1

About Creative Commons Philippine Launch Celebration: a

Creative Commons is a not-for-profit organization, founded 1 vibrant member of the global
in 2001, that promotes the creative re-use of intellectual and
artistic works, whether owned or in the public domain. commons
Through its free copyright licenses, Creative Commons offers
authors, artists, scientists, and educators the choice of a
flexible range of protections and freedoms that build upon
3 Share, Remix, Reuse -- Legally
the "all rights reserved" concept of traditional copyright to
Strides towards a Philippine
enable a voluntary "some rights reserved" approach. Creative 10 Commons -- Concept and Direction
Commons was built with and is sustained by the generous
support of organizations including the Center for the Public
Domain, the Omidyar Network, The Rockefeller Foundation, Strides towards a Philippine
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and 12 Commons -- A sampling
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, as well as
members of the public. For more information about Creative
Commons, visit http://creativecommons.org. 13 Nightcap: the CC-PH Mini-Concert

Creative Commons is working with the e-Law Center of the The Past Two Months at Creative
Arellano University School of Law to create Philippines 14 Commons International
jurisdiction-specific licenses from the generic Creative
Commons licenses.
ACIA (Asia and the Commons in the
About Arellano University School of Law (AUSL) 18 Information Age): Asia Commoners
The Arellano University School of Law (AUSL), a non-stock meet in Taipei
non-profit institution, is named after the First Chief Justice of
the Philippine Supreme Court, Cayetano S. Arellano, and
Introducing the Arellano Law
established in 1938. Today it boasts more than six decades
of providing quality legal education. The foremost objective
20 Singers
of the school is to create global lawyers: practitioners who
are deeply educated in the law, practice-ready, and devoted
Introducing Lisa Diy
to service not only in the local but also the international 21
community. Arellano Law prides itself for being one of the
most populous law schools in the Philippines with faculty The Philippine Legal Commons
members who have distinguished themselves in law practice, 22
the judiciary, government service, and the academe. The Creative Commons Newsletters 1-5
law school furthermore is one of the few schools in the
Philippines that produces the most number of lawyers in the
24
annual bar examinations administered by the Supreme Court. Bayanihan Books, an Open
For more information, please visit http:// Textbook Initiative
www.arellanolaw.edu/.

About the e-Law Center at Arellano University School

of Law. The e-Law Center was founded in November 2002
under the auspices of the Arellano University School of Law,
following the launching of the school’s LAWPHiL Project,
which is considered one of the most popular on-line and
electronic databases of Philippine law and jurisprudence that
is accessible for free to the general public. The Center is
pursuing projects in research, publication, policy initiatives
Unless provided otherwise, the contents of this newsletter
and advocacy, capability building, academic support, and
linkages in the field of information and communication are licensed under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/
technology as it affects the Philippine legal system. by/3.0/ph

Cover: © 2008. Berne Guerrero. "Sugbu." CC BY-SA 3.0 PH. Includes an image “Magellan’s
cross” from his 2 February 2008 trip to Cebu and images from nick kulas/Nicholas Manuel.
"sinulog 1." CC BY-SA 2.0 http://www.flickr.com/photos/nickulas/2225804287/ "Festival Queen
of San Carlos." CC BY-SA 2.0 http://www.flickr.com/photos/nickulas/2216666645/ "sinulog
4." CC BY-SA 2.0 http://www.flickr.com/photos/nickulas/2225803797/ "sinulog 3." CC BY-
SA 2.0 http://www.flickr.com/photos/nickulas/2225803933/.

Nicholas Manuel is a photographer from Cebu City. His website can be found at http://
www.nicholasmanuel.com. His 6 photos on Sinulog 2008 were shared through CC BY-SA 2.0
licenses at flickr.com. (http://www.flickr.com/photos/nickulas/sets/72157603787289072/) On
the other hand, Berne Guerrero is the deputy project lead of Creative Commons in the
Philippines. His website can be found at http://www.berneguerrero.com. The Sinulog Festival
is held every January in Cebu City in honor of the Santo Niño. (See http://www.sinulog.ph/)
PHILIPPINE LAUNCH CELEBRATION: A VIBRANT
MEMBER OF THE GLOBAL COMMONS

by Michelle Thorne
13 January 2008, CC BY 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/7971
http://creativecommons.org/press-releases/entry/7974
Following the unveiling of the
Philippine localized Creative
Commons licenses [1] in
December, [2] citizens will
gather on January 14th in
Manila to celebrate in full the
public launch of the country's
completed licenses and its
strides towards fostering the
global commons movement.
The launch activities are
scheduled to take place from
1:00pm to 9:00pm at the
Arellano University School of
Law.[3]
"Remix." © 2008. Berne Guerrero. Some Rights Reserved. Except when otherwise noted , this work
is licensed under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ph/ Built upon the works of [1] Beth
Highlights include: an
Kanter (cambodia4kidsorg). "What A Second Grader Knows About Creative Commons." BY 2.0
orientation to projects from the Generic. http://www.flickr.com/photos/cambodia4kidsorg/2042494952/; [2] Peter Shanks
Philippine Commons,[4] a local (BotheredByBees). "CC swag XI". BY 2.0 Generic. http://www.flickr.com/photos/botheredbybees/
initiative to promote alternative 2101568605; [3] Emil Alviola. "scratch-this". BY 2.0 Generic. http://www.flickr.com/photos/
21328364@N06/2070594652/; and [4] Creative Commons "About" text. CC BY 3.0 http://
licensing, free and open
creativecommons.org/about/ . Originally for front stage (function hall), formal CC PH license
source software, open launching, 14 January 2008.
education, and free culture; the
public presentation of the CC Philippine Licensing Suite Attorney Jaime N. Soriano, Creative Commons Philippines
Version 3.0,[5] which has been available online since its Project Lead and Executive Director of the e-Law Center,
soft launch December 15, 2007; and the CC Philippines announces that the launch activities are scheduled to take
Concert[6] featuring more than six local rock bands. place on January 14, 2008 from 1:00pm to 9:00pm at
the Arellano University School of Law.
See also:
* Article about CC & the launch event in the Manila The event will consist of three parts: 1) an orientation to
Times[7] by CC Philippines Project Lead Atty. Jaime projects by stakeholders in the Philippine Commons, with
N. Soriano the aim of developing a local collaboration promoting
* Event on Yahoo! Upcoming [8] alternative licensing, free and open source software, open
education, and free culture; 2) the public presentation of
San Francisco, CA, USA and Pasay City, Metro Manila, the CC Philippine Licensing Suite Version 3.0, which has
Philippines -- January 14, 2008 been available online since its soft launch December 15, 3
2007; and 3) the CC Philippines Concert featuring more
Following the unveiling of the Philippine localized Creative than six local rock bands.
Commons licenses in December, citizens of the
archipelago will gather today in Manila to celebrate in Atty. Soriano and Atty. Michael Vernon M. Guerrero,
full the public launch of its completed licenses and the Deputy Project Lead of CC Philippines, are both pleased
country’s strides towards fostering the global commons to also announce the public launching of the Philippine
movement. Commons website, available at
www.philippinecommons.org, and the adaption of a CC
license to the LawPhil Project, the most popular and
 4
comprehensive website on Philippine law and
jurisprudence.

