Creative Commons tagging

To: linux-audio-user
Cc: advocacy@xiph.org

I've been following the rise and rise of music made with Linux, which have been announced on this list and Jan Weil has been listing.

Many of the released files have no licensing information. In most parts of the world, this implies "All Rights Reserved". If you are making music, or samples, that you are happy to share with others then you should consider tagging your files with a CreativeCommons license.

Embedding licensing information allows people using music browsers and search engines to _find your stuff_ (songs, samples, source materials -- it's up to you). We want Linux distributions to provide tools for people to find and use free media, and music made with Linux should be ready for that.

Creative Commons provide a guide to embedding licensing information and also more specific information about putting licensing information in Ogg Vorbis files.

This basically involves adding a LICENSE comment, such as:

LICENSE=Licensed to the public under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/ verify at http://example.com/cclicenses.html

Using the commandline vorbis-tools, these tags can be added easily. To add licensing information to an existing Ogg Vorbis file:

  vorbiscomment -t "LICENSE=Licensed to the public ..." file.ogg

To add licensing information while encoding a WAV file to Ogg Vorbis:

  oggenc -c "LICENSE=Licensed to the public ..." file.wav

Please include the URL of the license you choose in the LICENSE tag. Information on CreativeCommons license choices is here.

Looking forward to a web of free music,

Conrad.