Use cases for NonCommercial license clause

Evan Prodromou evan at bad.dynu.ca
Tue Apr 19 13:11:42 EDT 2005


I think it might be useful to get some response from Mia or others at
CC about some common "commercial" uses. Here's some possible uses to
compare against the NonCommercial licenses, and consider whether they
comply or not. I've put my ideas about compliance in square brackets
afterwards.

(Assume that the parties are otherwise compliant -- say, by giving
attribution and license notification.)

    * A publishing company downloads a by-nc 2.0 book from the
      Internet, makes a print run of 100,000 copies, and sells it in
      bookstores across the country. [no]
      
    * An individual downloads a by-nc 2.0 book on her computer and
      reads it. [yes]
      
    * An individual downloads a by-nc 2.0 book on her computer, prints
      it on her printer, and reads the printed version. [yes]

    * An individual downloads a by-nc 2.0 book on her computer and
      emails the file to a friend. [yes]
    
    * ...and shares it with the world on her Web site. [yes]

    * ...and shares it with the world through a P2P network. [yes]    

    * An individual downloads a by-nc 2.0 book on her computer, prints
      it on her printer, and gives it to a friend. [yes]

    * ...and lets the friend use her printer and computer to print it
      himself. [?]

    * ...and sells the printed copy to a friend for the cost of
      materials (paper, toner, electricity, ...). [?]

    * ...and sells the printed copy to a friend for the cost of
      materials, plus her time in finding and printing the book. [?]

    * ...and sells the printed copy to a friend for the cost of
      materials, plus her time in finding and printing the book, plus
      a 10% profit. [?]

    * ...and trades the copy with a friend for another printed book. [?]

    * ...and trades the copy with a friend for a blender. [?]
    
    * An individual downloads a by-nc 2.0 book on her computer and prints
      it on her printer. She takes it to her local photocopy shop and
      makes a copy herself, which she gives to a friend. [yes]

    * ...and pays the staff of the photocopy shop to make a copy for her,
      which she gives to her friend. [yes]

    * ...and pays the staff of the photocopy shop to make 100 copies for her,
      which she gives to all her friends and family. [yes]

    * A photocopy shop has a computer by the front desk. You can
      browse by-nc 2.0 books you like on the computer, and then pay the
      photocopy staff to make a printed copy of one or more for you. [no]

    * A photocopy shop has a Web site. You can browse books you like
      on the Web site, and then fill out an online form for the book
      you want. The shop then FedExes you a copy. [no]

    * A photocopy shop downloads a by-nc 2.0 book and makes 100
      copies, which they put in a display by the front door. You can
      buy a copy from them at the counter. [no]
      
    * ...which they put in a display by the front door. You can take
      as many as you want. [no?]

    * ...which they put in a display by the front door. The cover
      says, "Courtesy of the Fakename Copy Shop." [no?]
      
    * ...which they put in a display by the front door. You can take
      one free with any purchase of $10 or more. [no?]

    * ...which they donate to a local children's literacy program. [no?]

    * ...which they donate anonymously to a local children's literacy
      program. [no?]

    * An individual downloads a by-nc 2.0 book on her computer and
      and shares it with the world on her Web site. Every download
      costs $0.99. [no]

    * ...and shares it with the world on her Web site. People have to pay
      $5.95 a month to get a membership to the "downloads" section of
      her Web site. [no]

    * ...and shares it with the world on her Web site. Payments aren't
      required, but she has banner ads on every page. [?]

    * ...and shares it with the world on her Web site. Payments aren't
      mandatory, but she has a "Support this site!" Paypal donation
      link on the every page. [?]

    * An elementary school teacher downloads a by-nc 2.0 play from the
      Internet. Her drama class performs the play for the rest of her
      school during an assembly. [yes]

    * Her drama class performs the play for parents, charging $7 per
      ticket. [no]

    * A local theater company performs a by-nc 2.0 play, charging $35
      per ticket. [no]

    * A local theater company performs a by-nc 2.0 play for free to
      the schoolchildren at an assembly. [no?]

