Development of Creative Commons licenses

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

On Tuesday 24 April 2007 12:02 pm, Joachim Durchholz wrote:
> James Grimmelmann schrieb:
> > Are there examples of significant legal disputes that have arisen out of
> > disagreements about the use of freeware?  I would think that exactitide
> > of license doesn't matter so much.
>
> Well... imagine a company with a mindset that's similar to SCO.
> All that's needed is a history similar to SCO's: the old business model
> falters, new management desperately tries to find sources of income,
> reputation is irrelevant since the end is inevitable anyway, so we can
> sue anybody with impunity and hope that it will work often enough to
> drag on another year.
>
> > Or perhaps I am wrong, and there are big legal fights over freeware that
> > better licenses could have solved?
>
> I'm not aware of any.
> Of course, only SCO had the nerve to sue a heavyweight like IBM.

SCO did not sue over freeware though,it was over Free Software.
>
> > The use of CC licenses for software is discouraged (for reasons already
> > noted).
>
> I must have overlooked these.
> Care to give a short list?
>
>  > But you can apply a CC license to software.  For freeware,
> >
> > BY-ND seems fairly decent.  Anyone can use the free version; commercial
> > intermediaries can make some money distibuting it conveniently; no one
> > can make money off of it.  IF you take the freeware business model as
> > given, and IF you're not worried about getting the license exactly
> > right, BY-ND seems like a perfectly fine license.

Sure people can make money from ND licensed works. What angle are you 
thinking 
of when you say they can't?

I do agree that BY-ND seems to fit freeware quite well at first glance.
>
> Well, getting the license exactly right would definitely be something
> I'd want.
>  From the perspective of the licensee, that is; the licensor couldn't
> care less. Maybe that's another reason why such a license hasn't been
> drawn up yet.
>
> Regards,
> Jo

all the best,

drew

-- 
(da idea man)