Welcome to the August 2006 edition of the Free Culture Events Newsletter - A joint project of Free Culture UK and iCommons. Free Culture is a movement that extends the logic of free software into the world of art, advocating free creativity, sharing and appropriation. There will be thousands of events with this ethos going on around the world, but the listings below are brought to you by activists and advocates of the free culture movement. You can add your events and reviews to this newsletter on the iCommons wiki.

Europe

Upcoming events

London Copyfighters’ Drunken Brunch and Talking Shop

• What: A picnic in the park followed by an outing to Speakers’ Corner.
• When: The last Sunday of every month.
• Where: Hyde Park, London.
• More information.

Wizards of OS 4 International Conference

• What: The Wizards of OS are concerned with the emerging knowledge order of digital media. Their focus is on the potential of PC and internet for fostering free communication and open collaboration in the creation of knowledge.
• When: 14th - 16th September 2006.
• Where: Columbia-halle, Berlin, Germany.
• More information.

Computer Law World Conference

• What: Registration is now open for the VI Computer Law World Conference, which will take place in Edinburgh 6th - 8th September 2006. The 2006 Conference will be hosted by the AHRC Research Centre for Studies in Intellectual Property and Technology Law, located in the School of Law at the University of Edinburgh. The conference brings together legal academics and practitioners from around the world to consider and debate all aspects of information technology law. Previous years’ conferences have fostered links between educational institutions and legal practices across the globe, reaching out to a wider international audience each year.
• Who: Keynote presenters include Professor Michael Geist (University of Ottawa), Mia Garlick (Creative Commons) “Creative Commons: Five Years On”, Dr Patricia Akester (University of Cambridge), Professor Lilian Edwards (University of Southampton), Nic Garnett (WIPO), Ray Plzak & Steve Ryan (American Registry for Internet Numbers ARIN).
• When: 6th - 8th September 2006.
• Where: The School of Law, University of Edinburgh, UK.

Free culture in the news

Public Domain Works Database launched

The Public Domain Works DB is an open registry of artistic works that are in the public domain. It is focused on recordings (and their underlying compositions) because a term extension for recordings is currently being considered in Europe. In the future it will expand to cover all types of cultural works which are covered by copyright. The DB is a joint project of Free Culture UK and the Open Knowledge Foundation.

Call for volunteers: Assistance is required in two main areas:

• Development of the public domain works database and web application. At present we are working on doing a first iteration using python and the django web application framework. Help is required with all and any of the coding, web development, testing and usability.
• The obtaining and entry of data on works. We need to find and enter data on recordings along with information on the artists who authored and performed those works.
• More information.
• Participate.

North America

Upcoming events

ccSalon, San Francisco

• What: The CC Salon is a monthly event focused on building a community of artists and developers around Creative Commons licenses, standards, and technology.
• When: Wednesday, 9th August, 6 -9PM.
• Where: Shine, 1337 Mission Street, San Francisco.
• More information: future events, ccSalon on the CC wiki.

Linux World San Francisco

• What: The ultimate Linux and open source gathering, with an opening keynote address by Prof. Lawrence Lessig, titled “Free Culture: What We Need From You”
• When: 14th - 19th August.
• Where: Moscone Center, San Francisco, CA.
• More information: More details and registration.

WikiMania 2006: The International Wikimedia Conference

• What: Both a scientific conference and a community event, Wikimania brings together members of the various Wikimedia projects in order to exchange ideas, build relationships, and report on research and project efforts.
• When: 4th - 6th August.
• Where: Cambridge, MA.
• More information.

CopyCamp: an unconference for artists about the internet and copyright

• What: Topics to be discussed include licensing content on the internet; Creative Commons and the public domain; Open Source and digital culture.
• When: 28th - 30th September 2006.
• Where: Ryerson University’s Student Campus Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
• More information.

South America

Upcoming events

Know How Conference 2006: Weaving the information society: a gender and multicultural perspective

• What: The mission of the Know How Conference 2006 is to advance gender justice and respect for every nation’s cultural diversity within the information society, and promote access to information and communication as a fundamental women’s and human right.
• When: 21st - 26th August, 2006.
• Where: Mexico City.
• More information (alternative link).

International Festival of Mobile Creativity in Brazil

• What: MOBILEFEST is the 1st Brazilian Festival of Mobile Art, based on the sociological implications that mobile phones and mobile technologies have been promoting in our culture.
• Call for Papers! MOBILEFEST 2006 seeks paper and presentation proposals responding to the Symposium themes: How can Mobile Technology contribute to democracy, culture, art, ecology, peace, education, health and third-sector? Deadline: 31st August 2006. More information.
• When: September 2006.
• Where: Sao Paulo, Brazil.
• More information.

Asia

Upcoming events

ccKorea and ccTaiwan, meeting and joint concert

• What: ccKorea and ccTaiwan’s scheme for conversation session (hopefully with a casual joint concert) with a remix musician from ccTaiwan, and a remix musician from ccKorea.
• When: 19th August.
• Where: Seoul.

Africa

Upcoming events

The Second Africa Developer Roadshow: Education and Localisation

• What: The ultimate aim of the Travelling Developer Road Show project is to link software developers in Africa with civil society in order to meet sustainable development needs, whilst at the same time enhancing the pool of relevant software development skills in the regions. The theme Education and Localization was selected for sustainability.
• When: 8th to 13th August 2006.
• Where: University of Education, Winneba, Ghana.
• More information: See the Developer Roadshow Website and the wiki for last year’s event. Also, an article on the Techtronic website about the event.

International

Upcoming events

OneWebDay

• What: Celebrate the way the internet has changed your life—from the way you work, to the way you communicate!
• When: 22nd September 2006.
• Where: Worldwide.
• More information.

Software Freedom Day

• What: Software Freedom Day is a global, grassroots effort to educate the public about the virtues and availability of Free and Open Source Software.
• When: 16th September 2006.
• Where: Worldwide.
• More information.