CC0/creative commons' new public domain license

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hugh
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Post by hugh »

CC0 is a Creative Commons project designed to promote and protect the public domain by 1) enabling authors to easily waive their copyrights in particular works and to communicate that waiver to others, and 2) providing a means by which any person can assert that there are no copyrights in a particular work, in a way that allows others to judge the reliability of that assertion...
see:
http://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/7978
Cori
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Post by Cori »

I wish it were called something different. I know that might sound a bit petty, but we frequently have discussions here where a "Creative Commons" licence is used to describe a copyright situation where *some* legal rights are retained, and it's just down to the exact licence as to what's kept and what's freed. (Which is in comparison to a "Commercial Copyright" -- the standard / default thing under one's own country's law.)

Having to explain "Creative Commons Public Domain" is just going to be messy. Since the ENTIRE legal spiel reads:
The person who has associated a work with this document (the "Work") asserts that he or she (the "Asserter") has taken reasonable steps to verify the copyright status of the Work under US law.

The Asserter hereby asserts that to the best of her or his knowledge, there are no copyrights in connection with the Work (the "Assertion").

The Asserter understands and acknowledges that her or his good faith efforts to verify the copyright status of the Work may not shield the Asserter from claims of liability arising from the Assertion.

The Asserter understands and acknowledges that Creative Commons is not a party to the Assertion and has no duty or obligation with respect to the Assertion or use of the Work.
which can be summarised to:
The person who has associated a work with this document hereby asserts that there are no copyright interests in the work.
... why not just call it Public Domain and have done with it.

That's my own LV-ish view. Overall, it's pretty cool that they're adding a restriction-free option and I hope it's taken up enthusiastically.
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hugh
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Post by hugh »

well they have a creative commons "dedication to the public domain" but there are legal questions as to how sound that license is. for instance, some people have asked whether it is even possible under US law to unilaterally *decide* that you wish to put your work into the public domain (to which, I say, oh, bah) .... but anyway, this DRAFT license is in answer to that, i believe.
Stephan
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Post by Stephan »

people have asked whether it is even possible under US law to unilaterally *decide* that you wish to put your work into the public domain
Exactly. In german law for instance it isn't. You may not donate ALL your rights from a work to the public, even if you wish. No "public domain" in Germany.
That's why pdsounds.org (spin off librivox site) is floating in a legal grey area, because it resides on a german server. If someone later decides that the sound he uploaded to pdsounds.org is still his and claim it, he could do so.
Such a CC-license, mimicking true "public domain" can help. I am very interested in a german law version of it.
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