Attorney Carolina Botero spoke about the free culture movement and Creative Commons during the first conference of the recent Free Culture Congress in Quito. As one of the regional representatives of CC in Latin America, she often gives presentations and writes articles on this and other related topics. For example, she wrote in her column not long ago in the daily Colombian newspaper El Espectador about the recent controversies surrounding collective management societies, such as the Spanish SGAE, the Peruvian APDAYC or the Colombian SAYCO, which are responsible for charging royalties on works and defending the rights of the authors that created them: La gestión colectiva necesita cirugía reconstructiva extrema en todo el mundo, pero lo complicado es que esta conclusión la provoquen los cuestionamientos públicos de falta de transparencia (por mencionar el menor) y no la decisión del sector o la de los estados de reconocer que el desarrollo tecnológico ha significado importantes cambios que deberían reflejarse en modificaciones al derecho de autor, en esa gestión, en su estructura y seguramente en su naturaleza. Collective rights management needs extreme reconstructive surgery throughout the world, but the tricky thing is that this conclusion is prompting public discourse on the lack of transparency (to name the very least) and not the decision of the sector or the states to recognize that technological development has meant major changes which must be reflected in modifications to the rights of the author, within that management, in its structure and surely its nature. Later she announced on her blog a study to be conducted throughout 2012: llevamos ya unos meses trabajando en el diseño y puesta en marcha de una investigación con otras instituciones de la región cuyo tema es precisamente gestión colectiva en América Latina. Ojalá nuestros insumos sirvan en unos meses para apoyar y enriquecer esa discusión, para repensar en la forma de gestión colectiva y en todo caso fortalecerla, pues no sólo es importante ahora sino que será mucho más importante en el futuro con un entorno tecnológico que la está moldeando en forma evidente. We have spent several months working on the design and implementation of a study, together with other institutions in the region, precisely on the theme of collective management in Latin America. Hopefully our efforts will in a few months serve to support and enrich that discussion, to rethink the form of collective management and in any case to strengthen it, because not only is it important now but it will be much more important in the future given the technological environment that is so obviously molding it. I took advantage of Carolina Botero's attendence at the Free Culture Congress to chat with her about various things, such as the state of Creative Commons in Latin America: Related to Creative Commons’ presence in Latin America, Carolina Botero wrote an article [PDF] together with Alberto Cerda about online publications in the Latin American region from the perspective of the philosophy of open access and the use of those licenses, analyzing their impact, the opportunities they generate, their apparent advantages, and more. Actualmente, las licencias Creative Commons han sido adoptadas o se encuentran en proceso de adaptación en más de 70 países, incluidos 11 de América Latina. En cada uno de ellos, han sido debidamente adecuadas a su legislación interna. En concreto, en América Latina fue Brasil el primer país que desarrolló un proyecto de este tipo. Hoy ya 9 jurisdicciones cuentan con sus propios textos (Argentina, Brasil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, México, Perú y Puerto Rico) y por lo menos 2 jurisdicciones más se encuentran en proceso de adopción (Costa Rica y Venezuela). No obstante, debemos consignar que la ausencia de la iniciativa en un determinado país no ha obstado al licenciamiento de una publicación con la licencia adoptada en otro país; así, por ejemplo, la Revista Cubana de Información en Ciencias de la Salud (ACIMED) licencia sus contenidos con una licencia Creative Commons de España. Actually, Creative Commons licenses have been adopted or are in the process of adaptation in more than 70 countires, including 11 in Latin America. In each one of those cases, the licenses have been properly tailored to the country's own domestic legislation. Specifically, Brazil was the first country in Latin America to develop a protection such as this. Today, nine juridictions have their own licenses (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, and Puerto Rico) and at least two more jurisdictions are in the process of adopting them (Costa Rica and Venezuela).