[FC-discuss] Enforcing one's entitlements

[Crosbie Fitch]

> From: Steve Foerster
> I suppose I'm used to thinking of SA as being an issue in that it 
> prevents derivative works that consist of material from two or more 
> incompatible licenses.  This is turning out to be a big 
> problem for us 
> in the open educational resources movement because it means that, for 
> example, a project using BY-SA can't use the GFDL material from 
> Wikipedia.  (But that's obviously a different issue.)

This is why a specific licence is not necessarily the best thing for free
culture. If you insist on using a licence, well yes, then CC-SA is probably
one of the most appropriate (through recognition if nothing else).

It's really a GPL imitation, but transplanted from a culture with an
intensely legal/logical mindset (programmers love logical devices) to a more
'human' (less Vulcan) culture where the publishers' lawyers take care of
such complex issues.

If you want the full free culture (no non-commercial conditions, etc.) then
really you just need to make it clear to your audience that you won't
prosecute them for copyright infringement. You can't prevent copyright
attaching to your work or its derivatives, so rather than let anyone else
abuse it, you have to keep it (unless you can dedicate it to some
philanthropic organisation specially set up to receive it).

Here are a couple of laisser faire licences or avowals that I've come up
with along these lines:

1) A Free Culture declaration
This is a work of free culture. It respects all artists equally: those whose
work I build upon, myself, and those who build upon my work. I hope some day
you'll join us.
(See http://lists.okfn.org/pipermail/fc-uk-discuss/2006-April/000906.html )

2) The Libertarian Licence
You are free to take any liberties you wish with my published work, with but
one constraint: The liberties you take may not be withheld from those to
whom you give my work (or your combined/derivative work), who you must
similarly constrain.

(see http://www.digitalproductions.co.uk/index.php?id=54 ).