This has typically been the ending question for any Creative Commons-related conversation in the Middle East that I have been involved in. While drawing on others' experiences and telling success stories from other parts of the world would seem a very appealing answer, there is always the “but here, it does not work like that” aspect of the argument. Well, today I think we have one of our own.

Except for a couple of dozen really popular titles, distribution of published Arabic books is extremely limited given the large size of the potential market. This happens primarily because distribution systems for books in the Arab world are virtually non-existent. Evidence has even shown that some titles were translated and printed more than once in different parts of the region to address this issue. Moreover, the foggy scene of copyright in the region makes it very difficult to leverage publishing and distribution of promising titles and limits the potential of published books. Publishers prefer to diversify across the complete supply chain than to enter into unclear and complicated copyright negotiations.

I have always believed that Creative Commons could offer a unique opportunity to break out of this cycle. First of all, physical distribution is no longer a problem, as content could be distributed electronically across the region, and if the need arises, to be printed and distributed locally. Secondly, by providing a very clear statement of the rights granted to the reader or anyone who would like to benefit from the book, the copyright fog is cleared and people become more confident in using and distributing the content.

My thesis, however, could not be confirmed with concrete evidence until recently. When we published the Arabic edition of the “Wireless Networking in the Developing World”, we were convinced that this book has a promising potential in the region, and that (similar to its English parent) it should be distributed under a Creative Commons license for this potential to be achieved. Well, it seems CC worked extremely well: in less that two weeks from the book launch, more than 5,000 copies were downloaded from literally every part of the Arab world. It usually takes more than a year for books published and distributed in the traditional way to hit this number. Not in my wildest dream could I have believed that such an impressive figure could be reached in such a short time span.

Reflecting on what can be considered a significant success for a new Arabic language, and rather technical publication yields a few interesting insights. It shows very clearly that readers in the Arab world are willing to invest the time and effort it takes to learn something new (remember that this region has much less, and much more expensive Internet connectivity that other parts of the world). It also demonstrates the leverage afforded by CC to overcome local distribution challenges and expand the readership base of books published under Creative Commons’ licenses. More importantly, it highlighted the need to port these licenses into Arabic as soon as possible to facilitate the growth of the concepts of openness and sharing in the Arab world and to respond to the interest shown by readers in open content. And personally, I shall no longer be afraid of answering that question at the end of conversations!

tags: Cardiff United Kingdom education books arabic middle-east publishing cc licensing

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