The localized CC licenses will also be applied to the

Arellano Law and Policy Review; the law school’s IT Law
Journal, whose first quarter issue features all articles
devoted to Creative Commons; and the original works of
the Arellano Law Singers. These materials will be
presented and shared at ACIA: International Workshop
on Asia and Commons in the Information Age, held on
January 19-20 in Taipei, Taiwan.

Endnotes

1 http://creativecommons.org/international/ph
2 http://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/7910
3 http://www.arellanolaw.edu/
4 http://www.philippinecommons.org/
5 http://creativecommons.org/international/ph/
6 http://www.philippinecommons.org/2007/12/13/cc-ph-
soft-launch-and-cc-5th-birthday/
7 http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/jan/13/
yehey/career/20080113car2.html
8 http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/404875
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ph/
of Law. © 2008. CC BY-NC- SA 3.0 PH: http://
All photos in this spread by IT Center, Arellano University School
SHARE, REMIX, REUSE – LEGALLY

by Jaime N. Soriano
13 January 2008, CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 PH
http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/jan/13/yehey/career/
5
20080113car2.html

There is probably no mass media technology that could compete with

cyberspace in terms of propagating and circulating ideas and human
expressions. The Internet is now the leading repository of music, video,
photographs, live journals, books, presentations, documents, and other
forms of artistic, literary, educational and even scientific creations.

The existing copyright regime applies, and provides legal protection, to

this intellectual property works expressed in digital form. The arrangement
is of course perfect especially so that in many countries copyright attaches
 6

to the work from the moment of creation. But

this legal safeguard could also stifle creativity,
public exposure, and in a sense impose some
restraint on the creator’s freedom of choice
particularly on the manner on how the netizens
could use, exploit or distribute the work. And this
is what Creative Commons seeks to address.

Creative Commons, a non-stock, non-profit

global movement of prestigious organizations and
stakeholders now existing in more than fifty
countries, provides free tools that let authors,
scientists, artists, and educators easily mark their
creative work with the freedoms they want it to
carry. They can use CC to change copyright
terms from "All Rights Reserved" to "Some Rights
Reserved".

Creative Commons is not anti-copyright. On the

contrary, it is based on, and works within the
framework of, copyright and recognizes that every
by-nc-sa/3.0/ph/
© 2008. CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 PH: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/
All photos in this spread by IT Center, Arellano University School of Law.
 7

intellectual creation in the digital world is entitled

to both legal and moral respect.

Certainly, Creative Commons does not deny the

commercial use or distribution of works. Come to
think of it, it can even open up better avenues for
subsequent commercial opportunities.

Pure and simple, what Creative Commons provides

the authors, artists, educators, and scientists is the
 8

option, to let the world knows exactly how they want their works or creations used,
distributed or even exploited, as a legal alternative to the default regime called copyright.
In short, Creative Commons is all about freedom, promoting free culture and knowledge
sharing.

While copyright principles are almost uniform in every country that recognizes it since
the 1886 Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, some of its
terms still vary.

Thus, Creative Commons embarked on porting its licenses in each country affiliated
with it to make sure that local CC licenses conform to domestic copyright laws.

In the Philippines, this author is the legal and public lead of the project jurisdiction with
the Arellano University School of Law, through
its e-Law Center, as the lead public institution.

The country has successfully ported its local

Creative Commons license last December 15,
2007 and is now available for pinoynetizens
to use.

[On] January 14, the Arellano Law School

[held] the official public launching of Creative
 All photos in this spread by IT Center, Arellano University School of Law. © 2008. CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 PH: http:/
/creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ph/

Commons – Philippines and its ported licenses. The launch [was] preceded by
open sessions on free and open source software and e-learning. The event 9
[was] capped with a CC-PH concert featuring local bands and the Arellano
Law Singers, who [performed] their original works under a Creative Commons
license.

Artists, educators, scientists, authors, bloggers and creators of works who use
the Internet as a medium may now avail of the Creative Commons Philippines
License Version 3.0 by visiting the website – www.creativecommons.org or
www.philippinecommons.org, and there they can choose their option or
freedom.

With Creative Commons, it is perfectly legal to share, remix and share.

 10

STRIDES TOWARDS A PHILIPPINE

C OMMONS -- C ONCEPT AND
DIRECTION

The term "commons" has come to be applied to resources which a

community has rights or access to. [1] In the context of the prevailing
information age, emphasis has been made to shared resources,
specifically which relates to information, culture, and tools, among
others.

It is in this context that it is manifest that a substantial number of

individuals and entities have been pursuing initiatives, or have been
collaborating among themselves, to create, else release, these
resources to the public or the community, away from the exclusive
grasp of proprietary interests. For examples, programmers or
software developers have worked together, regardless of business
affilitations, to create Free Open Source Software (FOSS, or Free/
Libre Open Source Software [FLOSS]) and thus provide alternatives
to pricey proprietary solutions. Some content developers -- whether
they may come in the form of text, still images, audio, or video, or
any combinations of these -- have been licensing their works to
members of the public, else liberally dedicating their works to the
public domain, so that information or content may be shared more
freely, rather than be strangled by the default restrictions provided
by copyright laws. Some academic institutions have been releasing
their course outline and academic materials, so that knowledge may
cascade towards those who are not enrolled in such institution, whether
they may be found inside or outside the country where such institution
is located.

By themselves, as individuals spheres -- for FOSS, Open Content,

Open Education, Free Culture -- certain progress can be attained by
those involved in the realization of their goals. Nevertheless, greater
progress can be attained further if individuals and entities in each
sphere would be
able to collaborate
with those in the
other spheres.

