Development of Creative Commons licenses

[drew Roberts <zotz AT 100jamz.com>]

On Friday 08 April 2005 08:40 am, Karl Jonsson wrote:
> drew Roberts wrote:
> > On Wednesday 06 April 2005 04:07 pm, Greg London wrote:
> >>drew Roberts said:
> >
> > The unclear things are a bit deeper. As I said, I seem to recall that
> > copyright law was amended in my adult life to hold you copying some local
> > American (say CC BY-NC) songs for me and me copying some local Baamian
> > (say CC BY-NC) songs for you and us exchanging the copies as a
> > transaction for commercial advantage. If that is correct, NC just seems
> > to dangerous to play with.
>
> I have no idea... However, section 4 c (BY-NC-SA) reads:
>
> You may not exercise any of the rights granted to You in Section 3 above
> in any manner that is primarily intended for or directed toward
> commercial advantage or private monetary compensation. The exchange of
> the Work for other copyrighted works by means of digital file-sharing or
> otherwise shall not be considered to be intended for or directed toward
> commercial advantage or private monetary compensation, provided there is
> no payment of any monetary compensation in connection with the exchange
> of copyrighted works.
>
> To me, this suggests that money changing hands need not be a problem
> ("primarily intended..."). It also explicitly states that "trading" is
> non-commercial.

Thanks Karl, for reminding me of this. I had forgotten that the license took 
into account and sought to counteract one of the most dangerous aspects.

Let's go a little further down two seperate roads though.

1. provided there is no payment of any monetary compensation in connection 
with the exchange of copyrighted works.

OK, how can this still bite us? Well, it doesn't say for the exchange of 
copyrighted works but in connection with the exchange of copyrighted works.

So, if I can get a better deal on blank CDs than you and so I do the buying 
for both of us and you then pay me your share as part of our plan for copying 
for each other, could someone claim that was in connection with our exchange? 
Are there any other subtle ways this could bite someone?

2. primarily intended...

OK, how does this play out. Can I (someone) legally do something like this? 
Let's say my primary intention and motivation (honestly, this really is the 
case for the person in question, not just a dodge) is to make CC licensed 
work popular but I am not a well funded persson. (Not wealthy.)

So I set up an operation like this:

Buy blank CDs, record CC BY-NC songs on them. Sell them on street corners, 
etc, for more than the cost of the blank CDs so as to cover cost of jitneys 
around town as I go from location to location selling, the cost of 
advertising flyers. I get no money from the operation at the end of the day. 
I cover expenses and get a lot of CC BY-NC music distributed around town. 
Total cost to me is my time. I do not get compensated for this.

Would this be considered a not "primarily intended" operation?

Does the "primarily intended" relate to a single transaction or to the 
operation overall?

Here is another possibility. I make CDs of CC BY-NC music and give them out 
as 
gifts (they are the only gifts I give for the year.) Can the people who get 
them as gifts sell them?

all the best,

drew