John Buckman
Encyclopedia
John Buckman is founder of Magnatune
, a Berkeley, California
-based record label he founded in 2003 and which is known for its commercial application of Creative Commons
licensing and overtly artist-friendly business practices. Buckman's methods include forming non-exclusive agreements with musicians, sharing profits equally with them, and allowing them to retain full rights to their own music. This approach is sometimes referred to as "fair trade music." Since founding Magnatune
, Buckman has signed more than 250 recording artists across multiple genres.
In August 2006, he launched the for-profit corporation
BookMooch
, an online community for the exchange of used books, which—in combination with his work with Magnatune—has established Buckman as a prominent figure in the Free Culture movement
. In February 2007, he was elected to the board of advisors of the Open Rights Group
. In September 2007, he was elected to the Board of Directors of the Electronic Frontier Foundation
and in February 2010 he was appointed Chairman of the Board.
In 1994, Buckman and his ex-wife Jan Hanford
founded Lyris Technologies. Buckman was CEO and primary programmer of Lyris' product line: Lyris ListServer, MailShield, and MailEngine. He sold the company in June 2005.
Buckman has been profiled by Forbes
, Inc. Magazine, and The Economist
. Buckman is the co-author of an article in SysAdmin Magazine entitled "Which OS is Fastest for High-Performance Network Applications?" and the author of an article in Linux Journal entitled "Magnatune, an Open Music Experiment."
licensing on the Magnatune
site is thought to be, in part, a response to the Recording Industry Association of America
's growing record of litigiousness toward Internet music sites and individual consumers. Believing such lawsuits to represent an outmoded response to the relatively new medium of digital music and to have a detrimental effect on the cultural landscape as a whole, Buckman employs Creative Commons
licensing to support an explicitly customer friendly and pro-Internet
stance. This stance includes providing full album previews online (versus snippets) to web site visitors—something that Creative Commons licensing facilitates without subjecting visitors to a set of complex terms and conditions. The full album previews also assist independent recording artists with gaining exposure for their work in a crowded marketplace. This strategy has been adopted by other independent record labels including the New York City
based label Team Love
. Creative Commons licensing also facilitates Magnatune policies such as allowing customers to share three copies of their purchases at no charge, and giving podcasters free access to the entire Magnatune catalog. Buckman has also taken a vocal position against DRM
.
The complete data feed at BookMooch is under a Creative Commons by-nc-sa 3.0 license. This represents an unusual amount of transparency, as the feed includes the entire database, with all books and user data intact, except for a few fields not displayed for privacy reasons.
Magnatune
Magnatune is an American independent record label based in Berkeley, California, founded in spring 2003 by John Buckman, then-CEO of e-mail software company Lyris. It aims at treating both its musicians and its customers fairly—its tagline is "We are not evil"...
, a Berkeley, California
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
-based record label he founded in 2003 and which is known for its commercial application of Creative Commons
Creative Commons
Creative Commons is a non-profit organization headquartered in Mountain View, California, United States devoted to expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has released several copyright-licenses known as Creative Commons...
licensing and overtly artist-friendly business practices. Buckman's methods include forming non-exclusive agreements with musicians, sharing profits equally with them, and allowing them to retain full rights to their own music. This approach is sometimes referred to as "fair trade music." Since founding Magnatune
Magnatune
Magnatune is an American independent record label based in Berkeley, California, founded in spring 2003 by John Buckman, then-CEO of e-mail software company Lyris. It aims at treating both its musicians and its customers fairly—its tagline is "We are not evil"...
, Buckman has signed more than 250 recording artists across multiple genres.
In August 2006, he launched the for-profit corporation
For-profit corporation
A for-profit corporation is a corporation that is intended to operate a business which will return a profit to the owners. A for-profit corporation, depending on the jurisdiction to which it is incorporated, may be operated either as a stock corporation or as a non-stock corporation.A non-profit...