All slide images in this spread by Berne

Guerrero. © 2008. CC BY 3.0 PH: http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ph/
Considering, for example, that programmers and
software developers are able to release a robust and
stable free open source software, would not it be easier
to disseminate the information about how such software
can be utilized through materials, either in the form of
training manuals or marketing literature, prepared by
non-programmers, who may be open content providers?
Would it not be more advantageous for the FOSS
development community that instructions in the use of
FOSS be incorporated in course outlines and syllabi by
those involve in formal education? Would it not be easier
for those involved in formal education to provide the
instructions with the aid of materials by the aforementioned
open content providers? Would it not be similarly easier
for those involved in formal education to utilize FOSS to
develop alternative means in the delivery of knowledge,
either suppletorily or primarily, in the form of e-Learning?
Likewise, would it be easier for recipients of open
instuctional or academic materials to absorb the
information embedded therein, if such materials embeds,
further, images, sounds, animation, else if such materials
are recrafted or remixed into “open” instructional videos
or audios? Perhaps in the above illustrations, indeed,
greater progress can be made to realize each other’s
goals if individuals and entities belonging in different
spheres, who would naturally be more concentrated in
doing the primary object of their pursuits, could collaborate
together.
So, how do we get to get these “commons” spheres
together, especially here in the Philippines?
This was the question that was lingering in the minds of
the Creative Commons Philippines (CC-PH) team after
their participation in the iCommons Summit in Dubrovnik,
Croatia in June 2007. The question developed in such a
manner as a result of a preliminary research on the scope
of “Open Education” in the Philippines, since Open
Education was one of the four main tracks during the
summit. It has been observed that there have been
dispersed initiatives coming from different individuals and
entities -- ranging from Open Universities from academic
institutions, open content materials on free open source
software from FOSS advocates, advocacy towards open
textbooks (in response to the textbook issue in the
Department of Education), social responsibility programs
of major businesses towards technology and education,
among others. Gearing towards the more general
“commons movement,” the primary questions were “Is
there anyone indexing all these initiatives?” “Is there
anyone who is making obvious gestures to get these entities
to work together?” “Should we wait for those who are
already pursuing initiatives towards the “commons” to
get the ‘commons’ in the Philippines organized, or should
CC-PH be directly involved to provide an avenue for these
entities to collaborate with each other?” CC-PH agreed
to take a more pro-active approach to develop a
“Philippine commons.”
As first steps towards this initiative, CC-PH set-up the
Philippine Commons website;[2] hosted a two-and-a-half
lecture -- on Free Open Source Software, e-Learning,
and an overview of the Philippine Commons project --
during the launching of the Philippine-ported Creative
Commons 3.0 licenses on 14 January 2008; and is
currently in collaboration with individuals, entities and
associations to bring together their pursuit towards
realizable common goals.
CC-PH also is currently planning thematic quarterly events,
related to the Philippine Commons, i.e. a general
“Philippine Commons” summit every January, an “Open 11
Education” symposium every April; a “Free Culture” event
every July; and a “Free Open Source Software”
conference every October.
We invite people to get involved.
Endnotes
1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commons
2 http://www.philippinecommons.org
 12
STRIDES TOWARDS A PHILIPPINE
COMMONS -- A SAMPLING
During the early afternoon of 14
January 2008, a set of talks was held
at the second floor of Mariano
Magsalin Sr. Hall, at the Arellano
University School of Law in Taft
Avenue, Pasay City, Philippines,
entitled “Strides towards the
Philippine Commons.”
For the first hour, Prof. Engels Antonio
of Bluepoint Institute of Higher
Technology Foundation provided a
talk on “Open Source 101,” which
focused on the basics of software
available in the market, and
persuaded the audience about the
value of Free Open Source Software
(FOSS). His base example was the
Fedora Linux Operating System.
Prof. Antonio is a trustee of the
BY-NC-SA 3.0 PH: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ph/
All photos in this spread by IT Center, Arellano University School of Law. © 2008. CC
Bluepoint Institute of Higher Technology Foundation. He
started playing with Linux in 1991 and obtained his Red
Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE) and Red Hat Certified
Examiner (RHCX) certifications in 2002. He is in charge
of Total Linux, Linux Kernel Internals, Perl & Python
Programming, and Extreme PHP curriculum and
instruction development of Bluepoint Foundation since
1999. He is also a Fedora Ambassador and an OpenVZ
developer.
On the other hand, Bluepoint Institute of Higher
Technology Foundation is a non-profit Open Source
education and development center. It is the first
organization in the Philippines that focuses on Linux and
Open Source training.
For the next hour, Prof. Leandre Andres S. Dacanay,
President of the Philippine e-Learning Society (PeLS),
provided a talk on "Teaching and Learning through e-
Learning." He provided an in-depth discussion on how to
undertake an e-Learning program.
Prof. Dacanay finished his undergraduate degree from
the University of Santo Tomas in Education, major in
Computer Technology, and now pursuing his masteral
studies on educational management. Currently, he is the
Internal Project Manager of the Educational Technology
Center, eLearning Access Program, also from the
University of Santo Tomas. Serving as President of the
Philippine eLearning Society (PeLS), he has been a
participant in a number of international eLearning
trainings. From the California Virtual Campus, USA,
APEC eLearning Training by the Institute of APEC
Collaborative Education in Pusan National University in
Busan, Korea and eLearning Development and
Implementation (eLDI), this time with the Global Campus
21 InWent-Germany. He was the
conference chair of the recently
concluded 6th National eLearning
Conference with the theme
"Learning About Technology,
eLearning with technology for the
Academe and Industry" last October
2007. His interests include
educational technology, e-Learning
and project management.
On the other hand, the Philippine
eLearning Society (PeLS) was
founded on 30 July 2003 in Manila
with the objective of promoting
substantive content, appropriate
pedagogy, and appropriate use of
technology for eLearning, guided by
ongoing research activities. PeLS
serves as a venue for: Promoting
research on the effective use of
eLearning, sharing of eLearning experiences, developing
standards of excellence, promoting interoperability of
eLearning systems, encouraging collaboration in the
development of substantive content, cooperating with
international eLearning groups, and promoting public
awareness and appreciation of the nature and uses of
eLearning.
Finally, Atty. Michael Vernon M. Guerrero, Deputy Project
Lead, Creative Commons Philippines, concluded the two-
and-a-half talks, with an overview about the Philippine
Commons project, entitled “Collaborating Commoners:
Towards a Philippine Commons.”
Berne Guerrero was a graduate of the Ateneo de Manila
University, with a degree in Political Science, and of the
Arellano University School of Law (AUSL). He is the deputy
director of the e-Law Center and the IT Center of AUSL,
the deputy project lead of Creative Commons in the
Philippines, a partner at the Ocampo Santos Nunez
Lomangaya and Guerrero law offices, and a trustee of
the Institute of Continuing Legal Studies and Education.
His nickname has no direct relation to the Berne
Convention on Copyright.
NIGHTCAP: THE CC-PH MINI-
CONCERT

On the night of 14 January 2008, at the al fresco Hall, on the ground floor of the
Mariano Magsalin Sr. building at Arellano University School of Law, in Pasay City,
Philippines, eight (8) amateur bands performed in the Creative Commons
Philippines mini-concert, as part of the celebrations pertaining to the public launching
of the Philippine-ported Creative Commons licenses and the Philippine Commons.
These bands include LexAdvox, Hotsi Patootsi, SOTC, Kahel, Prodigal, Mortadella,
and Sopiz.

The bands sang their originals, except for a couple who included covers, during
the mini-concert. The playlist includes [1] Mortadella’s ”Embrace November,”
“Backtrack,” and “P.S.”; [2] Sopiz’s...; [3] SOTC’s “song.3,” “Magandang Balita,”
[1]
and “Pagtatapos ng bagong istorya”; [2] [4] Hotsi Patootsi’s untitled instrumental,
“Tadhana,”[3] “Kahit hindi na tayo,”[4] “Ikaw na bahala,”[5] and “3 na”[6]; [5]
Himalaya’s “Diyos ang salapi,”[7] “Hiling ko sana,”[8] and “Pwesto”[9]; [6] LexAdvox;s
“Addiction,” “’Pagkat ikaw na nga,”[10] “Sabog,” [11] “Kalawakan,”[12] and “Walang
Hanggan” [13]; [7] Prodigal’s “Acree,” “Goodbye,” and “Golden Heart”; and [8]
Kahel’s “Soundcheck,” “Fear to forget,” and “Beats.”

Half-way through the band sets,

Mr. Eugene Marfil, of the locally
known band “True Faith” and of
the “Accidental Ideas” which is
responsible for the music site
“newbornaudio.com” sang two
of his original compositions. He
capped his performance with a
rendition of a True Faith classic
entitled “Huwag na lang kaya.”

