Creative Commons - Belgium

[Severine Dusollier <severine.dusollier AT fundp.ac.be>]

Title: [Cc-be] Q6. Future forms of exploitation

I see your point. It is true that "media" and format do not mean forms of exploitation. I like the alternative you proposed, we will use it in the final version. As to the moment when the author licensed the work, the Belgina law states that the forms of exploitation have to be unknown when the contract authorising the use of the work has been concluded. As to CC license, it is the time where the user has accepted the license, therefore when he has first used the work (see your comment about that article in Q1). So the user should know whether a form of explitation was unknown at the time. Am I right ?

Séverine

> Q6.  Future forms of exploitation
>
> Art. 3 §1 alinea 6 of the Copyright law states that contracts
> whereby
> the author transfers his rights with regard to unknown forms of
> exploitation are void.
>
> This rule is why art. 3 last paragraph of the CCPL is modified, I
> suppose.
>
> The original CCPL says "The above rights may be exercised in all
> media
> and formats whether now known or hereafter devised."
> The BE-CCPL limits this to media and formats known today.
>
> Was this modification absolutely necessary?
>
> It depends partly on the interpretation of the term media.
> The term 'media' might mean the physical support on which the work
> is
> stored.  In the future, new physical supports will be invented. 
> But
> using such a new physical support, doesn't have to imply that this is
> a
> new form of exploitation.  What does it matter if a file is
> stored on a
> disk, a CD-ROM or a DVD?
>
> New formats don't imply new forms of exploitation either.
>
> The term 'media' can also mean channel to distribute information,
> like
> radio, television and internet.  If a new channel is invented,
> then
> there will probably be new forms of exploitation.
>
> A possible alternative might be:
> "The above rights may be exercised in all media and formats
> whether now
> known or hereafter devised, with the exception of
> forms of exploitation unknown at the time this licence was
> given."
>
> However, it is unclear how a licensee will find out when the
> original
> Author licenced the work.
>
> This is a tough one.
>
> Hannelore