Development of Creative Commons licenses

[Peter Brink <peter.brink AT brinkdata.se>]

drew Roberts skrev:
> So, to stir it up a little bit here: (using the bsd side of the bsd vs gpl 
> "controversy") are people in Sweden, where they cannot give a general waiver 
> of their moral rights, "less free" than people in other countries where they 
> can do so or where they do not exist and so the people are not restrained by 
> the law in that area?
>
> Be gentle in you answers if you will. (Take this elsewhere if needed.)

Short answer: no

Longer answer:

As you might be aware of there are two different "copyright" traditions: 
the Anglo-American copyright tradition and the European Author's right 
tradition. As the term "Author's right" implies the copyright laws of 
Europe focuses on the Originator. The result of a human beings creative 
effort is in Europe seen as an extension of that beings person. In 
essence an Author's right is a human right (indeed in Sweden all 
creators have a right to a copyright and that right is granted by the 
constitution). An infringement on a creation is thus more like a 
personal insult to the creator than a theft of physical property. In 
fact, the moral rights are the source of the copying right - the creator 
is the only one who should be able to make a profit from the result of 
her own creative efforts.

Think of moral rights as the equivalent of the legal rules regarding 
slander and other abuses of other peoples integrity. Such rules are 
necessary for a healthy society - that our freedom of speech is thus 
restricted does no really make us less free. A persons freedom to behave 
in any fashion he wants must always be checked against the freedom of 
others and the respect for other peoples fundamental human rights.


/Peter Brink