This event was organized with

the help of SpeedOfSound360
productions and and N- Tech
Lights & Sounds (sounds R us).

The event ended at half past ten

in the evening -- a full three and
a half gig.

Endnotes
13
1 Tagalog. “Good news.”
2 Tagalog. “Ending of a new story.”
3 Tagalog. “Fate.”
4 Tagalog. “Even if it is not ‘us’ anymore.”
5 Tagalog, roughly: “It’s up to you” or “You take
care of it.”
6 Tagalog. “It’s already 3.”
7 Tagalog. “Money is (his) god.”
8 Tagalog, roughly. “My request...”
9 Tagalog, literally. “position.”
10 Tagalog. “Because, indeed, it is you.”
11 Tagalog, colloquially. “wasted” or “drugged.”
12 Tagalog, roughly. “space” or “skies.”
13 Tagalog. “Without end.”
 14

THE PAST TWO MONTHS AT

CREATIVE COMMONS INTERNATIONAL
(1 JANUARY-29 FEBRUARY 2008)

1 January 2008 Winners." http://

www.creativecommons.org/, presumably CC BY 3.0
All other images from Creative Commons website http://

* Linksvayer, Mike. “Happy Public Domain Day! “ creativecommons.org/weblog/

http://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/7941 entry/7963
* Linksvayer, Mike. "More CC
2 January 2008 Cinema 2.0." http://
* Steuer, Eric. “Creative Commons Announces Pledges creativecommons.org/weblog/
Made to Fulfill “5×5” Funding Challenge” http:// entry/7964
creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/7946
8 January 2008
3 January 2008 * Vollmer, Timothy. "LiveContent
* Maracke, Catharina. “CC Hong Kong begins public Available Through On-
discussion” http://creativecommons.org/weblog/ Disk.com." http://
entry/7949 creativecommons.org/weblog/
entry/7936
4 January 2008
* Parkins, Cameron. "Political Novel “Republic” 9 January 2008
Released Under CC License" http:// * Vollmer, Timothy. "New York
creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/7950 Times Continues Polling Place
* Reeder, Melissa. "Thank Photo Project." http://
You!" http:// creativecommons.org/weblog/
creativecommons.org/ entry/7965
weblog/entry/7951
10 January 2008
7 January 2008 * Vollmer, Timothy. "Linux Format
* Linksvayer, Mike. “Video Interviews Red Hat’s Jack
intro to RDFa." http:// Aboutboul." http://
creativecommons.org/ creativecommons.org/weblog/
weblog/entry/7957 entry/7955 Above: Photo by Jodi Sperber / CC
BY-ND (http://creativecommons.org/
* Parkins, Cameron. licenses/by-nd/3.0/)
"Featured Commoner: 13 January 2008
BloodSpell." http:// * Thorne, Michelle. "Philippine
creativecommons.org/ Launch Celebration: a vibrant
weblog/entry/7958 member of the global
* Linksvayer, Mike. "New commons." http://
Year Resolution: Free(v.) creativecommons.org/weblog/
stuff." http:// entry/7971
creativecommons.org/
weblog/entry/7960 14 January 2008
* Parkins, Cameron. * Linksvayer, Mike. "Participatory
"Creative Commons Media Lab launch with ccMixter
Cinema 2.0" http:// analysis."
creativecommons.org/ h t t p : / /
weblog/entry/7961 creative
* Reeder, Melissa. "2007 commons.org/
Above: Craig Neilson (http://
CC Swag Photo Contest weblog/
w w w. f l i c k r. c o m / p h o t o s / e x q u i r e /
229964069/) / CC BY (http:// entry/7975
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/)
Right: Berne Guerrero. CC BY 3.0 PH http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ph/
 15 January 2008 21 January 2008 Above: Asia and the Commons Case Studies 2008,
* Vollmer, Timothy. “Manybooks.net Supports * Parkins, Cameron. (http://creativecommons.org.au/
Multi-format Texts for “Tone Releases asiaandthecommons%20) presented at the ACIA
Multi-venue Small Arm of Sea” workshop. (http://
meeting.creativecommons.org.tw/) The project,
Reading” http:// h t t p : / / initiated by CCau (http://
creativecommons.org/ creativecommons.org/ creativecommons.org.au/) and the Creative
weblog/entry/7956 weblog/entry/7988 Commons Clinic, (http://www.cci.edu.au/ccc/)
represents an effort to uncover exemplary
Below right: Photo by Venkatesh Harihara individuals and organizations engaged in the
22 January 2008 commons in the Asia-Pacific region.
(http://www.flickr.com/photos/venky7/
2157716223/) / CC BY-NC- SA (http://
* Thorne, Michelle.
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/) “ P u b l i c
Broadcasters Opt
for CC” http://
creativecommons
.org/weblog/entry/
7987

* Park, Jane. “2008 Science Video Collection and
Remix Challenge” http://creativecommons.org/
weblog/entry/7967
* Laroia, Asheesh. “liblicense 0.5: first stable version
of C library supporting CC metadata” http://
creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/7977
* Linksvayer, Mike. “CC0 beta/discussion draft launch”
http://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/7978
23 January 2008
Above: 2009 Ford F-150 FX4 (http://
* Bissell, Ahrash. www.flickr.com/photos/fordmotorcompany/
“Teachers, Students, 2183364190/) / Ford Motor Company / CC BY
Web Gurus, and (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/)
Foundations Launch
Campaign to Transform Education, Call for Free,
Adaptable Learning Materials Online” http://
creativecommons .org/weblog/entry/7992
* Bissell, Ahrash. “Make Textbooks Affordable
campaign launched” http://creativecommons.org/
weblog/entry/7993
* Vollmer, Timothy. “SPARC Announces SPARKY
Winners” http://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/
7991

16 January 2008 24 January 2008

* Rojer, Rebecca. “The Future of Ideas is now CC * Thorne, Michelle. “ACIA: Asia Commoners meet in
Licensed” http://creativecommons.org/weblog/ Taipei” http://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/
entry/7979 7994
* Vollmer, Timothy. “Videos Posted from MIT OCW
Landmark Event” http://creativecommons.org/ 25 January 2008
weblog/entry/7976 * Parkins, Cameron. “24/7: A DIY Video Summit”
Below: Newton2 (http://
18 January 2008 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Newton2) / http://creativecommons.org/
CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/
* Parkins, Cameron/ “Featured licenses/by/2.5/) weblog/entry/7997
Commoner: Monk Turner” http:// * Linksvayer, Mike. “Ford
creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/ encourages fans with CC BY
7981 photos” http://
* Parkins, Cameron. “Recut, Reframe, creativecommons.org/weblog/
Recycle” http:// entry/7999
creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/ 15
7985 26 January 2008
* Linksvayer, Mike. “Wikimedia
20 January 2008 Commons Pictures of the Year”
* Vollmer, Timothy. “Doctorow http://creativecommons.org/
Completes Reading of Sterling’s ‘The weblog/entry/8001
Hacker Crackdown’” http:// * Linksvayer, Mike. “I wouldn’t steal
creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/ <video>” http://
7986 creativecommons .org/weblog/
entry/8000

