Development of Creative Commons licenses

[Nathanael Nerode <neroden AT twcny.rr.com>]

Mia Garlick wrote:
>The change to clause 4(a) is a clarification that the right removal 
>applies to all of the accreditation required in clause 4(b).  With the 
>attribution requirement becoming more complex, it is important to 
>clarify the attribution to which the right of removal refers to avoid 
>confusion.  This also addresses the concerns of some that this right of 
>removal was unclear.

As one of those with that concern: this is very cool!

There's still one major nipitck related to this, which I think should be 
fixed, however.

Suppose the Licensor requests that you remove the credits required by clause 
4b.  Oddly, this doesn't explicitly release you from the requirements of 
clause 4b.  This leads to a contradictory situation, in which clause 4a says 
"Don't provide credits" and clause 4b says "do provide credits".

It becomes especially unclear how this applies to second-degree derivative 
works.  Consider this scenario:
Original Work (Work A) by author 1
Derivative Work (Work B), derivative of work A, by author 2
Author 1 requests removal of credits from work B
Second-degree Derivative Work (Work C), derivative of work B, by author 3

Is author 3 required to give credit to author 1, or required to *not* give 
credit to author 1?  There's a puzzler.

I suggest the following.  After the words at the end of clause 4a:
"If You create a Collective Work, upon notice from any Licensor You must, to 
the extent practicable, remove from the Collective Work any credit as 
required by clause 4(b), as requested.  If You create a Derivative work, upon 
notice from any Licensor You must, to the extent practicable, remove from the 
Derivative Work any credit as required by clause 4(b), as requested."

Add something like this:
"If a Licensor gives such notice, You are exempted from the requirements of 
clause 4(b) with respect to that Licensor."
(This eliminates the conflict for author 2.)

Also add something like this (if you want author 3 to be required to not give 
credit):
"If You create a Collective Work or Derivative Work based on a work for which 
a particular Licensor has given such notice and for which the credits have 
been removed, such notice is considered to have been given for your Work as 
well."

Or add something like this (if you want author 3 to be required to give 
credit):
"Such notice only applies to the particular work which it refers to; if You 
create a Collective Work or Derivative Work based on such a work, it does not 
apply to it, although any Licensor may give separate notice regarding your 
Work."

Or something else which pins down the intended meaning.

I know this seems nitpicky, but when I can't actually figure out which is 
required, it indicates that a change is appropriate.

--Nathanael Nerode