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cc-licenses - Re: [cc-licenses] license draft usage scenario questions

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Subject: Development of Creative Commons licenses

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  • From: Peter Brink <peter.brink AT brinkdata.se>
  • To: Discussion on the Creative Commons license drafts <cc-licenses AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [cc-licenses] license draft usage scenario questions
  • Date: Mon, 30 Oct 2006 22:45:36 +0100

drew Roberts skrev:


[Peter]
To "distribute" is to make a work available to the general public.
Copying is not distribution.

Is this a feature or a bug? How does this line up with how the GPL handles it for programs?


I was a bit imprecise. When you distribute a copyrightable work it's implied that the work is made available to the general public. Obviously you also make copies of a work when you distribute. But if you make 100 copies of a work and store those in your closet then those 100 copies has not been distributed to anyone, they are just copies. You are not allowed to make that many copies without permission, but the license (CC licenses or, for example, the GPL) grants you that right and it also grants you the right to distribute the copies. The difference between distribution and copying is therefore mainly whether the copies are made available to the general public.

What is the general public? As far as copyright law goes, probably not more than five people, but this varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.

It's worth remembering that neither "distribute" or "copy" are concepts originating from the license, they are part of the lingua of copyright law.

/Peter Brink






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