Above: United States Air Force photo by

Senior Airman Joshua Strang / public
domain
 16

28 January 2008 * Parkins, Cameron. "Secondary Sound Released Under

Above: Lawrence Lessig at
Stanford’s Memorial Auditorium /
photo by Robert Scoble / Public
Domain (http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/
publicdomain/)
* Parkins, Cameron. “Ground
Report Launches News
Widget” http://
creativecommons .org/
weblog/entry/8003
* Parkins, Cameron. “Featured
Commoner: James Patrick
Kelly ” http://
creativecommons .org/
weblog/entry/8004
* Vollmer, Timothy. “Open
Educational Resources Aid
Florida Reading Teachers”
http://creativecommons.org/
weblog/entry/8002
CC-License" http://creativecommons.org/weblog/
entry/8023
6 February 2008
* Thorne, Michelle. "CC Salon in Chennai " http://
creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/8033
* Thorne, Michelle. "Download the Creative Commons
Newsletter #5” http://creativecommons.org/weblog/
entry/8025
* Park, Jane. "Bayanihan Books, an Open Textbook
Initiative" http://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/
8034
* Park, Jane. "OpenCourseWare Launched at United
Nations University” http://creativecommons.org/
weblog/entry/8035

29 January 2008 8 February 2008

* Steuer, Eric. “Lawrence Lessig to Give Final * Yip, Jennifer. "2008 Summer
Presentation on Free Culture and Internships" http://
Copyright “ http://creativecommons.org/ creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/
weblog/entry/8011 8037

31 January 2008 11 February 2008

* Thorne, Michelle. "Danish Collecting * Linksvayer, Mike. "commons-research
Society KODA teams up with CC Denmark" list" http://creativecommons.org/
http://creativecommons.org/weblog/ weblog/entry/8038
entry/8012 * Linksvayer, Mike. "Freeing America’s
* Linksvayer, Mike. "Creative Commons Operating System” http://
licensing for public sector information" creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/
http://creativecommons.org/weblog/ 8039
entry/8015
14 February 2008
3 February 2008 * Vollmer, Timothy. "Community Testing
* Linksvayer, Mike. "Wikitravel Press for LiveContent 2.0 beta LiveDVD" http:/
launches first printed titles" http:// /creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/
creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/8016 8006
* Vollmer, Timothy. "OLPC + CC
4 February 2008 Hackathon" http://creativecommons.org/weblog/
* Linksvayer, Mike. "Open documentary entry/8040
proposal: then you win" http://
creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/8017 15 February 2008
* Linksvayer, Mike. "Scobleizing the public * Parkins, Cameron. "Lessig Library" http://
domain " http://creativecommons.org/ creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/8042
weblog/entry/8018 * Parkins, Cameron. "Jahtari." http://
* Parkins, Cameron. "Enrico Casarosa on creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/8043
CC" http://creativecommons.org/weblog/ * Parkins, Cameron. "8bitpeoples." http://
entry/8019 creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/8044
* Parkins, Cameron. "The Art of Magic * Parkins, Cameron. "Songza." http://
Words" http://creativecommons.org/ creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/7851
weblog/entry/8020
* Parkins, Cameron. "Ronaldo Lemos’ Public 16 February 2008
Policy Talk at Google" http:// * Linksvayer, Mike. "CC0 beta/discussion draft
creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/8021 feedback and next step." http://
* Parkins, Cameron. "Anomolo Records creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/8045
Launches English Site" http://
creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/8022
 20 February 2008 discovery lottery." http://
* Park, Jane. "3-D Internet for Learning Summit: What’s creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/
Missing?" http://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/ 8065
8050
* Linksvayer, Mike. "Approved for Free Cultural Works." 25 February 2008
http://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/8051 * Linksvayer, Mike. "Wireless Networking
in the Developing World." http://
21 February 2008 creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/
* Thorne, Michelle. "Puerto Rico Launches Localized 8066
Creative Commons Licenses." http:// * Yergler, Nathan. "Illustrated Blogging with
creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/8053 Flickr and CC." http://
* Park, Jane. "SciVee Television." http:// creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/8067
creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/8055 * Parkins, Cameron. "'Steal This Film' at
* Thorne, Michelle. "License drafts from Ecuador & Other Cinema, SF." http://
Norway enter public discussion." http:// creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/8068
creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/8046
26 February 2008
22 February 2008 * Parkins, Cameron. "ACLU Embraces CC
Image: Screenshot of IBM Learning Summit, * Vollmer, Timothy. Licensing." http://creativecommons.org/
Active Worlds Browser 4.1. © 1995-2007 Active "Nebraska Library weblog/entry/8069
Worlds, Inc.
Commission adds CC- * Parkins, Cameron. "Featured Commoner:
licensed books to vosotros." http://creativecommons.org/
collection." http:// weblog/entry/8070
creativecommons.org/ * Rojer, Rebecca. "Download Sharing
weblog/entry/8056 Creative Works." http://
* Parkins, Cameron. creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/8074
"Loops: Solo Dance, * Park, Jane. "CC and Net Neutrality." http://
CC-Licensed." http:// creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/8075
creativecommons.org/
weblog/entry/8057 28 February 2008
* Parkins, Cameron. * Thorne, Michelle. "1st CC Korea International
"Copyright Panel in Conference." http://creativecommons.org/weblog/
NYC: 'Is Intellectual entry/8077
Property Dead?'" http:/ * Linksvayer, Mike. "Is it possible to design non-defective
/creativecommons.org/ DRM?" http://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/
weblog/entry/8059 8080
* Parkins, Cameron. * Thorne, Michelle. "University of Auckland embeds
"RetarDEAD Theme CC licensing." http://creativecommons.org/weblog/
Song CC-Licensed." entry/8079
h t t p : / /
creativecommons.org/ 29 February 2008
weblog/entry/8060 * Laroia, Asheesh. "Recycled Computers, Remixable
Content for schools." http://creativecommons.org/
23 February 2008 weblog/entry/8081
* Linksvayer, Mike. * Thorne, Michelle. "Free as in 'FREE BEER' Brewing in
"LugRadio Live USA Berlin." http://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/
2008 and LugRadio 8082
licensing." http:// * Parkins, Cameron. "Wireless Networking in the 17
creativecommons.org/ Developing World." http://creativecommons.org/
weblog/entry/8064 weblog/entry/8085
* Parkins, Cameron, "CC Licensed Document Sharing"
24 February 2008 http://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/8087
* Thaney, Kaitlin. * Parkins, Cameron, "Zhura." http://
"Science Commons creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/8088
News: A commons- * Linksvayer, Mike. "Ro(cc)k music wanted." http://
sense approach to creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/8090
winning the drug
 18

ACIA (A SIA AND THE C OMMONS IN THE

INFORMATION AGE): ASIA COMMONERS MEET IN TAIPEI

Extended from the original by Michelle Thorne

24 January 2008, CC BY 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/7994
3.0/ph/
© 2008. CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 PH: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/
Photos in this spread by Atty. Jaime N. Soriano and Atty. Michael Vernon M. Guerrero

The workshop, ACIA: the International Workshop on

Asia and Commons in the Information Age,[1] which
was organized by CC Taiwan [2] and hosted at
Academica Sinica[3] on January 19-20 in Taipei,
Taiwan, focused on bringing together members of the
“Asia Commons” to meet and discuss regional
strategies and initiatives. The program[4] opened with
a keynote by Terry Fischer on “Solutions to the copyright
crisis,”[5] in which he sought to combine legal reforms
and business models with digital technologies that
compensate creators while enabling cultural and
economic benefits. Both Ts’ui-jung Liu, VP of Academia
Sinica, and Der Tsai Lee, director of the Institute of
Information Science, Academia Sinica, were at the
opening ceremonies and delivered greetings to the
workshop participants.

