Development of Creative Commons licenses

[Anthony <osm AT inbox.org>]

On Mon, Apr 23, 2012 at 3:21 PM, Rob Myers <rob AT robmyers.org> wrote:
> IANAL but I don't see why a condition of copying a work cannot be that
> it not be part of a collection of character X, or even that it cannot be
> distributed alongside work of character X. It's a condition, like a
> dollar rate.

Because we can't predict the future.  At the time of copying, we might
not know whether or not the work is ever going to be part off a
collection of character X.  A condition is a restriction which is
imposed on the copying, at the time of the copying.  To impose a
restriction, at the time of copying, on the ultimate distribution as
part of a collection, would require a contractual promise, not a
license condition.

You can try to get around this by disallowing copying which is
"primarily intended for or directed toward" being part of a collection
of character X.  But that would leave quite a few loopholes, would
make things difficult to objectively judge, and might not even work in
the first place.