Development of Creative Commons licenses

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

On Thursday 14 September 2006 03:20 pm, tk wrote:
> Well good question Drew.
> I am fairly new in the idea of open source for books and at this point I
> would see a book as a very different product, acquisition and use than a
> piece of software and since I do not have any support or training to sell,
> then my business model would be to sell the book. If someone else can do it
> too at a much lower price or at no profit, then I do not have a business.

Fine, but by choosing the NC option you are pretty much removing an 
relationship to Free or Open Source Software.

Also, note, even in cases where a GPL software author has support and 
training 
to sell, there is nothing stopping someone with better funding and 
connections from selling competing support and training based around the same 
piece of software.

You can always put in trademarks / logos and not allow them to be used 
without 
payment. (I am personally going to be exploring some of the possibilities in 
this area.)

> I am interested to use CC license so that others could use the content but
> not if someone else can package sell it at no profit because then buyers
> would just get it where it is cheaper...

They can still do this to you even if they can't sell your works and can't 
make a profit. They could make their money from taxi rides down to the local 
copy shop where your book gets printed. (OK a way out there example, but 
think of all the possibilities where your book can get produced in an NC 
manner.)

> But I would be very interested to hear some business model in publishing
> using CC and less restrictive license. Is there a place where I find some
> stories/experience on this ?

This is the time for experimenting. Do some of your stuff copyleft and some 
with an NC license and see which ones do better. One thing with a copyleft 
model is that cost of materials can go down.

BTW. I do somewhat put my money where my mouth is in this area:

I wrote a book for last year's NaNoWriMo and put it up under a BY-SA license:

http://www.ourmedia.org/node/111123
http://www.ourmedia.org/node/85937

and I have some software under the GPL:

http://zbcw.sourceforge.net/
http://code.google.com/p/drsoundwall/

Plus I hope to do another nano novel this year and release that under a BY-SA 
license as well. I am probably going to try and raise sponsorship (patronage) 
for the writing of this novel again this year, I did in 2005 but didn't in 
2005. I am probably going to suggest a per word amount of sponsorship with 
the money only being due if I pass the 50,000 word mark needed to win  the 
contest.

There is nothing preventing anyone from seeking advance funding to produce 
copyleft works.

> tk

all the best,

drew
>
> On 9/14/06, drew Roberts <zotz AT 100jamz.com> wrote:
> > On Thursday 14 September 2006 08:33 am, tk wrote:
> > > thank you realy much bjorn for answering my questions;
> > > the last answer is actualy a real worry then because it is imposible to
> > > verify if someone is seling at cost or at profit; i need to think about
> >
> > it
> >
> > > a litle bit more then
> >
> > Anyone doing gpl software is already allowing others to sell their work
> > at a
> > profit.  If you are a big supporter of Free or Open Source Software, I
> > would
> > think you would want to use a BY-SA or BY license. Why the desire for the
> > NC
> > option?
> >
> > > thx again; take care
> > > tk
> >
> > all the best,
> >
> > drew
> >
> > > On 9/14/06, Bjorn Wijers <mailings AT bdisfunctional.net> wrote:
> > > > Hi Tk,
> > > >
> > > > NOTE: I am not CC nor a lawyer
> > > >
> > > > > 1. If I decide to use the *Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0
> > > > > France license
> > > > > , does it apply only to France or all French speaking countries and
> > > > > even to any countries (I plan to have the books in different
> >
> > languages
> >
> > > > > and people could decide to get a book in a specific language that
> > > > > is not the national language) ? How do we know it will be valid and
> > > > > enforced ?
> > > >
> > > > That's a lot for one question ;)
> > > >
> > > > As far as I know the CC licenses are world valid and not limited to
> > > > French speaking countries nor a specific language. The licenses are
> > > > valid (proven in two court cases; one in The Netherlands, one in
> >
> > Spain).
> >
> > > > CC licenses are not being enforced by a specific organisation. You
> >
> > need
> >
> > > > to do this yourself.
> > > >
> > > > > 2. The books will include a fairly important part of illustrations:
> > > > > Should I use then both the text and image license at the same time
> >
> > for
> >
> > > > > each book ?
> > > >
> > > > No.
> > > >
> > > > It would be advisable and more clear for the end-user, but you may
> > > > use different licenses for different elements of the books provided
> > > > this
> >
> > has
> >
> > > > been labeled appropriate and made as clear as possible for the
> >
> > end-users.
> >
> > > > > 3. About the non commercial aspect: I understand that I can decide
> >
> > to
> >
> > > > > sell or not our products but someone else cannot resell/sell our
> > > > > content, correct ?
> > > >
> > > > I belief this is correct. The licenses are non-exclusive and the
> > > > rightsholder may therefor license a work under multiple conditions /
> > > > licenses.
> > > >
> > > > > 4. Do we need an express authorization of every author when it is a
> > > > > multi authors book  or only the publishing decides and authorizes
> >
> > the
> >
> > > > > use of the license ?
> > > >
> > > > Depends on the arrangements you have with the authors. The
> >
> > rightsholder
> >
> > > > may decide to use CC, so it depends on who owns the rights...
> > > >
> > > > > 5. Sharealike: I udnerstand that under this specific license
> > > > > **Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike, someone can make
> > > > > derivatives
> > > > >
> > > > > product BUT not sell them (ie, the modifications or the derivative
> > > > > product, correct ?
> > > >
> > > > I am not completly sure, but I think you are correct.
> > > >
> > > > > 6. Can my publishing company sell those derivatives by default or
> > > > > do
> >
> > I
> >
> > > > > need to negotiate this point with the author(s) of the
> > > > > modifications
> >
> > ?
> >
> > > > I would say you would need to negotiate this with the derivative
> > > > author(s).
> > > >
> > > > > 7. Finally but not least, can someone just print the on line
> > > > > content
> >
> > or
> >
> > > > > scan the books and reprint them and give ithem away for free or at
> >
> > not
> >
> > > > > profit, ie, still sell it but at cost ?
> > > >
> > > > Depends on the chosen license and the definition of commercial Vs
> > > > non-commercial. If you choose the non-commercial option in your
> >
> > license
> >
> > > > I would argue that this would be possible provided the money asked is
> > > > just for the printing costs (ie material).
> > > >
> > > > Hope this helps,
> > > >
> > > > All the best,
> > > >
> > > > grtz
> > > > BjornW
> > > >
> > > > _______________________________________________
> > > > cc-licenses mailing list
> > > > cc-licenses AT lists.ibiblio.org
> > > > http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/cc-licenses
> >
> > --
> > (da idea man)
> > http://www.ourmedia.org/node/145261
> > Record a song and you might win $1,000.00
> > http://www.ourmedia.org/user/17145
> > _______________________________________________
> > cc-licenses mailing list
> > cc-licenses AT lists.ibiblio.org
> > http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/cc-licenses

-- 
(da idea man)
http://www.ourmedia.org/node/145261
Record a song and you might win $1,000.00
http://www.ourmedia.org/user/17145