CC Vice President Mike Linksvayer chaired a session

featuring plans for “The Making a Totally Open
Phone”,[6] Sony’s integration of CC licensing for their
eyeVio video sharing service,[7] techniques in musical
collaboration with “Jamming with Machines”,[8] and the changing phases of property in “From res nullius to
“Making Creative Commons Common in Asia”[9] by CC’s res communis,”[18] a session chaired by the event’s
Jon Phillips (slides).[10] organizer, Tyng-Ruey Chuang from CC Taiwan.

Later in the day, CC Australia[11] Project Manager Jessica
Coates presented open licensing compatibility in “Playing
Well With Others”[12] at a panel with Chunyan Wang from
CC China Mainland[13] and Alina Ng from CC Malaysia.[14]
The CC Team from Australia and the Creative Commons
Clinic[15] also announced the release of the Asia and the
Commons case studies booklet,[16] a fantastic collection
of reports on individuals and
organizations engaged in
the commons in the Asia-
Pacific region.
Their work was followed by
Lawrence Liang and his
debate about concepts,
“How Does An Asian
Commons Mean.” [17] The
ACIA workshop drew to an
close with Chu-Cheng
Huang’s final remarks on
The social program picked up as the sun set with the CC
Asia Mega Mix Concert featuring acts by Monbaza;[19]
Pig Head Skin;[19] MoShang[20] (video),[21] Kuo Chou
Ching,[22] Chang Jui-chuan,[23] and André van Rensburg,
[24]
Bust This,[25] Sudev Bangah,[26] and Lisa Diy.[27]
The next day, the conference reopened with a keynote
from University of Hong Kong's Rebecca MacKinnon on
"Free Culture and Free Speech: Why strong and vibrant
free culture communities are important for freedom of
expression."[28] The kick-off was chaired by Shieu-chi Weng
of the National Chengchi University. After the break,
Catharina Maracke, of Creative Commons International,
chaired the session on "Case studies and project
showcases," which includes "Creative Commons Licenses
for Digital Cultural Heritage: A case study of the National
Digital Archives Program"[29] by Shu-Jiun (Sophy) Chen
of Academia Sinica, "Open legal content and Creative
Commons"[30] by Jimmy N. Soriano and Berne Guerrero
of the Arellano University School of Law, "Introduction to
Vietnam OpenCourseWare"[31] by Do Ngoc Minh of the Vietnam Education
Foundation, "CC Real Mixter: An experimental performance inspired by creative
commons"[32] by Wonyoung So and Hyojung Sun of Creative Commons Korea, "CC
projects in Japan"[33] by Klaus Gresbrand of Creative Commons Japan, "Licensing
attitudes in Asia and (mis)perceptions of free culture”[34] by Giorgos Cheliotis" of
Singapore Management University, and "Toward useful Creative Commons adoption
metrics"[35] by Mike Linksvayer of Creative Commons. After the discussion on the
concept and ramifications of "Asia and Commons,"[36] which was facilitated by Tyng-
Ruey Chuang of Academia Sinica and Jessica Coates of Queensland University of
Technology, the workshop was adjourned.

An optional social program[37] -- i.e. a Museum Tour -- was held in the afternoon.

Endnotes
1. http://meeting.creativecommons.org.tw/
2. http://creativecommons.org.tw/
3. http://www.sinica.edu.tw/
4. http://meeting.creativecommons.org.tw/ac:program
5. http://meeting.creativecommons.org.tw/program:solutions-to-the-copyright-crisis
6. http://meeting.creativecommons.org.tw/program:the-making-of-a-totally-open-phone
7. http://meeting.creativecommons.org.tw/program:sony-eyevio-user-generated-media-meets-
creative-commons
8. http://meeting.creativecommons.org.tw/program:jamming-with-machines
9. http://meeting.creativecommons.org.tw/program:making-creative-commons-common-in-
asia
10. http://rejon.org/2008/01/19/slides-from-acia-and-asia-commons-conference-in-taiwan/
11 http://www.creativecommons.org.au/
12 http://meeting.creativecommons.org.tw/program:playing-well-with-others
13 http://cn.creativecommons.org/
14 http://www.creativecommons.org.my/
15 http://www.cci.edu.au/ccc/
16 http://creativecommons.org.au/asiaandthecommons%20
17 http://meeting.creativecommons.org.tw/program:how-does-an-asian-commons-mean
18 http://www.monbaza.com/
19 http://my.streetvoice.com.tw/pigheadskin
20 http://moshang.net/
21 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g90FXXEdluI
22 http://kou.com.tw/
23 http://www.myspace.com/juichuanchang
24 http://www.myspace.com/andrevanrensburg
25 http://www.groovestore.co.kr/album/album_view.php?goods_code=G1196752169
26 http://www.myspace.com/sbinfluence
27 http://www.m2kmusic.net/resources/songwriters/lisa_diy.htm
28 http://meeting.creativecommons.org.tw/program:free-culture-and-free-speech
29 http://meeting.creativecommons.org.tw/program:creative-commons-licenses-for-digital-
cultural-heritage
30 http://meeting.creativecommons.org.tw/program:open-legal-content-and-creative-commons
31 http://meeting.creativecommons.org.tw/program:introduction-to-vietnam-opencourseware
32 http://meeting.creativecommons.org.tw/program:cc-real-mixter
33 http://meeting.creativecommons.org.tw/program:cc-projects-in-japan
34 http://meeting.creativecommons.org.tw/program:licensing-attitudes-in-asia-and-mis-
perceptions-of-free-culture
25 http://meeting.creativecommons.org.tw/program:cc-adoption-metrics
36 http://meeting.creativecommons.org.tw/program:asia-and-commons
37 http://meeting.creativecommons.org.tw/ac:social-program

19
 20

INTRODUCING THE ARELLANO

LAW SINGERS

The Arellano Law Singers (ALS), a

group of talented law students, was
officially formed on December 2001
and immediately served its role as
the Arellano University School of Law
(AUSL)'s mbassador of music, law and
God to the Arellano Law Community.

The ALS is geared towards the

attainment of it aspiration to foster the
invaluable contribution of music to the
legal profession and vice-versa.
Further, it seeks to instill and uphold
the morale, essential to the legal study
through the groups musicality and
artistic talent.

