[OpenDesign] question on the definition scope

Wed Nov 14 17:00:49 UTC 2012

Hi everyone. Great debate here!

I agree with Tom and Peter about the important difference between Intellectual Property (copyright) and Industrial Property (patents). 

An interesting thing to bear in mind is that "freedom" and "openness" don't mean the same, and that they can be applied in a different way at different parts of the design process.

For example, in graphic design I could share a FINISHED artwork (in raster format, etc.) with a CC license, which would make it more or less "free". But that wouldn't make it "open" as in "open source" unless I also applied the basic freedoms to the "source" and distributed the SOURCE (files, specifications or score) under similar conditions. So "open design" can be also a matter of degree, not just "open" but also "more or less open".

Another example: If an industrial designer wanted to free/open the design of a machine, he could release the plans, digital files and specifications (which would be the "source" of the finished object) under CC license, but... would that be enough to keep the design itself free and prevent anyone else from applying a patent on it? Can copyleft secure concept/design/invention openness?

I also agree with Tom that before getting into messy license-related details, we should have a clear view of the different "types" of design and the ways they relate to freedom/openness. It could be useful to compare them looking at their whole creative process and see where it makes more sense to apply both principles.

Just to add some more "juice" to the thread: Attached you can find a schematic diagram comparing different processes (from left to right: software, graphics/video/music, research, object/machine/building design. It's part of a "sort of amateur" research I started some months ago trying to understand all these things. Here's also a related article (in Spanish, sorry) about this kind of comparative study: Comparing freedom in different processes. A model applicable to case study [http://sociarq.net/es/2012/04/comparar-procesos-por-su-grado-de-libertad/].

/Jorge

El vie, 9 de nov 2012 a las 1:16 ,Rob Myers <rob at robmyers.org> escribió: 
On 11/08/2012 11:53 PM, Dr. Peter Troxler wrote: 
> 
> Like 'I'm not going to sue you except if you pretend to be me' 

As a statement of values this is good. As a statement of intent regarding individual works it is best embodied as a license for clarity and confidence. 

- Rob. 

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