Why i abandoned the “creative” commons concept.

We live in an age where many things are connected, we are connected to the electricity, the water we drink and music and art that we “i” absord. Plus a lot of toxic stuff.

The american indians said to the white folk as they arrived to the US, so i heard. “”you can’t eat petrol”". Someone also told me that the wise people within the tribes often were thinking seven generations away with their way of thinking. Could it be that the indian people let the white folk take their land and destroy everything “possibly” becauase they refused to allow their culture to migrate to the “”anglo saxon”white mans world”"?

To go on about creative commons “corporation”. Corporations are about maximum profit. If the art/written- that we create has no value, then the human right of a person to create as they choose may be lost for ever. Is this such a great thing?

From my view, the power of the commons is huge, yet the power of the individuals rights are going to be lost if the creativity of you are of no value or of value in a non-commercial way, cause how can commercial enterprise exist when the property of the people is free?

So when you I or anyone else give away something for free, without asking for reward in return, the rewards culture that we live in, no-longer has value. What does this equate to in the end? Who can say?

When something is free, people abuse it, the donkey did not win in animal farm, the pig did, yet maybe i just live in the illusion of this, maybe the donkey did win.

My experience of life after living in the Czech republic is this. Leave a door open and people are going to walk in and take what they can. Lock the door and someone probably has a key anyway.

The philosophy of the communist times was, as i have been told, “if you don’t steal it, your stealing from your family”. This way of thinking looks to have been passed on, what communism has done to the culture here in Eastern block is sad for even the people that exploited the rights. Yet maybe this philosophy of stealing developed only after the Russians brought their tanks to Prague. For sure the hat just changed color.

when i go to markets i find peoples histories thrown to the trash. As if they had no value. Excuse the opinions on Christmas day. Santa clause is not a guy that walks through the subway.

who cares about the artist in the license… i tried 2 do that and look what happend when i thought in the process of thinking.

post on CC forum & new idea
October 20, 2008 by jamyoung

link to post
The NC license looks to be a better license for software developers and artists that don’t want their songs, code or graphic being used in a commercial way. It seems strange for me that Buma/stemra, coda & APRA have gone for these licenses within their system. Artists that join these organizations give exclusive permissions for the use of their copyright to these organizations. This means the NC license is not able to flex or move at all. In the US the CC license can flex as artists with ASCAP and BMI have not signed exclusive contracts. Most artists that sign with a rights organization outside the US probably don’t know that the contract they have with their rights organization is exclusive, most artists in the US probably don’t know that the contract they sign is non-exclusive. As the contract is non-exclusive in the US, artists can join ASCAP via the net. As what difference is it if the artists is a member or not, they still have their exclusive right.

It seems clear from recent mails with rights organization AKM, that the non-exclusive right of an artist that has issued the right for their media to be used via ASCAP/bmi, is unable to translate outside the US on any level. This in turn means that the commons license as far as audio works licensed by artists that are members of ASCAP or BMI are only able to go as far as the boarders of the US, from the information i have so far.

AKM write:::

your “case” has been discussed thoroughly. Our position is that in reference to the reciprocal representation agreement AKM has concluded with ASCAP we have the right to license the right of public performance of your musical works. No evidence is shown in the IPI-database that your membership agreement with ASCAP excludes live-performances. Given the fact that the membership agreement between ASCAP and its members is on a non-exclusive basis you too have the right to license the right of public performance of your musical works.

Our contracting partner is ASCAP. As long as we do not have a written information from ASCAP that we shall no longer license live-performances or public performances as a whole of your musical works we will proceed as before. So, please contact your contracting partner ASCAP:::

If all rights organization (outside the US) stand on the same ground as AKM its hard to know (yet if its upto a board run via corporations, its probably yes), what does that tell the artist that puts a creative commons license on their songs, be it non-commercial or commercial?

