So I invented "clickstream poetry". Here is my first clickstream poem, entitled My clicks are mine:
{
"content":
[
"https://roses.com",
"http://are.com",
"https://reddit.com",
"http://theultraviolets.net",
"http://are.com",
"https://moo.com",
"http://this.is",
"http://work.org",
"http://is.com",
"https://copyright.com",
"https://ted.com",
"https://www.so.ch",
"http://verizon.com",
"http://www.faa.gov",
"https://kyu.com",
"https://copyright.com",
"http://2o17.com",
"http://eric.org",
"http://hellman.net",
"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/legalcode"
],
"copyright": "2017 Eric Hellman",
"license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/legalcode",
"title": "My clicks are mine"
}
I wrote a python script that "performs" the poem for the benefit of anyone listening to my clickstream. The script requests the websites in the poem in a random order; the listener will see the website names requested, and this dataset comprises the "poem". I used a Creative Commons license that doesn't let anyone distribute copies of my poem for commercial purposes. If my ISP tries to sell a copy of my clickstream, they would be violating the license, and thus infringing my copyright to the poem. If you run the script to perform the poem (for non-commercial purposes, of course), your ISP would similarly be infringing my copyright if they try to sell your clickstream.
If I tried to sue an ISP for copyright infringement, they would likely argue that though my creation is original and used in its entirety, selling my clickstream is a "fair use". They would assert that advertising optimization (or whatever) is a "transformative use" and that it didn't affect the market for my poem. Who would pay anything for a stupid clickstream poem? How would a non-existent, hypothetical market for clickstream poetry be harmed by use in their big data algorithms?
That's why I'm offering commercial licenses to the clickstream poem My clicks are mine. This will demonstrate that a commercial market for clickstream poetry licenses exists. For only $10, you can use a copy of my poem for any purpose whatsoever, for a period of 24 hours. If an ad network wants to use my clickstream to optimize the ads they show me, more power to them, as long as they pay for a license. I imagine that, over the lifetime of my poem's copyright protection (into the 22nd century), clickstream poetry will become increasingly valuable because of uses that haven't been invented yet.
To acquire a commercial license to my poem, support my work at the Free Ebook Foundation, a 501(c)3 not-for-profit corporation, by making a donation. Or don't. I have no idea if a court would take my side against a big company (and against Congress). I'm told that judges are generally skeptical of clever "legal hacks" unless they are crafted by lawyers instead of engineers.
ISPs would probably figure out a legal or technical subterfuge around the copyright of my clickstream poem; but if they have to worry even a little, this effort will have been worth my time.
Update: I have now paid $35 to register my copyright to My clicks are mine.
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