“Publishing Open Content”- Short Film On CC Business Models

Cameron Parkins, Creative Commons, highlights the release of a short film on CC Business Models entitled “Publishing Open Content”.

Publishing Open Content is a short documentary by Frances Pinter and David Percy that looks at how Creative Commons licenses can be utilized in a commercial setting. The film features interviews with Tom Reynolds, blogger behind Random Acts of Reality and author of Blood, Sweat, and Tea, Timo Hannay, Publishing Director at nature.com, and John Buckman, founder of netlabel Magnatune.

The interviews provide some key insights into how these three disparate individuals combined CC licenses with a successful business plan, a common thread being that by giving away something for free another commodity can be sold. Filmmaker Pinter also heads a CC-based publishing project in Africa titled Publishing and Alternative Licensing Model of Africa (PALM), of which the information discussed in the documentary has major interest (via Ad Astra).