[Open-access] [open-science] Open Science Anthology published

[Mike Taylor]

On 24 January 2014 12:19, Pierre-Carl Langlais
<pierrecarl.langlais at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hmm… This specification of CC-BY seems to create some kind of viral
> mechanism : « No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or
> technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the
> license permits. » Not adding any restrictions beyond what the license
> permits = cannot republish under stricter terms (which certainly includes
> copyright).

Ha! You are quite right.

So does that mean that Elsevier is actually in contravention of the CC
By licence when they offer copies of CC By papers for a fee via
RightsLink? Probably not, given that they have (in nearly all cases)
coerced the author into signing copyright over to them. Under those
circumstances, of course, Elsevier (being the copyright holder) is at
liberty to distribute copies under other terms as well as CC By. But
if they obtained the paper by downloading a copy from elsewhere under
CC By, they would be in breach by doing so.

So my understanding of the distinction between CC By and CC By-SA is
now that the former is viral only with respect to COPIES of the
document so licenced, whereas the latter is also viral with respect to
derivative works.

-- Mike.