[cc-licenses] CC licenses not meant for software; distribute free software instead.

J.B. Nicholson-Owens jbn at forestfield.org
Tue Oct 25 23:35:02 EDT 2005


Carl Camera wrote:
> Hey I've got a blog engine and website content management system that I'd
> like to give away to folks for their personal use. [...] CC by-nc-sa 2.5
> seems perfect.

The current group of CC licenses should not be used for licensing software.  See
http://creativecommons.org/faq#Can_I_use_a_Creative_Commons_license_for_software?
for more on this.

> BUT NOT DO THIS:
> 
> * create a website for a client then charge them for it

I don't think that copyright law gives you the power to prevent this.

> (1) Could folks comment on my current understanding of said license terms?

I think that proprietary software is untrustworthy by default.  I don't think
that your software will be interesting to anyone who makes websites if you
license it under such restrictive terms.  There are plenty of free software
programs (software users can run, inspect, share, and modify at any time for any
reason) to do the same job.  Perhaps licensing your software to allow users 
these freedoms will make your program more attractive?

Again, the CC organization has "wrapped" the GNU General Public License at 
http://creativecommons.org/license/cc-gpl and there you can find out more about 
the GNU GPL.

> (2) Can I exempt the DLL from the license?  Meaning, I do not want my
> product's DLL altered (because then, well, it's really not my product is it?)
> If I need an exemption, what would it look like?

As long as the copyright is yours on the software, the copyright to that program
would remain yours even if someone made a derivative version of the software.
The other copyright holders would hold a copyright to their changed portions.
More complex arrangements are possible, depending on how you licensed the
software.



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