Creative Commons - User contributions [en]

Embedding Metadata in MP3s

2010-07-06T23:00:09Z

OpenIDUser398: /* The advantage of the verification link */

[[Category:Developer]][[Category:technology]][[Category:example]][[Category:tagging]][[Category:MP3]][[Category:metadata]]
== Metadata Embedding ==

Creative Commons licenses are attached to Web pages. But we also want our
licenses to be useful for materials distributed in file formats around
the Net.

The first format we've learned to tag is MP3, the popular audio
compression format. Other common formats — image, video, text, other
audio formats — will follow soon. This is an ongoing process, and we
welcome your [http://creativecommons.org/discuss#metadata feedback]. (You can
also read a more detailed <div id="nonweb">technical
explanation</div> of what follows.)

If you just want to get started, try the [http://www.creativecommons.org/tools/ccpublisher ccPublisher] app, available
for Linux, OS X, and Windows.

* [[#1|part 1: Metadata Embedding in MP3s]]
* [[#2|part 2: The advantage of the verification link]]
* [[#3|part 3: Verification Link: Also a Traffic Engine]]

<div id="1"></div>

== Metadata Embedding in MP3s ==

Let's say Anita wants to license her song, "Volcano Love," with a
Creative Commons license, and release it as an MP3. Here's what she'd do:

http://www.creativecommons.org/images/comics/mp3/1.gif

First, Anita would put a "Some Rights Reserved" button on the site where
her song could be downloaded — along with a link to a license, some RDF
metadata, and an assertion about the copyright status of the work.
Nothing new here: this is what Creative Commons licensors do now.

http://www.creativecommons.org/images/comics/mp3/2.gif

With file embedding, though, this page will now serve the added function
of <strong>verification</strong>. Here's how: Anita would insert the URL
to that webpage in the copyright field of the MP3 file, along with a
short, plain description of the work's license status. We call this the
license <strong>verification link</strong> because it points back to a
page that Anita herself controls.

http://www.creativecommons.org/images/comics/mp3/4.gif

Next, imagine Anita puts the MP3 on a file-sharing network. A user comes
across her MP3 and can follow the verification link to Anita's page. In
the future, we hope that file-sharing networks, media players, and other
applications will build tools that read the verification link
automatically and inform users of the copyright assertions like Anita's.

<div id="2"></div>

== The advantage of the verification link ==

Embedding this kind of "verification link" in MP3s, as opposed to merely
the license metadata, is a measure of protection for artists against the
incorrect or fraudulent labeling and sharing of their work.

'''Take this example:'''

Honeysuckle is a popular commercial singer. She likes her songs "all
rights reserved."

http://www.creativecommons.org/images/comics/mp3/3.gif

John decides to license a Honeysuckle song under a Creative Commons
license, to fool people into thinking she's gone "some rights reserved."
He makes a fake Honeysuckle site on to his website, adds a Creative
Commons license and RDF to it, and embeds a phony "verification link" to
his page in the Honeysuckle MP3. Then he puts the song on a file-sharing
network.

http://www.creativecommons.org/images/comics/mp3/5.gif

Honeysuckle visits the file-sharing network and sees copies of her song
circulating. She finds this suspicious, given that she didn't put the
song on the network and always claims "all rights reserved."

http://www.creativecommons.org/images/comics/mp3/6.gif

She follows the verfication link, finds John, and forces him to take the fake page
down.

http://www.creativecommons.org/images/comics/mp3/7.gif

With the phony verification page gone, users of the file-sharing network
will see that the verification link is broken, or they will follow it to
a page explaining that John fraudulently tried to license the song.

<div id="3"></div>

== Verification Link: Also a Traffic Engine ==

An added benefit of the verification link is that licensors, or the
companies who do their hosting, can use them to draw traffic to their
websites.

'''Example:'''

http://www.creativecommons.org/images/comics/mp3/8.gif

Ravi is an amateur photographer. He hosts his photos at SNAP, a website
devoted to photography. Each time Ravi uploads his photos to the SNAP
website, the SNAP software offers Ravi an opportunity to use Creative
Commons licenses, and the tools to embed his webpage on SNAP with the
appropriate RDF. Next, SNAP's software automatically inserts the
verification link into his photo files' copyright fields.

http://www.creativecommons.org/images/comics/mp3/9.gif

Ravi circulates the photos among his schoolmates, whose photo-viewing
software reads the copyright fields and takes them to the SNAP website,
where they can see Ravi's whole catalog of photography and links to other
SNAP services.