The other consideration that the audio creator might want to take into view is that no law exists (that i know of), that defines commercial or non-commercial. The rights organization have the ability to decide what a non-commercial or commercial use is, yet as the rights organizations voting system, is built in such a way that the more an artist or publisher gets the more power the artist or publisher has, this ultimately means that a definition of non-commercial or commercial is going to be created in favor of the corporation affiliated NGO’s or the artists, that get the most revenues.

This in turn means that creative commons has to bend to the wills of the corporations and governmental institutions rather than the artists. No artists or regular publisher is on the board of creative commons or icommons and i do feel that creative commons has understood the situation as i do now for some time.

The artist who is signed with ASCAP does have the right to defend her or his right to issue a license in the court of law, if they have signed a non-exclusive contract with a rights organization. Consider though, as non-commercial is not defined and share alike easily mis-understood, this means that a license that allows commercial use with attribution is probably the better choice for the artist that wants to stay self publishing.

From this view it seems joining ASCAP and defending the space/media that the artist issues the license 2, is a smart way to go. http://www.setlist.CC

I’m not a lawyer, so maybe i have it a little mixed up. Yet getting things mixed up might open up some other ways, that don’t just help the corporations, government and NGO’s.

the real theory of gold

it seems that really we are all here to search the planet for gold and then some supreme being from above is going to arrive and pick it all up, as the gold is needed to run a generator in another dimension. unfortunately for the human race, the super beings got delayed choosing to have an extra cup of coffee on a brake from work. this in turn has meant that other things happen. this does not change the fact though that when they have finished their coffee brake they are going to come and get the gold, weather we like it or not.

you got saucers and you got cups, living on a string trying to be a mug… old song from many moons ago.

.mp3 .wav .ogg file for Memories Child Jamison Young

Memories Child Jamison Young large mp3 11.5 meg

Memories Child By Jamison Young 50.9 meg .wav file

Memories Child 4.2 meg ogg file

link to all large mp3’s

link to all ogg files</a

link to all .wav files

This song was used in the x-files movie “i want to believe”.

This song is licensed under creative commons attribution license 2.5 BY license in Australia. link to license

Attribute my website http://www.jamyoung.net and the creator Jamison Young when using the song where possible.

for a smaller mp3 file goto my website

To settle down and stop my movin’
Cuddle the sky, a rock to earth
And memories child
Memories child

All alone without a friend
Under the stars in the desert so nice
And memories child
Memories child

In the space where this world’s not real
To be true and not just a part of them
Aye memories child
Memories child

The desert’s growing and the sea is rising
In a thousand years it might just be
Memories child

Hold onto face, it just slides
Hold onto me I just fade
The beauty stretched and then replaced
The innocence lost and then remade
Inside my world it’s an under under cover
And underneath that there’s another double
Hold onto face, it just slides
Hold onto me I just fade

To settle down and stop my movin’
Cuddle the sky, a rock to earth
Memories child
Memories child

All alone without a friend
Under the stars in the desert so nice
And memories child
Memories child

Hold onto face, it just slides
Hold onto me I just fade
The beauty stretched and then replaced
The innocence lost and then remade
Inside my world it’s an under under cover
And underneath that there’s another double
Hold onto face, it just slides
Hold onto me I just fade
Hold onto face, it just slides
Hold onto me I just fade

Beatpick how it works, maybe ???

After reading the italian blog after google translation.

A problem i see with the beatpick contract is that when the artists signs with beatpick, the artist signing is signing that she/he warrants to protect beatpick from any kind of problems that the law might throw at BP. Beatpick also claim to be acting as a contractor not an agent. This is not the way sync licensing normally works.
Why don’t beatpicks present more information on their website explaining how their business model works to artists that are not members of ASCAP?

Why has beatpick not presented their contract that they ask artists to sign to ASCAP for feedback?

It seems that the beatpick contract is not compatible with any of the rights organizations outiside the US, yet beatpick do not make this known on their website. It seems also that once beatpick has cut a deal for an artists work that the only rights organization that the artist can join is ASCAP. Yet this info is not on their website.

