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COMMONS MAGAZINE

Arts and Culture

Arts and Culture highlights creative work in all mediums and disciplines with a special emphasis on artists, writers, performers, and collectives who blur the lines between art-making, personal activism, and community involvement. As they employ new artistic strategies, contemporary creatives continue to expand the role of arts and culture in public life. This section will feature intriguing and often ground-breaking work and explore how it might illuminate the challenges and opportunities we face as we move toward a commons-based world.

Who Owns the Prefix “Mc”?
September 17, 2009

Who Owns the Prefix “Mc”?

McDonald's suffers a major court defeat in Malaysia as McCurry prevails.
Who Should Own Antiquities?
May 1, 2009

Who Should Own Antiquities?

The clash of justifications for property rights in ancient works of art.
Unleashing Public Sector Information
April 7, 2009

Unleashing Public Sector Information

The knotty challenges of putting our civic and cultural patrimony online.
Crowd-sourcing the Patent Review Process
March 25, 2009

Crowd-sourcing the Patent Review Process

A pilot project hints at the larger potential of wiki-government.
Viral Spiral:  The Videos
March 19, 2009

Viral Spiral: The Videos

The digital republic and its implications for journalism, business and educatiion.
Et tu, Obama?  Open Government Suffers Another Blow
March 12, 2009

Et tu, Obama? Open Government Suffers Another Blow

Secret intellectual property treaty could profoundly change life on the Internet
The Facebook Rebellion of 2009
March 2, 2009

The Facebook Rebellion of 2009

The commoners successfully defend their ownership rights, privacy and social norms.
Freesouls:  Captured and Released
February 16, 2009

Freesouls: Captured and Released

Joi Ito's book liberates the images of free culture advocates.
LittleSis and Spot.us
January 23, 2009

LittleSis and Spot.us

Two fascinating experiments in open-source citizenship and journalism