The "Sita Sings the Blues" Distribution Project is a transparent, public demonstration of how to flourish with an open source economic model, aimed at independent artists.  It is based on the distribution of the popular and award-winning film "Sita Sings the Blues" by Nina Paley.

After painful negotiations over music licensing, Paley knew she wanted a monopoly-free distribution model, and released the film under a Creative Commons ShareAlike license in early 2009.

Then she went a step further: working with the non-profit QuestionCopyright.org (where she is Artist-in-Residence), she developed a business model consciously based on the free software / open source movement.  While encouraging people to share the film freely, she sells endorsed DVDs from an online store; offers convenient donation methods; helps fans get involved (for example, the DVD subtitling was done by volunteers); allows commercial use (such as screenings) without requiring permission first; uses non-exclusive, endorsement-based contracts with distributors to get the film into theaters; and encourages remixes and creative re-use.

Both the film and the model are succeeding very well.  The core of the project is that Paley actively evangelizes her strategy -- giving concrete numbers, so people see how the model is working -- to other artists wherever she can, online, in print, in interviews, and at conferences.  I believe this is an increasingly important message for independent artists and audiences, and that her effort to deliver it deserves serious consideration for the FutureEverything 2010 Art Award.