One ot its humble beginnings was the

staging of "Evo-Law-tion", the first Commons Attribution -
major concert of the group. Next was NonCommercial-
the release of "MUBAKA Concert ShareAlike 3.0 Philippines
Series", ALS' debut CD album. license. The album
"Denimo-Law-gy" followed on contains six (6) songs,
December 2003, which marked the composed and rendered
group's second anniversary and by the Arellano Law
second full length concert. Singers, which were part
of the original 15-track
Such was followed by its 3rd and latest album “Vox Legis.” The
full length concert entitled "The Law songs are artistic renditions
& Loving It!", a rare musical event of basic legal information,
which was designed to showcase the passion and love of such as the “Preamble,” “National Territory,” “The Bill of
each member of the law community for God, country Rights,” and “Citizenship,” of the 1987 Philippine
and life, as it was celebrated during the love month of the Constitution, discussed in Political Law; “Social Justice,”
year 2005. as defined in the landmark Philippine case of “Calalang
vs. Williams, GR 47800, 2 December 1940”, which is
On 14 January 2008, during the formal launching of discussed under Political Law and Labor Law; and the
the Creative Commons Philippine jurisdictional licenses, “Lawyer’s Oath” which is discussed under Legal Ethics.
the Arellano
Law Singers Copies of the album were distributed free during the
released an launching of the Creative Commons Philippine license
album entitled launching on the said date of 14 January 2008 and during
“A slice of Vox the ACIA conference held at Academia Sinica, Taipei,
Legis” under a Taiwan on 19-20 January 2008.
C r e a t i v e
INTRODUCING LISA DIY
Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge Maria Elisa Sempio Diy,
or Lisa Diy as she is known in the Philippine industry, is a
lyricist and a composer. She has been designated, on
January 2008, as Creative Commons Philippines’
resident-artist in music.
Lisa Diy released two (2) of the her compositions, “I choose
you” and “Isama mo ako” under Creative Commons
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivate 3.0 Philippines
during the launching of the Creative Commons Philippines
licenses on 14 January 2008, and sang “I choose you”
during the ”CC Asia Mega Mix!”, the ACIA Concert, at
Riverside Cafe, Taipei, Taiwan on the evening of 19
January 2008. She is working with other artists, who
performed during the ACIA Concert, in developing the
CC Asia Band. She has recently released an unworded
composition entitled “Moved by an angel” as her
contribution to the upcoming project of the CC Asia Band.
Lisa has written and composed at least twenty popular
and best-selling songs for top Filipino singers/artists. One
of her songs, “To Reach You,” sang by Regine Velasquez,
achieved a Platinum Award in the Philippine recording
industry. Other popular songs she composed, some in
tandem with songwriter Chat Zamora, include “With you”
and “Paulit ulit” by Jaya; “Tila”[ by Lani Misalucha; “Kailan
pa man,” “Pangarap sa aking puso,”“My heart still wishes
for you,” “Long for him,” and “Cradle me this Christmas”
by Regine Velasquez; “When I love” by Sharon Cuneta;
“Open” by Rochelle Nava; “Open” also by Zsa Zsa Padilla;
“Beginning today” and “Til the End” by Agot Isidro; “As
you sleep,” and “I remember” by Gabby Eigenmann;
“Love is in your eyes” by Vernie Varga; “Wherever I go”
and “Dahil May Pag-ibig Pa” by Pops Fernandez; the duet
“Just Like Before” by Gabby Eigenmann and Regine
Velasquez; and the duet “Magtatagpong muli” by Dennis
Trillo and Regine Velasquez; among others. [1]
Lisa was born on 25 April 1966 in Quezon City. She
honed her songwriting skills as a high school colegiala in
St. Paul’s College, playing keyboards for a band, joining
interscholastic songfests, and composing school hymns.
She got her first break as a professional songwriter in
1987 when she passed a demo to popular singer Randy
Santiago through a friend. 21
Lisa is also a Law graduate of San Beda College, and has
been recognized by the local government of Quezon City,
Metro Manila, Philippines as the fastest judge in said city
as she hands down court decisions with startling speed
and efficiency.
Reference:
http://www.m2kmusic.net/resources/songwriters/lisa_diy.htm
 22

