Digital Signposts

Flickr & Getty - Predatory Moves or an Uneasy Alliance?

 
Image Credit: The Advocacy Project  CC Licence BY-NC-SA

I often need images to use in presentations or workshops, so one of my first ports of call is Flickr's advanced search  tool, to help find images with a suitable Creative Commons licence.  Earlier today, I was searching for images of schools and learning around the world, and found the stunning photograph which was exactly the image I was looking for. Checking the metadata I noticed the request by Getty Images to licence the image.

I had read about the Getty Images partnership with Flickr, but this is the first time I have seen it realised on a Flickr Page. What immediately concerned me was that the apparent request, from Getty was not just to licence one or two images, but to acquire the rights to the whole of the Advocacy Project photostream collection; currently standing at 8,989 images, all with a Creative Commons licences.

If the licensing, for this superb collection of high quality images, was transferred to Getty it would be a sad loss to Flickr and its community. However, it would be an even greater loss to all who share an interest in education, culture and humanitarian issues around the world.  It would deprive access to the collection and our ability to use and share the images and add to their substantial metadata and narratives. If you have not already come across these pictures, I would recommend taking some time to browse.

Subsequently, the images would no longer no longer show up on Flickr but re-appear on the Getty/Flickr [sic], page  as thumbnails c/w small watermarked preview and shopping basket. Getty's terms clearly state that owners of the image must re-licence them as All Rights Reserved.

I think it is fine that Photographers are able to submit their images to Getty for possible licensing, (although I don’t think the terms are too favourable: 20%-30% of Getty's sale price - depending on model); or Getty trying to licence images with an All Rights Reserved status. That is one thing, but to trawl Flickr in order to harvest collections that have been made accessible to the public under a CC licence, is a predatory move which should be strongly resisted. It is also worth noting that a CC licence cannot be revoked, so if you have downloaded a CC licensed image, from Flickr, that has subsequently been acquired by Getty, you are still perfectly entitled to use that image under the terms of the original licence.

I have sent a Flickrmail to the Advocacy Project outlining my concerns, and look forward to reading their thoughts. Obviously, Getty does offer payment therefore I am happy to make a contribution to the Advocacy Project fund for any images I use, (Indeed I already have done so). If we want to preserve our access to these and similar quality images then perhaps others might consider doing likewise.

Passion Quilt: Meme

MySpace Retro
Image credit Jill

John Connell finally caught up with me in this meme,  which I think this needs a bit more consideration than than my previous contribution. The picture is from a notebook, made by Jill when she was 18, it reveals most of the attributes of a MySpace, Facebook or Bebo page a youngster might create nowadays. Read the notes  Jill adds to the image on its Flickr page. My reason for choosing this image is that it establishes a connection between past and present that creates a context for those using digital media today.

It affirms that as humans and we like to record our ideas and thoughts, often informally as sketches or notes. Our current technologies including social networks, websites,  blogs, mobile phones and video such as YouTube could be considered contemporary versions of the sketchbook or notebook. It is also essential to help youngsters understand the subtext; that technology and new media does not necessarily make us any cleverer or better than previous generations. What is on offer, are new opportunities to learn, communicate, access and share our knowledge. So for inspiration, it is still important to visit the sketch books and ideas of great innovators from the past. I would certainly ask youngsters to consider how those greats might have used todays media.

Another important by-product of our new technologies, is that they enable us to have more than a, (official), one sided view of our history. As the number of digitised archives grows, their assets can be used to help youngsters understand  that issues they might consider new or emerging have been around a long time. Add to this mix, an element of user generated media and reporting and it becomes more difficult to pull the wool over our eyes.

Rules
The rules are simple.

1. Think about what you are passionate about teaching your students.
2. Post a picture from a source like FlickrCC or Flickr Creative Commons or make/take your own that captures what YOU are most passionate about for kids to learn about…and give your picture a short title.
3. Title your blog post “Meme: Passion Quilt” and link back to this blog entry.
4. Include links to 5 folks in your professional learning network or whom you follow on Twitter/Pownce etc.

Roll Call
Therefore; I call on the following to make themselves known if they have not already done so!

1. Lisa Stevens
2. José Picardo
3. Drew Buddie
4. Tom Barrett
5. Leon Cych

"All Yesterdays Tomorrows Today"

As promised in my preceding post, I would like to share another of my digital treasures;  the  eponymous blog, Modern Mechanix, which also includes extracts from  various science and technology magazines published in the US from 1920's till the 1980's. Modern Mechanix is a continuum of speculative prediction  and articles that range from the bizarre  to the mundane, occasionally revealing a grain of truth with echoes in the present, or depicting a paradoxical utopia/dystopia. 

Those who know me understand my fascination for the absurd, and the surreal. I love these images and illustrations which would grace the portfolios of the Futurists, Surrealists and indeed the Dada movement.  They are source of creative inspiration and  resources when needed. Although there is much to laugh at, there are also some disturbing underlying concepts.

From todays standpoint is is fascinating to revisit the zeitgeist, and try to interpet the aspirations and fears of the times. Modern Mechanix provides an interesting subtext to the official histories and journals; after all  what kind of man would own his own computer?  Please feel free to add your own nominations of current technologies, which might be included in future issues of Mechanix, as a comment. Finally, this entry, always makes me think of Andrew Keen and typewriters. Thanks to Boing Boing for the pointer.

Its that time of the year again

image credit quinn.anya

It's summer, a time to relax and share with you, some of the delights from my digital cornucopia.  Firstly some Music.

David Byrne has a 'radio station',  featuring themed playlists he changes monthly, past episodes have covered  Afro Cuban, Psychedelia and even  Catchy Tunes.  This August he targets opera with an honest and direct approach;

"Here's an area I know very little about: Classic Opera. I am familiar with some of the well-known tunes — incredibly moving, over-the-top tunes many of us have heard without knowing their sources — so that's pretty much what I've assembled here. They may not be the definitive performances, or in some cases they may be, but they're all pretty grand. In many cases these are old recordings, so the quality of the recording will vary, but the emotion is more or less consistently pedal-to-the-metal."

This echoes my sentiments exactly, never being  as knowledgeable as I, (thought), I should be on the finer points of opera.  I am now playing this fantastic music as loud as I can get away with,   enjoying it in the manner intended;

"...the Italians and French excelled at incorporating elements of regional music into their productions. I believe I hear elements of Neapolitan song in Verdi. They were the popular music of the day and the audiences were rowdy and noisy — you could eat, drink and probably fornicate in the theaters at that time. Farmers and fishermen sang these tunes in fields and bars — and so can we."

Spot on, David.

These pages will speak for themselves.

Here is an inspirational project in its early stages, but already worth a visit. Thanks to Information Aesthetics for the pointer.