# Critical Commons

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Critical Commons Founder Steve F. Anderson Designer Erik Loyer Parent organization USC School of Cinematic Arts Website criticalcommons.org

**Critical Commons** is an online repository of user-generated media. The archive is a project of the [Media Arts and Practice](/source/Media_Arts_and_Practice) division of the [USC School of Cinematic Arts](/source/USC_School_of_Cinematic_Arts). The project supports the [fair use](/source/Fair_use) of copyrighted media by educators.

## History

Critical Commons was established in 2008 by [Steve F. Anderson](/source/Steve_F._Anderson) and is an ongoing project of the [Media Arts and Practice](/source/Media_Arts_and_Practice) division of the [USC School of Cinematic Arts](/source/USC_School_of_Cinematic_Arts). Critical Commons was designed by [Erik Loyer](/source/Erik_Loyer) and developed using the free software video sharing system [Plumi](/source/Plumi) by the Asia-Pacific based EngageMedia and the Greece-based design collective Unweb.me.[1] The site was launched with funding from the [Macarthur Foundation](/source/Macarthur_Foundation)'s Digital Media and Learning Initiative[2][3] and is part of an ongoing debate within higher education about the need for [limitations and exceptions to copyright](/source/Limitations_and_exceptions_to_copyright).[4][5]

## Project background

Critical Commons makes use of the exemptions[6] to the [Digital Millennium Copyright Act](/source/Digital_Millennium_Copyright_Act) (DMCA) that allow educators to circumvent the [digital rights management](/source/Digital_rights_management) of encrypted DVDs and downloads from online sources. Critical Commons utilizes the "safe harbor" provision of the DMCA granted to [Internet service providers](/source/Internet_service_provider) (ISPs) who have limited liability for potential copyright infringement by users.[7]

Media in Critical Commons is contributed by users who must add [transformative](/source/Transformative) commentaries to their uploads in order for them to be viewable. Once a piece of media is publicly available, registered users can post additional commentaries or create lecture-style playlists of media that are placed within a critical context.[8] The archive contains over 7500 media clips, still images and audio files accompanied by text commentaries. Media content posted on Critical Commons is widely embedded in electronic journals [9] and media supplements for scholarly publication and classroom use.[10]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["About — Critical Commons"](http://www.criticalcommons.org/about-us). Criticalcommons.org. Retrieved 2013-10-17.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Cory Doctorow at 2:18 am Fri, Jan 22, 2010 (2010-01-22). ["Critical Commons vs. Hitler: resource for free/open media and fair use"](https://boingboing.net/2010/01/22/critical-commons-vs.html). Boing Boing. Retrieved 2013-10-17.{{[cite web](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_web)}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_multiple_names:_authors_list)) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_numeric_names:_authors_list))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Critical Commons"](http://www.hastac.org/projects/critical-commons). HASTAC. 2009-06-20. Retrieved 2013-10-17.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Guest, Charles; Guest, Joyce M.; Surry; Daniel W. ed.; and Robert M. Gray, ed. (2010). "Legal Issues in the Use of Technology in Higher Education: Copyright and Privacy in the Academy", *Technology Integration in Higher Education: Social and Organizational Aspects*, IGI Global.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["New Frontiers of Commons-based Innovation | David Bollier"](http://bollier.org/new-frontiers-commons-based-innovation). Bollier.org. 2010-01-28. Retrieved 2013-10-17.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["2012 DMCA Rulemaking | Electronic Frontier Foundation"](https://www.eff.org/cases/2012-dmca-rulemaking). Eff.org. Retrieved 2013-10-17.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["Copyright: Digital Millennium Copyright Act; Electronic Frontier Foundation"](https://web.archive.org/web/20131127025332/https://ilt.eff.org/index.php/Copyright:_Digital_Millennium_Copyright_Act). Eff.org. Archived from [the original](https://ilt.eff.org/index.php/Copyright:_Digital_Millennium_Copyright_Act) on 2013-11-27. Retrieved 2014-02-09.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Anderson, Steve; McPherson, Tara (2011). ["Engaging Digital Scholarship: Thoughts on Evaluating Multimedia Scholarship"](http://www.mlajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1632/prof.2011.2011.1.136). *Profession*. **2011**. Mlajournals.org: 136–151. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1632/prof.2011.2011.1.136](https://doi.org/10.1632%2Fprof.2011.2011.1.136). Retrieved 2013-10-17.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** ["After the Document Model for Scholarly Communication: Some Considerations for Authoring with Rich Media | Sayers | Digital Studies / Le champ numérique"](https://web.archive.org/web/20131006065805/http://www.digitalstudies.org/ojs/index.php/digital_studies/article/view/234/301). Digitalstudies.org. Archived from [the original](http://www.digitalstudies.org/ojs/index.php/digital_studies/article/view/234/301) on 2013-10-06. Retrieved 2013-10-17.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** ["The YouTube Gaze: Permission to Create? | Enculturation"](http://enculturation.gmu.edu/the-youtube-gaze). Enculturation.gmu.edu. Retrieved 2013-10-17.{{[cite web](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_web)}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_deprecated_archival_service))

## External links

- [Section 1201 Exemptions to Prohibition Against Circumvention of Technological Measures Protecting Copyrighted Works](https://www.copyright.gov/1201/)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Critical Commons](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_Commons) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_Commons?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.