[open-bibliography] A 4 star classification-scheme for open cultural meta-data

[Karen Coyle]

In law, licenses formalize an agreement. Since we can't get formal  
agreements (generally) in our massive online communication, I see CC  
and other online licenses mainly as a way to INFORM users of our  
desires. When I see a CC license I immediately know that this is  
someone who wants their stuff used; someone who isn't going to sue me  
if I quote them heavily or use their materials in a classroom; that  
they aren't going to pull a "disney". It is easier for me as a user of  
materials to have this information than to NOT have it. If there is no  
license, then I have to assume that all of the restrictions of the  
copyright law apply, and that there is very little that I can safely  
do with the material.

I see licenses as a great improvement over no licenses, since the  
latter automatically puts the materials into the copyright law  
context, whether the creators intend that or not.

Note that the "CC people" do indeed see copyright law as flawed, and  
in fact Lessig has tried (and I think now given up) to reform  
copyright law. CC was developed as a way to keep copyright law from  
restricting use of the net.

kc

Quoting William Waites <ww at styx.org>:

> * [2011-06-06 10:52:59 +0100] MJ Ray <mjr at phonecoop.coop> écrit:
>
> ] A 4 star classification-scheme sounds like a bad idea, rewarding people
> ] for things which aren't quite open enough, like CC-ND licences still let
> ] people claim that they are part of the creative commons, even though a
> ] fenced look-but-don't-touch area isn't really part of a commons.
>
> This is my main criticism of CC - they are a copyright promotion
> organisation and don't see copyright law as fundamentally flawed.
>
> OKF would do well to remember this when talking about open licenses -
> in an ideal world we wouldn't need them, but since we don't live in an
> ideal world we need to use open licenses to protect ourselves.
>
> -w
> --
> William Waites                <mailto:ww at styx.org>
> http://river.styx.org/ww/        <sip:ww at styx.org>
> F4B3 39BF E775 CF42 0BAB  3DF0 BE40 A6DF B06F FD45
>
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Karen Coyle
kcoyle at kcoyle.net http://kcoyle.net
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