Development of Creative Commons licenses

[wiki_tomos <wiki_tomos AT inter7.jp>]

----- Original Message -----
From: drew Roberts <zotz AT 100jamz.com>
To: Discussion on the Creative Commons license drafts 
<cc-licenses AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Sun, 10 Apr 2005 16:15:58 -0400
Subject: Re: Question about possible use of NC works

>I appreciate your thoughtful reply. So far, it is the only one. Here is the 
>thing, if it is indeed this complex, and I fear it may be, the only safe 
>thing I see to do is to leave all NC works out of the picture. Which is a 
>shame, but when there is possible jail time and hugh statutory fines 
>possible 
>for copyright violations, it is not the time to take chances.

Thank you for your kind words. Personally, I would do the same - leave 
NC works altogether to avoid troubles. It might be different if there are 
some legal precedents to rely on. I might feel a little more comfortable 
to tell what's non-commercial then, and do something that I wouldn't 
otherwise.  

>So again, I think NC is not spelled out clearly enough to be safe to use in 
>many cases. Am I off base here?

In general, perhaps it is hard for anyone to come up with a clear and 
meaningful 
definition of "non-commercial." But there are certain uses, like a non-profit 
organization using it for its project, that this type of license can clearly 
permit. There are certain creators who wish to give such a license grant. 
License bridging those authors and users is important enough, and that may 
be all we can expect for this kind of license. That how I feel about it. Not 
much 
to be ashamed about for anyone, just the matter is a bit too complicated for 
a generic license to handle. I'm happy to be proven wrong on this, though.

all the best, 


Tomos