[okfn-discuss] Fwd: [open-linguistics] Options for licenses

Mon Mar 12 15:33:35 UTC 2012

Menzo Windhouwer" <Menzo.Windhouwer at mpi.nl>:
> Being back I was looking at the license of the various data sets we've in the Typological Database System (TDS). Soon these will be available under the Open Access policy of the DANS archive (see http://www.dans.knaw.nl/en/content/data-archive/terms-and-conditions). However, these won't directly allow one to republish the data or make derivative works. Releasing (some of) the sets on a Create Commons license with attribution could be an option. But possibly No-Derivatives would also be needed to prevent the data set from modification and misattribution.

I'm not sure what "misattribution" means, but the attribution term
present in all CC licenses is fairly comprehensive. A desire to make
correct attribution a legal requirement for use of a work does NOT
require NoDerivatives. http://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/26549
has some details.

> However, that would prevent someone to turn it into triples even while the content stays the same. One would need some kind of license that keep content and attribution intact but allows for new representations. Does someone know of such a license or has any other examples of licenses more suitable for databases?

Given the above, I hope you consider an OKD-compliant license.
However, if for some reason you decide to use ND,
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/legalcode does include

"The above rights may be exercised in all media and formats whether
now known or hereafter devised. The above rights include the right to
make such modifications as are technically necessary to exercise the
rights in other media and formats, but otherwise you have no rights to
make Adaptations."

Whether triplefiction would be covered, I have no idea. This
uncertainty would be another reason to release under OKD-compliant
terms. :)

You could of course do the work of converting into triples and
whatever other formats, then others don't need your permission to
convert. Then you run into the issue of integration with whatever
datasets and other works might be useful. Yet another reason...

--
http://wiki.creativecommons.org/User:Mike_Linksvayer