Comment Articles

Creative Commons gives the BBC uncommon creativity

Rupert Goodwins ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 27 May 2004 15:00 BST

The environment into which the BBC was born has mutated beyond imagining: through digital technology, the world of broadcasting is as unfettered now as the world of the press was in the 1920s. Anyone can start a station with world-wide reach, and Edwardian paternalism has transmuted into a nervous mix of free markets, lowered expectations and considerable distrust on all sides.

But a most curious thing has happened: the Reithian nature of the BBC remains. In the UK, arguments rage constantly over what public service broadcasting is and should be, but those arguments still centre around whether what we want is what we need, and whether the BBC has a good balance between the two.

Even with many waves of commercialism lapping at its core the organisation remains, however imperfectly, publicly funded, impartial and conscious of its role. It has thrown itself headlong into the online world: its eight radio networks are available online live and massively archived. And despite a bloody tussle with the government over Iraq leading to the resignation of the top two BBC executives, it has perversely emerged stronger, with greater public support and -- at least for now -- politically inviolable.

It is from this position of strength, vision and commitment that the BBC has found the legal framework with which to make its archives as available as possible, and will demonstrate the potential of a permissive, rather than restrictive, approach to intellectual property.

Is this fair? The BBC spends some of its billions publishing technology news online, in direct competition with the company that pays my wages. By rights I should resent this use of its massive resources: I do not. The BBC legitimised radio as a useful, interesting and valuable medium; it did the same for television. By becoming a strong voice on the Internet, it has helped the UK become much more at ease in the online world. It delivers readers, not abducts them.

With the adoption of a Creative Commons-style licence, the Corporation will extend its public service remit far beyond the distribution channels under its direct control, while still protecting its content and without poisoning the commercial environment that drives so much innovation and creativity elsewhere. If you believe that more freedom equals more opportunity, as I do, then everyone wins. Good news from the war? It's about time.