Development of Creative Commons licenses

[James Grimmelmann <james AT grimmelmann.net>]

Terry Hancock wrote:
> What licensing limitations exist with respect to derivations made via
> sampling of "CC Sampling" or "CC Sampling Plus" licenses?
> 
> I'm seeing apparent contradictions between the "deed" promises and the
> actual wording of the license.
> 
> Here is the language (from version 1.0) that appears to grant the right
> to use samples.
> 
> However, it seems to be quite vague on the subject of how the license
> affects the use of sampled works. Note that it permits you to "create
> and reproduce" derivative works, but it doesn't say what terms can apply
> to them. For example, it would seem intuitive that one could re-license
> sampled works under other licenses (if not, the effect would be
> remarkably confining).


Why would there be any restrictions on the terms one could use to
relicense?  I don't see any hook in the language that could be read to
imply restrictions on licensing terms.  The quoted language grants
permission to engage in every single one of the exclusive rights of a
copyright holder that might apply to a derivative work.  Sure, it
includes some restrictions in 3(a)(i) and (3)(a)(ii), but those
restrictions involve the transformativeness of the derivative, not what
conditions (or lack) the licensee puts on the derivative works.

James