Development of Creative Commons licenses

[Sarah Pearson <sarah AT creativecommons.org>]

This is the first of several discussion prompts we will be sending about one-way compatibility from BY-SA 4.0 to GPLv3. This particular email addresses the source requirement in GPL and how it would work if one-way compatibility is declared.

As many have pointed out on this list over the last several days, the GPL requires that works be distributed with source or that source be made available (with “source” being the preferred form for making modifications to the work).

BY-SA does not impose a similar requirement. Instead, BY-SA licensors are free to distribute their works in any format, whether or not modifiable.

If one-way compatibility is declared, this will not change.  No new obligations would be imposed under the BY-SA license, either upon the original licensor or any downstream adapter who wishes to license their contributions under the GPL instead of BY-SA. This is the BY-SA side of the equation.  

On the GPL side, those who adapt BY-SA works and choose to license their contributions under the GPL would, however, still have to comply with the GPL obligation to distribute or make available the work in the preferred form for making modifications. If a particular adapter cannot do this because she never received modifiable format from the BY-SA licensor and/or cannot convert the content to modifiable format, then that person would not be able to take advantage of the one-way compatibility declaration and use the GPL. This is our understanding of how one-way compatibility will operate from the GPL side of the equation, though it is ultimately a matter for FSF to opine on formally as GPL's steward.

Assuming this is the right interpretation, the next question is what actually constitutes the preferred form for making modifications for works other than software (musical recordings, text, photos, etc.). This is not as simple of a question for content as it is for software. The answer will ultimately depend once again on FSF's interpretation as steward.

We have been in touch with FSF about obtaining a formal pronouncement on these issues, and we look forward to hearing from them during this process on this list. In the meantime, we look forward to hearing more from all of you about how you think these issues might play out in practice.

best,
CC Legal