We already have the Free Content Definition, the Open Knowledge Definition, and the Definition of Free Cultural Works … and a few more efforts are listed here.

Now, because of the wide variety of different modes of participation and user rights that are used in open and collaborative movies, the crew of A Swarm of Angels, proposes a specific definition to judge Open Movies. Our own webcasting directory lists 14 open movie projects.

Here is the full text of the proposed definition.

It distinguishes three distinct ‘states’ for open media:

Open (O-): The baseline, concerned with freely consuming and sharing the content (1-3)

Open source (O): Being able to view and remix the source files (1-5).

Open Plus (O+): The ability to participate in a transparent, documented process (1-8).

Mile Linksvayer explains the originality of the proposal:

“The “Plus” part of their delineation (quoted above) concerns the community processes around media creation, a topic often left out of formal definitions of openness, though very much part of the longstanding conversation carrying over from the software world (cf. The Cathedral and the Bazaar). In other ways “Open Plus” does not go as far as the Definition of Free Cultural Works, which does not allow for usage restrictions.”