Development of Creative Commons licenses

[James Grimmelmann <james AT grimmelmann.net>]

drew Roberts wrote:
> On Wednesday 25 April 2007 10:12 pm, Terry Hancock wrote:
>> You can always give up more rights in a work.
> 
> A bit of a general question. We may have touched on this years ago but my 
> memory is fuzzy.
> 
> This is from BY-SA 3.0
> 
> 8.e. "This License constitutes the entire agreement between the parties 
> with 
> respect to the Work licensed here. There are no understandings, agreements 
> or 
> representations with respect to the Work not specified here. Licensor shall 
> not be bound by any additional provisions that may appear in any 
> communication from You. This License may not be modified without the mutual 
> written agreement of the Licensor and You."
> 
> With this clause in a license, is it safe for someone to rely on any other 
> assurances from the copyright holder?

Someone relying on other assurances should check for three things:
(1) A written record (e.g. web page snapshot, saved email, letter)
(2) The other assurance should mention the CC license and say that it
supplements it
(3) The other assurance should be made after the CC license.

If you meet those three conditions, the quoted language shouldn't, I
hope, come back to bite you.  It's what's called an "integration
clause," and under U.S. law, those clauses eliminate all side deals made
prior to the main deal.  Deals you make later override the original one.

Other assurances not meeting these conditions could still be
enforceable, but it might be riskier.

This is not legal advice.

James