BCCKS is a Japanese online publishing platform with tight cc-license integration. Click through to read about what happened at the BCCKS workshop at the iSummit.

bccks Chief Strategic Officer, Mr. Osamu ANDÔ lead the workshop and presented an “open test” version of the bccks site (http://bccks.jp), which was actually already a fully operational online publishing platform. Even though the open test phase just began a few months ago, the site already attracts several hundred thousand hots per month with the number of visitors exploding since July.

As the name bccks suggests, the site is built around what Mr. ANDÔ calls “the book metaphor”, but it really exceeds the traditional uses of a book. Users can create new publications right from their browser window, literally within minutes. While the result has the appearance of a book, the quick creation process allows for many uses apart from publishing a complete novel – like diaries, collections of photos and magazine-like publications. In summary, bccks publications are be somewhere in between an eBook and a blog.

Creative Commons licensing information is already built into bccks. Users can choose to publish their works under full copyright protection or apply a CC-by license. CC-by licensed photos imported from flickr are automatically attributed. Of course it is also possible to copy and paste images from existing CC-by licensed bccks publications. “Creative Commons is one reason why we put the cc in bccks”, laughs Ando.

After a short presentation, Mr. Andô showcased a set of already internet-famous bccks publications. For some reason beyond my understanding a book of pictures of men’s faces squeezed between a woman’s legs has become an instant hin with the bccks community. Other famous bccks include a complete makeup-guide that has grown into a complete series in collaboration with make-up professionals and an illustrated book about squirrels, put together by a photo-loving software engineer. The squirrel book has attracted so many viewers that is has also been published as a physical book and the make-up guide is now being produced in collaboration with professionals.

An indicator for the addictiveness of bccks was the moment when Mr. ANDÔ invited the audience to log in and play around with the editor software a little bit. The next half hour was filled with the dense atmosphere of aspiring authors getting to work. Many actually kept typing and clicking right through the final presentation.


image: Mr. Osamu ANDÔ


image: BCCKS workshop audience

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Squirrel book: http://bccks.jp./viewer/11843
Men’s-faces-squeezed-between-legs book: http://bccks.jp./viewer/12858
“Make up 100”-series: http://bccks.jp/search/?KW=make+up+100