Chu Yo-hsin Releases Taiwan’s First Creative Commons Licensed Album

Source: No “Copyright” — CD Out Next Month
From: Apple Daily
Date: 2004-09-06 · Author: Liu Ai-lei

In conjunction with Academia Sinica’s launch of a new version of Creative Commons licensing, Taiwan’s first album released under a Creative Commons (CC) “Creative Sharing” licence, Rock Jesus (*JESUS ROCKS*), was set to be officially released in early October 2004. Band leader Chu Yo-hsin (Pigsy) noted that the album’s primary purpose was to spread the gospel — its goal of wide dissemination aligns naturally with the CC spirit — making this a record that listeners might freely adapt, remix, or convert to MP3 format, all without breaking the law.

Chu Yo-hsin said in an interview that domestic records had previously always been printed with “all rights reserved” on the back cover, meaning that even playing a pop song at an orphanage required notifying the publisher or creator — “which is quite meaningless.” He said the new album’s decision to use CC licensing embodies the principle of “welcoming non-commercial sharing,” allowing it to be converted to any format and uploaded online for many users to download and enjoy — which would, paradoxically, generate another kind of commercial benefit.

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External Links

• What is Creative Commons? (Taiwan Creative Commons Project)
• Online Music Labels and the Democratisation of Music (Patryk Galuszka)
• Rock Jesus album (iNDIEVOX)