How to Free Your Work
Presented by Nina Paley

October 5, 2011
New York Foundation for the Arts

Free culture is a growing understanding among artists and audiences that people shouldn't have to ask permission to copy, share, and use each others' work. Producing and sharing their content openly can drastically increase audiences and lower publicity costs, allowing artists to make more money. But how, exactly, is free culture practiced? In this workshop, filmmaker, animator, cartoonist and artist Nina Paley explains the theory and practice of free culture, beginning with the real-world example of her feature film Sita Sings the Blues, covering topics such as: how to choose an open license, demystifying the many Creative Commons and other licenses available; how to make it easier for fans to support you; how to do less work on your own and enable your fans to do more; and how to use unlimited content to sell your stuff.

Nina Paley is the creator of the animated musical feature film Sita Sings the Blues, which has screened in over 150 film festivals and won over 35 international awards including the Annecy Grand Crystal, the IFFLA Grand Jury Prize, and a Gotham Award. Nina made it over a period of 5 years on her home computer using Macromedia Flash and Final Cut Pro. Her adventures in our broken copyright system led her to copyLeft her film, and join QuestionCopyright.org as Artist-in-Residence. Prior to becoming an animator Nina was a syndicated cartoonist; she is now re-freely releasing all her old comics with a Copyheart message. A 2006 Guggenheim Fellow, Nina is currently producing a series of animated shorts about intellectual freedom called Minute Memes, partially funded by the Andy Warhol Foundation, and a new daily comic strip, Mimi & Eunice.

http://www.ninapaley.com
http://www.sitasingstheblues.com/
http://questioncopyright.org/
http://mimiandeunice.com/