Experience shows that it can be very profitable to use the Creative Commons license. This is yet another reason to adopt this concept.
In his most recent book “Free” Chris Anderson explains convincingly how free has become an integral part of today’s business model. This book, ‘Free’, is going to create quiet a business buzz and help promote creative commons given Mr. Anderson’s proven ability in doing so.
Needless to say that I am myself a big fan of Creative Commons, as it provides the infrastructure that enables people to access different creative work and build on it. This in turn promotes innovation and creativity. Those of you who are not familiar with Creative Commons, the following video explains brilliantly why it is such a good idea.
While there are some who adopt a Creative Commons license as a matter of principle, there are some other examples that demonstrate how Creative Commons license can be central to a successful business.
Flat World Knowledge is in the business of publishing college textbooks. The textbooks are compiled in the conventional way. However, they have a very different approach when it comes to publishing the same books.
A PDF version with a Creative Commons license is made available for free on their website. The company then generates revenue from selling printed books and products like ‘audio books’.
Nine Inch Nails have become a famous rock band; however, they also received a lot of attention because of their novel approach in licensing and distributing their products. The album Ghosts I – IV had a CC license and could be shared freely. Free downloads were available directly from their homepage. This novel approach has created a lot of profit for the band, Partly by creating a best selling album.
Chris Anderson uses this as a case study in his book ‘Free’ to illustrate the potential of business models that have Free as the central theme and part in a business.
CEO of creative commons and others have talked a lot about the economic potential of Creative Commons based companies.
However, the book ‘Free’ by Chris Anderson and the attention it gets will have a far bigger impact in showcasing the economic potential of Creative commons. This will create a convincing argument in favor of adopting creative commons license.
I would love to have comments from fans of creative commons whether the book ‘Free’ can be a way to promote Creative Commons?
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