BookMooch
BookMooch
BookMooch is an international, on-line book exchange community founded by John Buckman in 2006. Membership, which has grown to around 74,000 in over 90 countries, is open to anyone and is free. There is heavy community participation in its running and organisation...
, an online community for the exchange of used books, which—in combination with his work with Magnatune—has established Buckman as a prominent figure in the Free Culture movement
Free Culture movement
The free culture movement is a social movement that promotes the freedom to distribute and modify creative works in the form of free content by using the Internet and other forms of media....
. In February 2007, he was elected to the board of advisors of the Open Rights Group
Open Rights Group
The Open Rights Group is a UK-based organisation that works to preserve digital rights and freedoms by campaigning on digital rights issues, acting as a media clearinghouse service putting journalists in touch with experts, and by fostering a community of grassroots activists...
. In September 2007, he was elected to the Board of Directors of the Electronic Frontier Foundation
Electronic Frontier Foundation
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is an international non-profit digital rights advocacy and legal organization based in the United States...
and in February 2010 he was appointed Chairman of the Board.
In 1994, Buckman and his ex-wife Jan Hanford
Jan Hanford
Jan Hanford is a composer/musician who plays piano, harpsichord and synthesizers. Her electronica has been released under the name Human Response....
founded Lyris Technologies. Buckman was CEO and primary programmer of Lyris' product line: Lyris ListServer, MailShield, and MailEngine. He sold the company in June 2005.
Buckman has been profiled by Forbes
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
, Inc. Magazine, and The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
. Buckman is the co-author of an article in SysAdmin Magazine entitled "Which OS is Fastest for High-Performance Network Applications?" and the author of an article in Linux Journal entitled "Magnatune, an Open Music Experiment."
Use of Creative Commons licensing
Buckman's use of Creative CommonsCreative Commons
Creative Commons is a non-profit organization headquartered in Mountain View, California, United States devoted to expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has released several copyright-licenses known as Creative Commons...
licensing on the Magnatune
Magnatune
Magnatune is an American independent record label based in Berkeley, California, founded in spring 2003 by John Buckman, then-CEO of e-mail software company Lyris. It aims at treating both its musicians and its customers fairly—its tagline is "We are not evil"...
site is thought to be, in part, a response to the Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
's growing record of litigiousness toward Internet music sites and individual consumers. Believing such lawsuits to represent an outmoded response to the relatively new medium of digital music and to have a detrimental effect on the cultural landscape as a whole, Buckman employs Creative Commons
Creative Commons
Creative Commons is a non-profit organization headquartered in Mountain View, California, United States devoted to expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has released several copyright-licenses known as Creative Commons...
licensing to support an explicitly customer friendly and pro-Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
stance. This stance includes providing full album previews online (versus snippets) to web site visitors—something that Creative Commons licensing facilitates without subjecting visitors to a set of complex terms and conditions. The full album previews also assist independent recording artists with gaining exposure for their work in a crowded marketplace. This strategy has been adopted by other independent record labels including the New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
based label Team Love
Team Love
Team Love is a New York City-based independent record label founded by Conor Oberst and Nate Krenkel in 2003. It has released albums by musicians including Tilly and the Wall, Jenny Lewis, David Dondero, Craig Wedren, Capgun Coup, Gruff Rhys, The Shortbus Movie Soundtrack, McCarthy Trenching, El...
. Creative Commons licensing also facilitates Magnatune policies such as allowing customers to share three copies of their purchases at no charge, and giving podcasters free access to the entire Magnatune catalog. Buckman has also taken a vocal position against DRM
Digital rights management
Digital rights management is a class of access control technologies that are used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders and individuals with the intent to limit the use of digital content and devices after sale. DRM is any technology that inhibits uses of digital content that...
.
The complete data feed at BookMooch is under a Creative Commons by-nc-sa 3.0 license. This represents an unusual amount of transparency, as the feed includes the entire database, with all books and user data intact, except for a few fields not displayed for privacy reasons.