GNU.media how-to « GNU.media

GNU.media how-to

Creating GNUmedia is a three step process.

1) Create multimedia using Software Libre.

There are many tools available to content creators. The Copyleft community has a full range of multimedia tools at our fingertips. The first step is to demonstrate our talents, using Free/Libre Open Source Software.

2) License our creations in harmony with the GNU General Public License.

There are a growing number of Copyleft licenses under which to share your work. GNUmedia has very specific goals/freedoms to promote:

Universal access to media and mass communications infrastructure as well as multimedia source files.
The freedom to copy, preform, display and redistribute media; for any purpose and with any device.
The freedom to create, preform, display, release and distribute derivative works of said media.
The freedom from the restriction of the cultural permissions granted by content creators.

There are a small subset of Copyleft media licenses which are harmonious with those guidelines. The license must not exclude any use of the multimedia asset, must not allow subsequent licensees to remove the rights granted by the original creator, and must ensure that the creator gets credit and/or a fair share of profit for subsequent enactment/reproduction of the asset.

Licenses that come close to this set of ideals include:

3) Contribute our creations (including source and asset files) to the larger body of Copyleft resources.

There are many Copyleft friendly multimedia repositories containing thousands of Copyleft multimedia artifacts. Most repositories and multimedia community portals are set up only to provide multimedia artifacts and not the source files which were generated and utilized in their production. These extra source files are desirable for several purposes:

Ease of modification or derivation.
To study the techniques used in production.
To encourage persons to adopt Software Libres.
Preserve snapshots of our culture at various states of evolution.
To encourage collaboration and to foster a sense of freedom and involvement.

There are public repositories, such as the Internet Archive, which are set up to handle the full scope of media sharing, including working files and item specific meta-data. These initiatives help preserve our cultural heritage and enable our collective consciousness to flourish.