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  • From: Mike Linksvayer <ml AT creativecommons.org>
  • To: commons-research AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Commons-research] Defining "Noncommercial:" A Survey of How the Online Population Defines "Noncommercial" Use
  • Date: Mon, 14 Sep 2009 08:18:01 -0700

Announced at http://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/17127

Hopefully some people on this list will find the study interesting and
build upon, build around, supersede, or even debunk :-) the research.

FWIW here's a copy of a brief section on ideas for future research:

The findings from this study suggest many possible areas for further research.

First, this study points out one use scenario that users consider less
commercial than creators – that regarding the noncommerciality of
personal or private use. Subsequent research could investigate the
basis for this difference, including whether this difference is a
cause or effect of the “copy fights,” beginning with Napster1 over
file sharing in which no money changes hands.

Another area for additional research derives from the reality that the
empirical research in this study was limited to the U.S. online
population. This research project, or its relevant parts, could be
replicated in other jurisdictions. It would be particularly
interesting to know whether and how attitudes toward noncommercial use
correlate with the variations in license adoption patterns observed
across jurisdictions with “ported” licenses.2 Data from this study
could also be used to inform models of license adoption3 and rules for
economics laboratory experiments. Relatedly, the (non-random)
qualitative research performed in both Phase 2 (creators) and Phase 3
(users) was used primarily to inform development of the questionnaires
underlying the empirical analysis. That data, together with the
(non-random) CCFF data, deserve further analysis in their own right.
For example, the data could be analyzed for hints as to whether
significant variations in understanding of noncommercial use exist
across jurisdictions or regions.

Further research on the meaning of noncommercial could also be bounded
not just by geography, but by specific communities and classes, e.g.,
collecting society members, lawyers, humanities scholars, remixers,
and file sharers. As indicated in Section 2 of this Report, the
original vision for the study included a more in-depth exploration of
the different perceptions and understandings of various content
communities. However, it was concluded that individual, separate
studies devoted to particular content communities and industries
should be conducted if the research were to provide meaningful
results, which CC’s resources did not permit. Studies of the
variations between and within different content communities could add
valuably to the understandings of licensor and licensee expectations
regarding noncommercial use of content found online.

Another potentially valuable area of research would be the gathering
of field data on the use and impact of using NC licenses, non NC
licenses, or no licenses, supported by further research into how
understandings of and attitudes toward noncommercial use affect the
use of each licensing strategy. This might include attempting to
measure empirically the non monetary, societal benefits of allowing
commercial, as opposed to noncommercial, uses of works, such as in the
educational and scientific arenas, and conversely, the adverse
consequences or missed opportunities that result from use of a NC
license in those same arenas and others.

Finally, similar research could be conducted as to understandings of
other key CC license terms – attribution, derivative use, and “share
alike” derivative use – as well as other key legal and normative
concepts that help shape the digital economy, including understandings
of copyright, fair use, and the public domain.



  • [Commons-research] Defining "Noncommercial:" A Survey of How the Online Population Defines "Noncommercial" Use, Mike Linksvayer, 09/14/2009

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