THE PHILIPPINE
LEGAL COMMONS

An abstract and summary of Atty. Jaime N. Soriano’s and

Atty. Michael Vernon Guerrero’s talk at the ACIA
Conference in Taipei, Taiwan on 20 January 2008
Laws and jurisprudence, as they intimately affect the public,
should remain public and not locked as proprietary content
by way of the creation of the derivative work of "collection." It
is suggested that proponents of the commons, in their
jurisdictions, find ways of gathering public domain materials
to equate the collections being pursued by proprietary entities,
especially in the absence of government effort to provide the
same, in the same direction that FLOSS has been made an
alternative to the previously predominant proprietary software
in the market. Although it may be contended that this line of
project(s) is predominantly in the realm of law practitioners
and law students, the direction, however, assures the
availability of materials that would aid ordinary citizens to be
informed of their rights, obligations, and potential liabilities
as provided by public documents. The availability of the said
Every society has a regime of law, and we are civilized
resources also provides for the raw data that could be useful
in the development of other value-added law-related because we are governed by laws. Nowadays, however,
documents, which if released similarly, could benefit the people have to contend with a lot of laws and rules, not to
commons and/or society in general. mention case laws or jurisprudence provided by the
Courts. Laws are not just becoming numerous, and are
It is with this background that emphasis is being made to the also becoming very complicated for ordinary people to
region-wide cooperation being cultivated to gather multi- understand. As a result, laws are assumed to be
jurisdictional legal content. The Philippines, for example, has understood only by those who are pursuing the legal
multiple public resources available to satisfy aspects of legal profession (like students, professors, legal practitioners,
research. One of these is the LawPhil Project developed by the
and those who work for the Bench), those who pass or
Creative Commons Philippine jurisdiction lead public
institution, Arellano University School of Law. In turn, the craft the law (like legislators and implementors), and those
LawPhil Project, among other entities in the region, has who invoke the law for their protection. Still, we are still
contributed to the content available in the Asian Legal not certain whether the above three mentioned groups,
Information Institute resource. Further efforts remain to be which are presumed to understand the law, actually
important to support this direction. understand it since the laws are numerous and
complicated.
Following the pattern of development of this class of legal
content, fresh efforts are being exerted to create another class There is an existing legal principle or maxim, such as in
of content, i.e. value-added law-related documents, that are
the Philippines, that “Ignorance of the law excuses no
to be released to the commons, preferably through Creative
Commons licensing. This is to provide alternative to proprietary one from compliance therewith.” Considering the above,
law books, which are usually limited by printing thus, what can be done to cure this apparent legal
considerations (such as content volume-to-price ratio, update illiteracy?
requirements viz existing inventory, etc.) The availability of
licensed legal content can provide substantial impact in law The primary step to such cure is access to the law. Digital
education, the delivery of legal services, etc., that could inure technology has provided the platform for easier access
to the benefit of society as well. for legal content. Unfortunately, legal content which are
supposed to be in the public domain are commercially
Active participation by legally-interested individuals in the
exploited, all within the context of copyright.
development of a single comprehensive resource is also being
contemplated.
As a response to this situation, in 2001, the Arellano Law
Foundation initiated the LawPhil project (http://
www.lawphil.net). The idea was to create a simple
databank of all the Philippine laws, rules, regulations;
and cases decided by Philippine Supreme Court, starting
from 1901. This resource has become a comprehensive
and popular legal database in the Philippines. Government
agencies responded positively to this facility, inasmuch as
they likewise shared legal content freely to the public
through the Internet.
Subsequently, the University of South Wales/Australian
Legal Information Institute (AUSLII) invited the Arellano
Law Foundation, with its LawPhil project, to be a part of
the Asian Legal Information Institute (AsianLII; http://
asianlii.org/)’s network, which the latter accepted. The
AsianLII attempts to make laws accessible in Asia.
The mission of Arellano University School of Law, as the
lead public institution for Creative Commons in the
Philippines, does not end by providing access to raw
legal content. The next task is to make the public know
what the law is all about through the Legal Commons.
The ultimate goal is to ensure that we are a society where
there is no excuse for ignorance of the law.
Within the sphere of Creative Commons, we have been
looking at sharing artistic, scientific/academic, and literary
content. Why not look into the sharing of legal content?
We have discussed raw legal content, like the LawPhil
project and those from government websites.
Government repositories are in public domain, some
private collections are “All Rights Reserved,” while the
LawPhil’s collection is licensed under Creative Commons.
On matters involving derivatives and annotations,
however, except for Government agency FAQs and
similar materials, most of these contents remain under
full copyright. The question is why not bring Creative
Commons licensing into the sharing of legal annotations
and primers? Consider the benefits, especially for end-
users, for doing so.
As to content delivery, law professors would increase the
usually sole option of recommeding propriety content with
two additional options, i.e. recommending open content,
else remixing sharedcontent to suit one’s personal
approach in teaching law.
As to legal service delivery, law practitioners who get hold
of derivative open legal content -- which may surpass the
limitations of propriety content as to matters of inventory,
cost of printing, and the like -- could be more updated,
and hence dispense more quality services to clients.
As to transfer of knowledge, since there could be two
classes of legal content that could be generated by sharing,
depending upon the original and subsequent author-
licensor’s use of legal language -- i.e. lawyer-readable
legal content and layman-readable legal content --
derivative content can serve the purpose of legal scholars
and practitioners, on one hand, and serve the purpose of
laymen and the masses. Lawyer-readable legal content
could be very relevant for the first two benefits, but layman-
readable content is definitely potent to enlighten
responsible individuals (in media, and in education, as
examples) who could in turn enlighten the masses in the
actual ramifications of the law and prevent themselves
from misleading the last with imaginative fictions about
the law.
Looking at the mechanism of content delivery, legal service
delivery, and transfer of knowledge, it would be apparent
that the method seems predominantly that of a cascading
model. Still, a collaborative model can actually be
available, else more so, desired. The latter model
transcends the relationship of “I” to “you” and emphasize
the “we” in the development of a resource. There is
promise in the dynamics of collaborating inputs and
feedback in a learning community.
The bottom line of any effort in this line is that “we try to
empower people,” which has been repeatedly articulated
in advocacies in favor of the commons. To foster the legal
commons merely emphasize this bottom line in two
dimensions: the freedom which relates to sharing, reuse,
and remixing of legal content, and the other freedom
which relates to knowledge of the mechanics of that which
is intimately intertwined with out lives (however we try to 23
avoid it), which is the law.
Besides, thus, ensuring the provision of open raw legal
content, as in the LawPhil Project, we aim to license
previously printed books created by us with Creative
Commons licenses, convert current research on Philippine
laws and applicable juriseprudence as free open e-books,
and provide the infrastructure for legal scholars to allow
them to collaborate on a common legal resource.
24
CREATIVE COMMONS
NEWSLETTERS 1-5
by the Philippine Commons website
6 February 2008, CC BY 3.0 PH
http://philippinecommons.org/2008/
02/06/cc-newsletter-5/
In light of the encouragement, in Ms.
Melissa Reeder’s email, for the sharing
and remixing of the Creative Commons
newsletter, [1] Creative Commons
Philippines released an unofficial PDF
version of the fifth issue,[2] for people
who need the base information printed,
so they may read them offline.
Similarly, previous issues were also
retroactively created (all unofficial
versions of the newsletter), to complete
the series. [3] [4]
Endnotes
1 “This newsletter is licensed under http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
— please share and remix!”
2 http://philippinecommons.org/
downloads/ccnewsletter5.pdf. “No. 5” ©
2008. Berne Guerrero. CC BY 3.0 PH
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
3.0/ph/
3 http://philippinecommons.org/
downloads/ccnewsletter4.pdf. “Wrapped”
© 2008. Berne Guerrero. CC BY 3.0 PH
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
3.0/ph/ ; http://philippinecommons.org/
downloads/ccnewsletter3.pdf. “Publicity
Rights?” © 2008. Berne Guerrero. CC BY-
SA 3.0 PH http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by-sa/3.0/ph/; http://
philippinecommons.org/downloads/
ccnewsletter2.pdf. “c-Flame” © 2008.
Berne Guerrero. CC BY 3.0 PH http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
ph/; and http://philippinecommons.org/
downloads/ccnewsletter1.pdf.
“Mainstream?” © 2008. Berne Guerrero.
CC BY 3.0 PH http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
ph/
4 Full credits for the source images are at
http://philippinecommons.org/2008/02/
06/cc-newsletter-5/
BAYANIHAN BOOKS, AN OPEN
TEXTBOOK INITIATIVE
by Jane Park
6 February 2008, CC BY 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/8034
and the Philippine Commons website
7 February 2008, CC BY 3.0 PH
http://philippinecommons.org/2008/02/07/bayanihan-
books-gains-momentum/
Bayanihan[1] is a Tagalog term originating from the root
word Bayani, or hero. Today, Bayanihan represents an
heroic effort on the part of the community, or the actions
of a group of people that result in a common good. Greg
Moreno’s new initiative, Bayanihan Books,[2] is aptly
named.
With 17.5 million public school students in the Philippines,
affordable access to textbooks is not a simple matter.
Textbook companies can monopolize the market, upping
prices for students and schools that can’t always afford
them. Moreno’s plan is to compete with these companies
by shifting the control of textbook content from a few to
many -- the community. Textbook making will be a
collaborative project, a sort of wiki-style peer editing and
review consisting of volunteers. The content will be
published under a Creative Commons license specific to
the Philippines that allows it to be shared. But the ultimate
goal is to have the content be in print and distributed
widely to public schools. That’s where the publishing
companies come in.
The publishing companies will bid on the content, and
because they don’t have to deal with doling out royalty
fees to a community of volunteers, they will only have to
shoulder the costs of the actual printing. Then they can
distribute the books at minimal cost to schools around the
country, while still making quite a profit for themselves.
Everyone wins. Currently, they are working on two[3]
books.
During late January to early February 2008, Bayanihan
Books’ active community has increased to 43, and
continues to grow. Further, Bayanihan Books appeared
on Inquirer.net courtesy of Erwin Oliva. [4]
Endnotes
1 “Bayanihan” is synonymous with “Tulungan,” which is translated
as “Helping each other.” Bayanihan is stereotypically depicted
as rural folks carrying or moving a rural hut.
2 http://blog.bayanihanbooks.org/
3 http://blog.bayanihanbooks.org/books
4 http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/infotech/view/
20080203-116516/Pinoy-uses-wiki-model-to-make-textbooks-
for-public-schools