The document discusses several examples of commons and their governing principles: - Conservation Commons principles include open access to data, mutual benefit for users and contributors, and attribution rights for contributors. - Wikimedia Commons principles are disclaimer of reliability, assuming good faith of other editors, and writing from a neutral point of view. - Flickr guidelines state to respect others, only upload your own content, moderate content appropriately, and link photos back to Flickr when used elsewhere. - SAGE Bionetworks Commons aims to expedite disease research through open sharing of curated data and tools while respecting all contributors.

1. The Rules of the Commons
Nick Poole
Chair, Europeana Network
CEO, Collections Trust

2. Introduction
• A Commons is defined by a set of principles which have been
developed and are owned collectively by the Commons
• These principles usually define values and behaviours which the
community are expected to support
• It is useful to look at some examples:

3. The Conservation Commons
• Open Access: The Conservation Commons promotes free and open access to
data, information and knowledge for conservation purposes.
• Mutual Benefit: The Conservation Commons welcomes and encourages
participants both to use resources and to contribute data, information and
knowledge.
• Rights and Responsibilities: Contributors to the Conservation Commons have
full right to attribution for any uses of their data, information, or knowledge,
and the right to ensure that the original integrity of their contribution to the
Commons is preserved. Users of the Conservation Commons are expected to
comply, in good faith, with terms of uses specified by contributors and in
accordance with these Principles.
www.conservationcommons.net

4. Wikimedia Commons
• Disclaimer:
– Wikimedia Commons is an online open-content media repository, that is,
a voluntary association of individuals and groups who are developing a
common resource to house different media. Its structure allows anyone
with an Internet connection and World Wide Web browser to alter the
content found here.
– Therefore, please be advised that nothing found here has necessarily been
reviewed by professionals with the expertise necessary to provide you with
complete, accurate or reliable information.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:General_disclaimer

5. Wikimedia Commons
• Good Faith:
– Unless there is clear evidence to the contrary, assume that people who
work on the project are trying to help it, not hurt it.
– If criticism is needed, discuss editors' actions, but avoid accusing others of
harmful motives without clear evidence.
– Be bold contributing here and assume good faith for the intentions of
others.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Assume_good_faith

6. Wikimedia Commons
• Neutral Point of View:
– Editing from a neutral point of view (NPOV) means representing fairly,
proportionately, and as far as possible without bias, all significant views
that have been published by reliable sources.
– All Wikipedia articles and other encyclopedic content must be written from
a neutral point of view. NPOV is a fundamental principle of Wikipedia and
of other Wikimedia projects. This policy is non-negotiable and all editors
and articles must follow it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:NPOV

7. Flickr Community Guidelines – ‘Do’
• Play nice - we're a global community of many types of people, who all have the right to
feel comfortable and who may not think what you think, believe what you believe or
see what you see. So, be polite and respectful in your interactions with other members.
• Upload content that you've created - respect the copyright of others. This means don't
steal photos or videos that other people have shared and pass them off as your own.
(That’s what favorites are for.)
• Moderate your content - All content on Flickr, public and private, has to be
appropriately moderated as “safe,” “moderate,” or “restricted” using our safety and
content filters.
• Do link back to Flickr when you post your Flickr content elsewhere - Flickr makes it
possible to post content hosted on Flickr to other web sites. However, pages on other
web sites that display content hosted on flickr.com must provide a link from each photo
or video back to its page on Flickr.
• Do enjoy Flickr! - See the world through others’ eyes, participate, find your muse, and
expand your horizons!

8. Flickr Community Guidelines – ‘Don’t’
• Don’t upload anything that isn't yours.
• Don’t forget the children.
• Don’t show nudity in your buddy icon.
• Don’t upload content that is illegal or prohibited.
• Don’t vent your frustrations, rant, or bore the brains out of other members.
• Don’t be creepy.
• Don’t use your account to host web graphics

9. SAGE Bionetworks Commons
• The purpose of the Commons is to expedite the pathway to knowledge, treatment, and
prevention of disease.
• We will promote collaborative discovery through the creation and support of a broadly
accessible digital Commons consisting of curated data and methodological tools in which
analytical results are shared in a transparent, open fashion.
• The Commons will respect the rights and interests of all contributors including individuals
from whom data are derived, researchers who collect and analyze data, and scientists and
physicians who develop and implement healthcare advances. Those not respecting these
rights will be excluded from the Commons.
• Contributions to the Commons shall be appropriately acknowledged and attributed.
• The Commons will promote data and tool sharing and distribution using standards that
enable efficient reuse, compilation and comparison.
• The Commons will hold no intellectual property rights in, and will not permit encumbrances
on, data and other elements within the Commons. This will not, however, preclude
individuals from protecting new goods and services developed using data and other
elements from the Commons.

10. The Water (Cultural?) Commons
• Affirm water (culture) as a commons. It belongs to everyone and
to no one exclusively, and must be passed on to future
generations in sufficient volume and quality.
• Ensure that the earth and all of its ecosystems enjoy rights to
water for their survival. Indeed, those ecosystems make human
life possible.
• Conserve water as a social priority (enforced by law), including
advocacy of drastic changes to industrial and agricultural
practices.

11. The Water (Cultural?) Commons
• Treat watersheds, the source of our water, as a commons, as well
as the water itself.
• Encourage local, community management of water while legally
requiring users to respect upstream and downstream neighbours’
rights.
• Create or reaffirm trans-boundary agreements that respect water
sovereignty for all communities and nations.

12. The Water (Cultural?) Commons
• Provide everyone with water as a basic principle of justice, not as
an act of charity.
• Ensure public delivery and fair pricing of water.
• Promote the right to water as a principle in national constitutions,
laws, and a UN covenant.
• Employ innovative legal tools to protect water and manage water
as a commons, including public and community trusts.
http://www.onthecommons.org/work/10-water-commons-principles

13. Some Common principles…

14. Value-based Principles
• Act in Good Faith (and presume it on the part of others)
• Be nice, polite and respectful of others
• Promote the right of access as a principle
• Support the principle of Mutuality (mutual benefit)
• Accept the principle of shared rights & shared responsibilities
• Don’t abuse the Commons

15. Activity-based Principles
• Acknowledge and attribute
• Respect other people’s copyright
• Employ appropriate legal tools to protect culture as a Commons
• Participate actively in the Commons
• Promote the right of access as an activity

16. A Commons is…
• A community…
• …united by common principles…
• …that has accepted responsibility for a body of material…
• …in good faith…
• …that promotes the right of access to and use of that material…
• …within a legal framework which balances commercial & non-
commercial use…

17. Some questions…
• Can we identify a ‘pilot’ community with an established
framework of principles & common understanding (tacit or
explicit)?
• What principles do we share with other Commons?
• What principles are unique to culture (like water)?
• Can we test our behaviours and values against these principles?