This Tuesday it’s time again to meet for CopyNight! Join us for this fun social gathering co-hosted by Florida Free Culture about copyright, art, technology and much more. Tentative topics include the new Adobe DRM, who is trying to sue TurnItIn and all the tangents we can think of. You’ll find us on the back porch, just enter through the front and go straight.

What: CopyNight Gainesville
When: Tuesday, March 25t 2008 at 7pm
Where: Tim and Terry’s (1417 NW 1st Ave.)

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Tomorrow night is our February general meeting. At 6pm we’ll be showing the documentary Steal This Film, Part II. It covers the technological and cultural aspects of the copyright wars, and the implications of the internet for copying. Come out to Little Hall and participate in freely distributed media with us!

When: Monday Feb. 11, 6:00pm
Where: Little Hall, rm. 239

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We want your art!
Open Art 2008 is the second installment of Florida Free Culture’s showcase of works by local artists and others; with a little bit of luck in the Reitz Union Gallery. Open Art aims to introduce artists and audience to Creative Commons licenses, which help artists share their work. All works exhibited will be available for download and, where permitted by the artist, remix/reuse or commercial use. This “open art” will help to remove barriers to culture and creativity and help artists find a wider audience.

How does it work?
Submissions are due by Monday October 29th at 11.59pm! Submit your work online or send us an email to arrange a pickup if your artwork is not in a digital form. Submissions can be anything from paintings to collages but most have been photographs. You can submit as many pieces as you wish.

Learn more about Creative Commons.

For more about last years event, see this page.

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Florida Media Project and Florida PIRG’s Brad Ashwell are planning a statewide media-reform conference to take place in Sarasota on October 6-7. Possible topics could include Net neutrality, community wireless, and more. If you’re interested in attending, please contact Mark Kmetzko, mark@floridamediaproject.org.

For the full notice, see this post to the FFC discussion list.

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On Monday, April 30, the FCC will be in Tampa to conduct a public hearing on media ownership. (Here’s the FCC announcement, or see this page for more information.) This is a rare opportunity when the FCC will be in our backyard, asking for input from the people who own the airwaves (that’s us, the American people!)

I’m organizing a carpool from Gainesville for people who would like to attend the hearing. We’ll leave from Gainesville on Monday around noon, and return that evening. If you’d like to come, email me with your name, phone number, and whether you can drive in the carpool. Since the date is rapidly approaching, please contact me ASAP if you’re interested.

Billy Manes, “Why the Media Sucks,” Orlando Weekly, April 26, 2007.

What may seem like a cerebral affair is actually right there in your face every day, says Gavin Baker, a political science major at the University of Florida who has put together a campus workshop to draw students to the Tampa event.

“I think it connects with people, because people intuitively understand that the media sucks,” he says. “They see what’s on TV, they hear what’s on the radio, and it sucks. That’s why people are fleeing the mainstream media in record numbers, going and taking their eyeballs somewhere else.”

For more information on media ownership, visit StopBigMedia.com.

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Just a reminder: On Monday, April 16, I’m hosting a workshop on media ownership at 6 pm at the Civic Media Center (1021 W. University Ave.). The workshop is in preparation for the upcoming FCC hearing on the subject in Tampa. The goal is to get lots of thoughtful and passionate citizens down to Tampa for the hearing to have their say.

The workshop will be led by Brad Ashwell of Florida PIRG. Brad knows a lot about media ownership: his job is in Tallahassee, fighting the good fight in the legislature. I’m sure the workshop will be very informative and entertaining, and hopefully most of all, inspiring — because I want to inspire everyone to get to Tampa for the hearing.

If you think that big media doesn’t represent you…
That we need more community broadcasting, so average citizens can actually use the airwaves they own…
That local communities deserve broadcasters who actually live there, and care about the community as more than just a source of revenue…
That quality journalism shouldn’t be whittled away so the CEO’s stock can rise a quarter of a point, regardless of the cost to the community…
That “diversity” in radio means more than the difference between country and classic rock…
If you care about the future of our media and democracy… be there!

The Tampa hearing is on April 30 at 4 pm at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center (here’s the announcement). There will be a carpool from Gainesville for those interested in attending the hearing. For more information, come to the meeting at the CMC, or email me.

For more information on media ownership, visit StopBigMedia.com.

Please spread the word widely about this meeting.

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To commemorate World IP Day, the theme of which for 2007 is “Encouraging Creativity,” this month’s CopyNight meeting will convene to discuss the subject: “Encouraging Creativity: Are We?”.

Since IP Day is “celebrated” on April 26, and CopyNight falls on April 25, it seemed an apt topic for the evening. And since April 25 is also the last day of classes for the semester, I look forward to a rollicking discussion. Pull up a chair, grab a beverage, and cut loose with a critical look at our modern intellectual property regime.

Save the date:

• What: CopyNight Gainesville: “Encouraging Creativity: Are We?”
• When: Wednesday, April 25, 2007 at 7 pm
• Where: Tim and Terry's (1417 NW 1st Ave.)

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