    * A local theater company performs a by-nc 2.0 play for free to
      the schoolchildren at their theater. [no?]

    * A costume company downloads and prints a number of scripts for
      by-nc 2.0 plays. They rent the printed scripts to teachers. [no?]

    * A costume company downloads and prints a number of scripts for
      by-nc 2.0 plays. If elementary school teachers rent costumes for
      the play, they get to use the scripts for free. [no?]
    
    * A photocopy shop downloads a by-nc 2.0 image of a bee from the
      Internet. They put it in advertisements in the local paper,
      saying, "Bee Smart! Use Fakename Copy Shops!" [no]
    
    * A Girl Scout troop downloads a by-nc 2.0 image of a bee from the
      Internet. They put up flyers in their neighborhood: "Bee nice!
      Don't litter!" [yes]

    * ... "Bee nice! Buy Girl Scout Cookies!" [no]
    
    * ..."Bee nice! Don't litter! (Brought to you by Girl Scout Troop 45,
      who make those delicious cookies)" [no]

    * "Bee nice! Donate money to the Girl Scouts!" [no]
    
    * "Bee nice! Donate your time to the Girl Scouts!" [yes?]

    * An individual downloads "Eastern Standard Tribe" (a by-nd-nc 2.0
      book) on her computer. She pays a vanity press to make 100
      bound copies, at her expense, which she then distributes
      to friends and family as gifts. [yes]

    * An individual downloads "Eastern Standard Tribe" (a by-nd-nc 2.0
      book) on her computer. She has a personal vendetta against Cory
      Doctorow dating to a cocktail party in 1997. So she
      painstakingly makes 100,000 bound copies by hand, which she then
      distributes freely, glutting the market. Doctorow is bankrupted.
      [yes]

    * An individual downloads "Eastern Standard Tribe" (a by-nd-nc 2.0
      book) on her computer. She has a personal vendetta against Cory
      Doctorow dating to a cocktail party in 1997. So she pays a
      vanity press to make 100,000 bound copies, at her expense, which
      she then distributes freely, glutting the market. Doctorow is
      bankrupted. [yes]

    * Fakename Publishers download "Eastern Standard Tribe" (a by-nd-nc 2.0
      book), printed by their arch-rival. They make 100,000 bound copies
      which they distribute freely, glutting the market. Doctorow and
      his publisher are bankrupted. [no]

    * A non-profit children's literacy group downloads a copy of a 
      by-nc 2.0 book. Staff makes 100 copies on the group's copy
      machine, which they give away to local orphanages. [yes]

    * ...which they sell to local orphanages for the price of
      materials. [no]

    * ...which they sell to local orphanages for the price of
      materials and labor. [no]

    * ...which they sell to local orphanages for the price of
      materials and labor and a 10% profit. [no]

    * ...which they give away to the public to raise awareness of
      reading. [yes]

    * ...which they give away to the public as a gift with every 
      donation of $50 or more. [no?]

    * ...which they sell to the public for a profit. [no]

    * ...which they give away to the public with a "suggested
      donation". [no?]

    * A children's literacy group downloads a copy of a by-nc 2.0 book.
      A photocopy shop donates time and material to make 100 copies of
      the book, which is given away to the general public to raise
      awareness of reading. The back cover says, "Labor and material
      donated by Fakename Copy Shop." [yes]

    * A public library has computers and a printer. Printouts and
      computer usage are free. An individual uses a computer and prints
      out a by-sa 2.0 novel for herself. [yes]

   * An Internet cafe has computers and a printer. Printouts cost 5
      cents a page. An individual rents a computer and prints out a
      by-sa 2.0 novel for herself, and pays for the time and print
      costs. [yes]

   * A public library sells copies of by-nc 2.0 books. [no]

OK, I'm exhausted from all those. Sorry for such a long list, but it's
a really complicated subject. There are probably a lot more edge cases
that need exploration.

~Evan



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