Development of Creative Commons licenses

["S. Massy" <smassy AT sdf.lonestar.org>]

Hello,

While the concept of "derivative work" seems pretty clear to me when
applied to media such as audio, video, imaging, or source code, I find
it difficult to comprehend it when attempting to apply it to the idea
of written work (text), which is my main medium. Could any body
attempt to clarify the meaning of "derivative work" in such a context?
For instance, does the license cover the only text itself (the
encoding, so to speak), or does it cover the ideas it represents as
well (e.g if someone wrote a story based on a story of mine licensed
under by-sa, would he be bound by the terms of the license?) Would
some minor modification of the language, such as mere changes in
punctuation and wording, suffice for one to claim the resulting
version as "derivative work"? I like and believe in the idea of free
culture and the work the CC licenses are doing, and I would very much
like to be able to support it as much as I can, but I have thus far
felt obliged to limit myself to a by-nc-nd license when licensing
text, as I am none to sure what allowing derivation would entail.

Any light you might throw on the matter will be greatly appreciated,
S.M.
-- 
smassy AT sdf.lonestar.org