[okfn-discuss] PSI click to CC-BY-SA compatibility

Thu Jul 2 17:07:47 UTC 2009

My understanding of the PSI licence is that it is much more 
restrictive than CC-BY-SA. In particular, it requires copies to be 
verbatim and does not license some commercial uses. I suspect it would 
be very difficult to roll over PSI licensed works into CC-BY-SA 
licences without major concessions by the OPSI.

It would be less of a challenge to make them compatible with 
CC-BY-NC-ND, but that would defeat the purpose of compatibility with 
Wikimedia, from what I understand.

I'm no expert in the PSI licence however, so feel free to correct any 
misunderstandings here.

Cheers,
Andy

Rufus Pollock wrote:
> 2009/7/2 Joseph Seddon<joseph.seddon at wikimedia.org.uk>:
>> Heya guys,
>>
>> This is my first post to the list :) Hope we can have some great successes
>> with WMUK and OKFN working together :)
>>
>> I wanted to ask whether UK PSI click use content is compatible and easily
>> convertible to a CC-BY-SA license.
>
> My basic feeling is: yes. See:
>
> <http://www.opendefinition.org/licenses/ukpsi>
>
> The only issue would be a) the fact you must get a click-use license
> (it would be preferable if this were automatic -- and I think they are
> moving that way ...) b) the obligations under section 9 (which are
> reproduced at above link). These are generally innocuous and focused
> on you not "passing" your derivative material off as official (which
> is sort of similar to the provisions in the CC licenses).
>
> However niggling items like 9.4 (reproduce Material accurately from
> the current Official Source except where you make it clear that there
> is a more up to date version available;) could, possibly, be
> problematic re CC by-sa.
>
> In summary: in spirit the answer would seem a definite yes.
>
> In practice likely also yes though one may have to check about those
> pesky section 9 items
>
>> One of the directors at Wikimedia UK had a meeting with Richard Stirling
>> from the cabinet office about crown copyright and we are currently lobbying
>> them to ensure that PSI licensed content is useable on wikimedia projects.
>> This particularly revoles around the compatibility with CCBYSA. Not only
>> will this benefit us, but everyone, in and out of the UK.
>
> Good stuff. The major issue to lobby on, if any, are those clauses in section 9.
>
> Rufus
>
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-- 
Andy Kaplan-Myrth, M.A., LL.B.
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