Development of Creative Commons licenses

["Kevin Phillips (home)" <tacet AT qmpublishing.com>]

I should probably respond to Terry's challenge more directly, though I'm
arriving at the party a little late :)  I just subscribed to the lists just
recently, and have done my fair share of back-scrolling! ...so now I know
what at least what IANAL means......

Anyway, I just wanted to make a couple of points about the NC licenses.    I
think rather than us all go cross-eyed staring at graphs charting complex
social trends and try to analyse or second guess "the public" and what they
will eventually deem "common", there's another angle to this.

You want me to prove NC licenses work, and you want empirical evidence of
levels of "work".  I'm pretty sure that's an impossible ask right now.  The
licenses are too young, and the masses are too enchanted by their drm'd
gadgets to notice the wheels and pulleys of the develish restrictions
imposed.  It's going to change though, and already consumers are becoming
more vocal about restrictions and fair use.  So don't expect a sea change
just yet......

I digress.   I just wanted to point out that I think you guys need to think
not about the "public" outcome, but tip the whole question on it's head and
think about the "artists" and hobbyists like me.  NC licenses will only
"work" as long as I choose to release my stuff under NC, so what is it about
this license which is attractive to me, now and in future?

Many folks choose NC because it removes the worry (paranoia?) of having your
work nicked by some quick-buck music producer who rebrands your work and
sells it to a Brazilian label for kicks.  It's a money issue in reverse.  In
accepting you're not going to make money, you want to damned well make sure
nobody else can.  This may be a simplistic view of the license, but
honestly, it's a popular one.  You need look no further than 90s rap music
to understand this point of view, and particularly famous court cases which
had obscure and often impoverished musicians square upto big producers who
refused to share their spoils.

So, my point?  There is a hidden value in NC licenses which could ultimately
motivate artists to choose them, so it could be incorrect to assume positive
return is the only driving force to success (of a license).  It could well
be that future use of NC licenses grows in a defensive response to
commercial interest, particularly as the community gains more exposure and
stomps on the wrong toes.

As for real-world measurements of my observations :
http://ccmixter.org/media/view/media/extras/stats
....check out how many folks choose NC licenses.

I'd say ccMixter is a thriving NC-community.

Kevin (aka tacet :: ccMixter)