Development of Creative Commons licenses

["Mike Linksvayer" <ml AT creativecommons.org>]

On 1/17/08, Jordan S Hatcher <jordan AT opencontentlawyer.com> wrote:
> I posted some comments on the current draft and implementation up on
> my site:
>
> <http://www.opencontentlawyer.com/2008/01/16/dissecting-cczero/>

Many thanks for the detailed feedback. I'm just going to follow up on
one item now because it was my fault/suggestion, but we (meaning
not-me legal CC) will either follow up with or use your other
points...

> The major points:
>
> -- (Just a note/comment) this is based on US law and isn't an
> 'unported' version. Is the unported template for internationalization
> the Science Commons protocol?
> -- Waiver of moral rights and the conversation we've been having
> about CC v3.01
> -- There is no sign up process like the current public domain
> dedication -- Why not? I'd think that a 'signed writing' would be
> needed or at least desired. Does this process fit that requirement?
> If not, do you think some email process should be there?

I have no idea what qualifies as 'signed writing', so please educate
me, but I proposed this change internally because the email
verification doesn't verify anything -- any email address can be
provided and clicked through -- it is no different than just clicking
through another web form. The intention is for the confirmation form
to be scarier than it is now to warn people off, but we didn't have
time to flesh that out by the 15th (which was our self-imposed
deadline for opening for public feedback). That is definitely coming
(and the same language should presumably be used in an email
confirmation, if that is the rubber chicken that is legally required).

So clicking a link in email is no different than clicking a link on a
web page (I say!:)), but the latter is far superior in the context of
a license chooser integrated with another site, which is how lots of
people choose a CC license, and probably will choose CC0.

Finally, going through the PD dedication, license chooser, or CC0
chooser doesn't actually dedicate, license, or waive anything. That
requires actually publishing the code provided on a web page or pages
you control. *That* is the step that is (logically, in my mind anyway)
equivalent to signing something. It is a distinct choice, and if you
don't do it, nothing is effected.

Thanks again and in advance,
Mike

> -- Are patents and trademarks included in the waiver? If not,
> shouldn't they be specifically excluded as the text of the waiver is
> fairly broad? If they are, why? It isn't required as part of the
> protocol.
> -- Is there really a need to waive claims of unfair competition and
> privacy when you are explicitly giving commercial enterprises and
> others the right to use your work?
> -- Does the legal code intend to cover database rights?  If so, I
> suggest wording that tracks the directive closely.
> -- The human readable summary of the waiver doesn't include moral
> rights or database rights. This should probably be adjusted to match
> both the sign up process and the legal code.
>
> Thanks!
>
> ~Jordan
>
>
> On 16 Jan 2008, at 03:20, Mike Linksvayer wrote:
>
> > CC0[http://creativecommons.org/projects/cczero] is a Creative Commons
> > project designed to promote and protect the public domain by 1)
> > enabling
> > authors to easily waive their copyrights in particular works and to
> > communicate that waiver to others, and 2) providing a means by which
> > any person can assert that there are no copyrights in a particular
> > work,
> > in a way that allows others to judge the reliability of that
> > assertion.
> >
> > As announced[http://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/7920] on CC's
> > 5th anniversary, today we are announcing a beta of the CC0 user
> > interface[http://labs.creativecommons.org/license/zero] and technical
> > specification[http://wiki.creativecommons.org/
> > CCZero_Technical_Overview]
> > and discussion drafts of the CC0 legal tools:
> >
> > The CC0
> > Waiver[http://labs.creativecommons.org/licenses/zero-waive/1.0/us/]
> > will enable the author or owner of a work to affirm the copyright and
> > related or neighboring legal rights that he or she has in a work, and
> > then to fully, permanently and irrevocably waive those rights. By
> > making
> > this waiver, the Affirmer effectively dedicates all copyright or
> > related
> > legal interests he or she held in the work to the public domain – "no
> > rights reserved". The CC0 Waiver (United States) will be an effective
> > legal tool within the US and any other jurisdictions with equivalent
> > law. It also will also be offered as a template indicating the scope
> > of most of the rights that must be covered in other jurisdictions in
> > order to effect an equivalent dedication to the public domain. Some
> > jurisdictions may need to address additional rights, for example "sui
> > generis" database rights and specific rights to data.
> >
> > The CC0
> > Assertion[http://labs.creativecommons.org/licenses/zero-assert/1.0/
> > us/]
> > will provide a means by which any person may assert that there are no
> > copyrights in a work, within a system that permits others to judge the
> > reliability of the assertion, based on the Asserter's identity and
> > other
> > information the Asserter may provide. The CC0 Assertion (United
> > States)
> > is intended to address copyright status under US law. The Assertion
> > may
> > not be appropriate for Works created in or whose copyright status is
> > governed by the law of other jurisdictions.
> >
> > Internationalization
> >
> > As with our existing core legal tools (six licenses ranging from
> > Attribution to Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives), we want
> > the CC0
> > waiver and assertion legal tools to be valid worldwide and eventually
> > ported to many jurisdictions worldwide to take into account the
> > nuances
> > of copyright law in those jurisdictions. Our strategy and schedule for
> > accomplishing these goals will be based on feedback from our
> > international
> > project[http://creativecommons.org/international] jurisdiction leads,
> > who are responsible for the same process for our existing tools.
> >
> > Norms
> >
> > One of the use cases for CC0 is the Protocol for Implementing Open
> > Access
> > Data[http://sciencecommons.org/projects/publishing/open-access-data-
> > protocol/],
> > also
> > announced[http://sciencecommons.org/weblog/archives/2007/12/16/
> > announcing-protocol-for-oa-data/]
> > in conjunction with CC's 5th birthday. In addition to fulfilling the
> > protocol's legal requirements, the CC0 technical infrastructure
> > will also
> > support the assertion of non-legal community norms in conjunction with
> > a work, beginning with the norm of citation in the context of science.
> >
> > Discussion
> >
> > Feedback on the legal tools should be directed to the cc-licenses
> > mailing list. Only subscribers may post and the list is moderated
> > so that off-topic posts do not burden subscribers. To join go to
> > http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/cc-licenses
> >
> > Similarly, technology feedback should be directed to
> > http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/cc-devel
> >
> > General comments may be directed to
> > http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/cc-community
> >
> > These discussions will be summarized at
> > http://wiki.creativecommons.org/CCZero_Feedback
> >
> > Deployment
> >
> > The CC0 beta and drafts referenced above are only intended to be
> > used for
> > testing and feedback. The beta/discussion period will last a
> > minimum of
> > one month and most likely include several incremental betas and
> > drafts,
> > depending on community feedback.
> >
> > If your organization plans significant support for CC0 upon its
> > release
> > for production use, please contact press AT creativecommons.org
> > concerning
> > potential coordination.
> > _______________________________________________
> > cc-licenses mailing list
> > cc-licenses AT lists.ibiblio.org
> > http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/cc-licenses
>
> ____
> Mr. Jordan S Hatcher, JD, LLM
>
> jordan at opencontentlawyer dot com
> OC Blog: http://opencontentlawyer.com
> IP/IT Blog: http://twitchgamer.net
>
> Open Data Commons
> <http://opendatacommons.org>
>
> Usage of Creative Commons by cultural heritage organisations
> http://www.eduserv.org.uk/foundation/studies/cc2007
>
>
>
>
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