Cc-uk mailing list

["Tsiavos,P" <P.Tsiavos AT lse.ac.uk>]

I absolutely agree with Rob on the issue of an expansion of the SA clause so 
as to allow interoperability with FDL licences. 

We had this discussion when trying to draft a common licence with the BBC-CA 
group and have rejected such a solution for a number of reasons:
-       It dilutes the Freedoms of the CC-BY-SA as it introduces restrictions 
not contained in the body of the licence
-       For the same reason, it misleads the user of such a licence, since 
the terms and conditions of the FDL are not contained in the commons deed and 
remain opaque for someone licensing her work under a CC (FDL compatible work)

Even if the FDL would contain an equivalent provision, it would not solve any 
of the problems. It would rather lead to a black hole phenomenon in the sense 
that in the ecology of licences would be seriously disturbed: the most 
restrictive licences would eventually prevail. (see the BBC-SA discussion in 
this list)

The issue of complexity is not really solved with such a clause either. On 
the contrary it is intensified: if my CC licence interoperates with a series 
of other free/ open content licences and as such my derivative works can be 
licensed under their terms and conditions, it is not clear under exactly 
which terms and conditions the derivative works are licensed. 

Again as Rob has highlighted, there is a good reason why there is a range of 
licences out there. If a creator wants to go for a dual licensing solution, 
she is by all means able to do so even under the existing versions of the 
licences. Since licences are non exclusive I can always license my work under 
both a CC-BY-SA and an FDL licence. Whether and under which circumstances 
such a scheme would make sense is a different story all together, but at 
least through such a solution I am the one that makes the choice and not the 
CC on my behalf.

I will make the same points to Larry and Mia as well. 

Btw, is there anyone having a different view on this issue?

Best,
pRodromos