discussion of the Creative Commons Metadata work

[Evan Prodromou <evan AT wikitravel.org>]

I'm looking for some comments and suggestions on assigning creator and
contributor roles in CC metadata.

I see three strategies for doing this:

A) The creator of the work being described is always the "creator",
   and anyone else whose work is incorporated is a "contributor".

B) Creators of original works are always the "creator", and creators
   of derivative works are always the "contributor".

C) "creator" and "contributor" roles are assigned based on the
   relative importance of the contribution.

Some scenarios:

1. Alice writes a HOWTO for Creative Commons metadata. Bob corrects
   some spelling errors.

   A) creator = Bob, contributor = Alice
   B) creator = Alice, contributor = Bob
   C) creator = Alice, contributor = Bob

2. Charlie writes a short story about two people in love. Diane makes
   a movie using the plot, characters, and some of the dialogue from
   Charlie's story.

   A) creator = Diane, contributor = Charlie
   B) creator = Charlie, contributor = Diane
   C) creator = Diane, contributor = Charlie

3. Evan records a song on acoustic guitar, and Frank adds a bass line
   and some effects.

   A) creator = Frank, contributor = Evan
   B) creator = Evan, contributor = Frank
   C) creator = Evan, contributor = Frank

4. Greta records a drum solo, and Harry records a song on kazoo. Ivan
   makes a mash-up of the two songs.

   A) creator = Ivan, contributor = Greta, Harry
   B) creator =  Greta, Harry, contributor = Ivan
   C) [Judgement call]

5. Jerry starts a new page on a wiki with two sentences. Kevin adds a
   sentence, and Larry adds two more. Martha writes 14 paragraphs,
   refactoring the work of the previous three. Neil fixes some
   spelling mistakes.

   A) creator = Neil, contributor = Jerry, Kevin, Larry, Martha
   B) creator = Jerry, contributor = Kevin, Larry, Martha, Neil
   C) creator = Martha, contributor = Jerry, Kevin, Larry, Neil

6. Oprah writes a blog entry giving instructions on how to install a
   particular Linux module. Perry writes a step-by-step HOWTO based on
   the information in Oprah's entry.

   A) creator = Perry, contributor = Oprah
   B) creator = Oprah, contributor = Perry
   C) creator = Perry, contributor = Oprah

Any ideas, comments, suggestions?

~ESP

-- 
Evan Prodromou <evan AT wikitravel.org>
Wikitravel - http://www.wikitravel.org/
The free, complete, up-to-date and reliable world-wide travel guide