Beatpick look to be exploiting rights that would normally belong to publishers and a recording labels via use of the NC license. Yet then they take the compatible commercial rights, to the NC license. This might not be a problem for some artists, yet other artists need the information on the effects. 

Including information like i mention above on beatpicks website, is what is going to make beatpick a fair play music label. 

I take my content from beatpick site and go alone. I thank the fan of my tunes that gave a copy of the cd “shifting sands of a blue car” to the director of the x-files movie…

response to post in Italy

if you visit this link, you can see some info about the use of the song in x-files film. i wrote this response bellow.

hello, its interesting to see all this here. i want to make the point about the use of my song and ASCAP.

“Licensor will not collect, whether individually or via a performance rights society, royalties for Your communication to the public, broadcast, public performance or public digital performance (e.g. webcast) of the Work.”

What’s good about the CC BY license 2.5 is that it allows commercial use of content for “you” or “your” work. Keep in mind for a blanket to keep someone warm that blanket does not have holes in it. Publishers are in the ones that maintain the temperatures of those blankets. The CC BY license from my veiw is great sync licenses for artists, it also means if a venue/webservice uses all content under the CC BY license that the venue does not have to pay a bill to rights organizations for the use of that content.

These are good conditions for the self-publisher. Yet possibly upsetting for an established publishing industry.

Both Youtube and myspace might be considered commercial uses, from some points of view. Most artists want their content remixed and put with these services.

My thoughts are for now that artists that are not with a commercial publisher are best to put a creative commons license on their work that allows commercial use and join ASCAP. Its not the job of rights organizations to police attribution, it also seems logical that for someone to use a creative commons license they need to be sure that an artist is a member of ASCAP, as most of the rights organizations outside the US don’t list who their members are. So how can the user of CC content be sure that a new name has not been created for the band or artist. And who knows the future of technology with music and the web.

What i don’t agree with about both Jamendo and Beatpick is that they are based in Europe/UK, its not possible for content of artists with rights organization outside the US to be with these services. It seems only possible for artists to be with ASCAP and use a creative commons license. Both Beatoick, Jamendo or Magnitune don’t list this on their sites. Why not? Why is creative commons not letting artists that find out about the license know about this?

The ASCAP bill of rights states.

“We have the right to choose when and where our creative works may be used for free.”
“We have the right to license our works and control the ways in which they are used.”

No other rights organization that i know of allows member artists to do this.

http://www.jamoon.org blog
http://www.jamyoung.net download the tunes free

song not included in x-files “I want to believe” official sound track yet in the soundtrack

My song did not make the cut for the x-files soundtrack. Its interesting how it all works.. and to see that it really is the way that the worst nightmare explains to you how it is.

why am i saying this?
About 3 years ago i decided i would not be a part of the music industry, and so i went on that path. i bumped into creative commons and then saw the potential of making whats created free. if i’m in a place far away from something and people demand i’m in another place, is it worth it? you do what you do and you are what you say you are.

its interesting how people say how great it is that your song is in a major flick. its interesting that the song does not make the soundtrack, especially as i would have licensed it to the soundtrack label for next to nothing for use. maybe the production quality was sub standard from decca records point of view, yet the soundtrack did include remixes of songs and final track in the film. Universal music had previously licensed my song for free goto this link. the film use is great, yet the reality seems that the people that are going to find out about the use of the song are the people that i bump into or if i blog or tag it. i can pay a publicity person to promote me, yet where are the sales going to come from to pay the publicity person if the tunes are free? if i was included on the sound track it would be different.

As the song was not on the soundtrack, i started on the path of posting a single of of the tune on i-tunes, via cdbaby. Although the tunes are free anyway. some would say, well why post it on i-tunes…if people expect something to be somewhere, its a good idea to put it there… that’s the way i see it. if something is worth something, its cool that they pay for it… keep in mind that the reason the songs are free is partly also because the industry gave the songs no value…

The orchard who i paid 150 dollars 4 years ago to promote the album listed it next Jerry Seinfeld in their catalog and in that time i’ve sold less than 25 dollars worth of downloads, at least it was not exclusively next to Jerry Seinfeld. What was i supposed to do? wait for the big wave and remain loyal to the music business, i made it free cause i wanted people to get the tunes.

as a result of my songs being with a creative commons license people do get to hear the tunes, the intro music in this youtube clip shows the potential of the license.

