: http://www.eff.org