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  • From: "Lars Porsena" <larsporsena AT gmail.com>
  • To: cc-licenses AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [cc-licenses] After Disney or: Help Robot George Get A Life
  • Date: Sun, 6 Aug 2006 14:21:08 +0100

Hi All.

I apologise in advance if this is an achingly stupid question, but
I've poked around through the CC main site and this archive and still
can't find a clear way forward for my licensing needs. Here it is:

I'd like to create what is in effect a community-created comic book
character, with certain key reservations in the license.

Let's call our character Robot George, for the sake of example.

To take it piece by piece (I'm fairly dumb)

1 Creators of Robot George derivatives (eg artists and writers) must
credit me and my site, where I'd host and promote the adventures of
Robot George for them, assuming they are in the spirit of both the
character (pretty unclassifiable concept legally so let's not go
there) and I intend to nurture to the obviously soon-to-be thriving
Robot George community at large, by housing the cooler instantiations
of the character. That means in cc terms simply 'by' to me but I
wonder if subcreators on other sites have to credit me ? in other
words is 'by' actually 'by-by-by...' ad infinitum? I'm guessing it is.

And 2 (the kicker) In order to have a business going here, I allow
attributed derivative non-commercial works anywhere (nc), BUT I'd like
to be able to use community derivations when posted to my site or used
elsewhere for attributed commerce (let's say your excellent Robot
George drawing has mug/teeshirt potential)

While my scheme sounds on the surface like a potential bum deal for
other creators (your version of my idea = commerce for me) it is meant
to be just the opposite: I'm trusting that artists and contributors
trust me not to be a dick: in essence, to promote them professionally,
reward them fairly and even to a certain extent maintain a brand.

Obviously, even from a jaded cynic's perspective I'm strongly
incentivised to be a good citizen rather than an evil baron, in order
to even have a creative community engaged.

Another way to think of this question is what would (let's say) a
clueful Disney exec do to promote Mickey Mouse after (let's also say)
the copyright finally expires on the character? Her aim will be to
foster, promote excellence and continue commercial exploitation in a
weirder world of multiple mice. As, to a certain extent is mine.

I was thinking for me by-nc-sa, but there's no (?) provision for me to
make a buck or two here by cherrypicking the best derivatives for
commercial ends.

Or is there?

cheers

Lars

Lars Porsena




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