Embedding Metadata in MP3s

2010-07-06T22:55:48Z

OpenIDUser398: /* Metadata Embedding in MP3s */

[[Category:Developer]][[Category:technology]][[Category:example]][[Category:tagging]][[Category:MP3]][[Category:metadata]]
== Metadata Embedding ==

Creative Commons licenses are attached to Web pages. But we also want our
licenses to be useful for materials distributed in file formats around
the Net.

The first format we've learned to tag is MP3, the popular audio
compression format. Other common formats — image, video, text, other
audio formats — will follow soon. This is an ongoing process, and we
welcome your [http://creativecommons.org/discuss#metadata feedback]. (You can
also read a more detailed <div id="nonweb">technical
explanation</div> of what follows.)

If you just want to get started, try the [http://www.creativecommons.org/tools/ccpublisher ccPublisher] app, available
for Linux, OS X, and Windows.

* [[#1|part 1: Metadata Embedding in MP3s]]
* [[#2|part 2: The advantage of the verification link]]
* [[#3|part 3: Verification Link: Also a Traffic Engine]]

<div id="1"></div>

== Metadata Embedding in MP3s ==

Let's say Anita wants to license her song, "Volcano Love," with a
Creative Commons license, and release it as an MP3. Here's what she'd do:

http://www.creativecommons.org/images/comics/mp3/1.gif

First, Anita would put a "Some Rights Reserved" button on the site where
her song could be downloaded — along with a link to a license, some RDF
metadata, and an assertion about the copyright status of the work.
Nothing new here: this is what Creative Commons licensors do now.

http://www.creativecommons.org/images/comics/mp3/2.gif

With file embedding, though, this page will now serve the added function
of <strong>verification</strong>. Here's how: Anita would insert the URL
to that webpage in the copyright field of the MP3 file, along with a
short, plain description of the work's license status. We call this the
license <strong>verification link</strong> because it points back to a
page that Anita herself controls.

http://www.creativecommons.org/images/comics/mp3/4.gif

Next, imagine Anita puts the MP3 on a file-sharing network. A user comes
across her MP3 and can follow the verification link to Anita's page. In
the future, we hope that file-sharing networks, media players, and other
applications will build tools that read the verification link
automatically and inform users of the copyright assertions like Anita's.

<div id="2"></div>

== The advantage of the verification link ==

Embedding this kind of "verification link" in MP3s, as opposed to merely
the license metadata, is a measure of protection for artists against the
incorrect or fraudulent labeling and sharing of their work.

'''Take this example:'''

Honeysuckle is a popular commercial singer. She likes her songs "all
rights reserved."

http://www.creativecommons.org/images/comics/mp3/3.gif

John decides to license a Honeysuckle song under a Creative Commons
license, to fool people into thinking she's gone "some rights reserved."
He makes a fake Honeysuckle site on to his website, adds a Creative
Commons license and RDF to it, and embeds a phony "verification link" to
his page in the Honeysuckle MP3. Then he puts the song on a file-sharing
network.

http://www.creativecommons.org/images/comics/mp3/5.gif

Honeysuckle visits the file-sharing network and sees copies of her song
circulating. She finds this suspicious, given that she didn't put the
song on the network and always claims "all rights reserved."

http://www.creativecommons.org/images/comics/mp3/6.gif

She follows the verfication link, finds John, and forces him to take the fake page
down.

http://www.creativecommons.org/images/comics/mp3/7.gif

With the phony verification page gone, users of the file-sharing network
will see that the verification link is broken, or they will follow it to
a page explaining that John fraudulently tried to license the song.

<div id="3"></div>
== Verification Link: Also a Traffic Engine ==

An added benefit of the verification link is that licensors, or the
companies who do their hosting, can use them to draw traffic to their
websites.

'''Example:'''

http://www.creativecommons.org/images/comics/mp3/8.gif

Ravi is an amateur photographer. He hosts his photos at SNAP, a website
devoted to photography. Each time Ravi uploads his photos to the SNAP
website, the SNAP software offers Ravi an opportunity to use Creative
Commons licenses, and the tools to embed his webpage on SNAP with the
appropriate RDF. Next, SNAP's software automatically inserts the
verification link into his photo files' copyright fields.

http://www.creativecommons.org/images/comics/mp3/9.gif

Ravi circulates the photos among his schoolmates, whose photo-viewing
software reads the copyright fields and takes them to the SNAP website,
where they can see Ravi's whole catalog of photography and links to other
SNAP services.