A couple of hundred million people are going to hear about a minuet of recorded music i created in cinemas, cable, TV, yet still only 5-10 people are going to arrive to see a live performance sometimes. i have not sold one cd since the film has been out.

to go on…
i put this single together for i-tunes, i was not able to use the word “soundtrack” in the tittle of album as “soundtrack” and “x-files” is owned by Decca records/fox, i would have to create a license for that to happen… to go on further.. can i use an image from the fox film with the release of the single to i-tunes…? no fox’s images are under a strict copyright…can i make a license with fox to use their image in conjunction with a cd single?.. no response yet.

i best be more happy about the use. maybe i had some expectation of something, yet even when i sent an email to fox here in Prague, they did not respond. If i was in the soundtrack they might have.

anyway, i reckon its worth saying all this. maybe i’ll get back from that far away mountain sometime. artists and musicians best understand this about the music business though. if you do want to get your music onto a popular soundtrack released by the likes of Decca in conjunction with a popular film. best that you remain with a business model that integrates into the current system. If you go against that union of publishing corporations that put a block on all culture, be prepared for the consequences.

The big corporations do not work on terms that relate to market conditions it seems, its appears as if a mafia from the smallest amount pirated from the business to the largest dollar sucked from the consumers pocket. Don’t be worried about corporations using tunes or photo content free via a creative commons license. Putting a CC license on whats created, that allows commercial use is good way to fight back and allow new business to evolve, that does have a fair spirit. Don’t expect to find to much humanity in the entertainment industry as it is.

For universal music to put you on a compilation with a global release, they would have to own you. Its just the way it is, i sent my cd to universal music in Australia and it was rejected. I would never sign with this kind of company. I gave them a free license to distribute my songs in Poland. They could have negotiated a free license to use my song on the soundtrack. Its sad that art that is part of a film soundtrack can’t make the released film soundtrack, even the use could have be negotiated for free.

 

*** to add to this blog, i found out that i was not able to send out a single as i did not read the fine print on the contract when i paid the Orchard 150 dollars to release my songs through i-tunes. You see according to the Orchard what is non-exclusive has changed in the last years. They claim i have a non-exclusive exclusive. Anyway the result is that my songs have been taken down from the Orchard. I no-longer distribute the tunes through i-tunes or any paid digital networks. The tunes are available for free on my site and a couple of other services where i can make them free for download.  Even if self published artists do really sell music through i-tunes/Orchard, my thoughts are at the moment that these funds are being tunneled into the pockets of executives that work within the Orchard and labels around the catchment area.

song in x-files film

I went to see the film on the big screen with the song “memories child” playing last week, and tonight i’ll go and see it again. I’m a big fan of anything that is not able to be explained (mainly cause i see little logic in a lot of things), yet more a fan of the sci-fi, UFO side of x-files. Anyway, to be included in the film is a big buzz, mostly its well published music that is included with these big screen flicks.

Film is good, its got a lot of different concepts woven through the film on many levels. Its more a real film than most of the films that arrive now days, less effects & more story, good film in its own right.

I got a message on the guest book on site.

I love your song Memories Child!!

I discovered it through the X-Files : I Want to Believe movie…

I keep searching the internet and I can’t find the version use in the credits of the movie.

The version that I’ve found has a slower tempo to it. Don’t get me wrong, I like it but the theatrical version has more beat to it… where can I find it?

When i goto to see the film tonight i’m going to listen hard, the only thing i can think of is that the song was tightend up in places through some kind of mastering. I contacted the re-mixer of x-files sound track and asked if they might be interested in doing a remix of the song. I’m also working on a film clip for the track, that i’ll put up soon.

Rather than running around to labels and publishers to let them know about the use, i have decided to take a back seat with all this and stay in control of rights.