Development of Creative Commons licenses

[Twylite <twylite AT crypt.co.za>]

Dear Sir/Madam,

SUGGESTION FOR NEW LICENSE

The four licenses being contemplated by Creative Commons focus on the
most obvious of rights granted by Copyright law: the right to limit
copying and distribution.  I would like to suggest an additional
license in which the copyright holder reserves the rights of copying
and distribution, but cedes the rights of derivation.

The intention of this license is perhaps best understood in the
context of books. An author may desire to publish a book and profit
from commercial publication, but recognise the value in permitting fan
fiction based on the setting and characters. The author can partially
cede the right of derivation, allowing works based on his/her book
(but not translations or modifications) to be created without
limitation.  Copying and distribution of the original work is still
limited by copyright.

In this manner, the author can profit from his/her work, as intended
by copyright law, but also contribute to the creative commons by
making the settings and characters available for "reuse" - again
achieving the intentions of copyright.

The "Share Alike" license goes some way to achieve this, but it would
force all derivative works to be commercial works themselves, as they
must be under the same license (as the original).  The author may
desire that all derivative works can be commercial or freely
distributable, or that they may not be commercial at all (allowing
profitless fan fiction only).

I believe such a license could strike a balance between the interests
of copyright holders and common interests, and as such would be
valuable to market to copyright holders.


Yours faithfully,



Trevor Davel
// twylite AT crypt.co.za