Difference between revisions of "4.0/NonCommercial"

From Creative Commons
Jump to: navigation, search
Line 2: Line 2:
  
 
<!-- provide a short summary of the issue below -->
 
<!-- provide a short summary of the issue below -->
The NonCommmercial (NC) term has for CC's entire history been more popular than ShareAlike and NoDerivatives, the other two optional terms in the CC license suite, though its popularity has slowly but steadily declined.<ref>[http://www.slideshare.net/mlinksva/the-definition-and-future-of-noncommercial ''The Definition and Future of NonCommercial], see chart on slide 8</ref> The term as it has appeared in all generic/international [[License versions|versions]] thus far (1.0,<ref>[http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/1.0/legalcode Attribution-NonCommercial 1.0]</ref> 2.0,<ref>[http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/legalcode Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0]</ref> 2.5,<ref>[http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.5/legalcode Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5]</ref> 3.0<ref>[http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/legalcode Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0]</ref>):
+
The NonCommmercial (NC) term has for CC's entire history been more popular than ShareAlike and NoDerivatives, the other two optional terms in the CC license suite, though its popularity has slowly but steadily declined.<ref>[[Global Summit 2011/The definition and future of noncommercial]], see chart on slide 8</ref> The term as it has appeared in all generic/international [[License versions|versions]] thus far (1.0,<ref>[http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/1.0/legalcode Attribution-NonCommercial 1.0]</ref> 2.0,<ref>[http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/legalcode Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0]</ref> 2.5,<ref>[http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.5/legalcode Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5]</ref> 3.0<ref>[http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/legalcode Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0]</ref>):
 
:''You may not exercise any of the rights granted to You in Section 3 above in any manner that is primarily intended for or directed toward commercial advantage or private monetary compensation. The exchange of the Work for other copyrighted works by means of digital file-sharing or otherwise shall not be considered to be intended for or directed toward commercial advantage or private monetary compensation, provided there is no payment of any monetary compensation in connection with the exchange of copyrighted works.'''
 
:''You may not exercise any of the rights granted to You in Section 3 above in any manner that is primarily intended for or directed toward commercial advantage or private monetary compensation. The exchange of the Work for other copyrighted works by means of digital file-sharing or otherwise shall not be considered to be intended for or directed toward commercial advantage or private monetary compensation, provided there is no payment of any monetary compensation in connection with the exchange of copyrighted works.'''
  
Line 10: Line 10:
 
Also in the CC license chooser, with the following question:<ref>[http://creativecommons.org/choose CC license chooser]</ref>
 
Also in the CC license chooser, with the following question:<ref>[http://creativecommons.org/choose CC license chooser]</ref>
 
:''Allow commercial uses of your work? ( ) Yes ( ) No''
 
:''Allow commercial uses of your work? ( ) Yes ( ) No''
 +
 +
In addition to much use, the NC term has attracted much discussion and criticism (see [[#Previous discussion|section below]]), on two grounds:
 +
# uncertainty as to whether particular uses fall in the scope of the term
 +
# works licensed using the term are not fully free/open and the attractiveness of the term, or of CC itself, could lead to under-use of fully open terms (i.e., CC0, CC BY, and CC BY-SA)
 +
 +
Several [[Case law|legal cases]] have involved works under CC licenses containing the NC term.
 +
 +
The popularity of the NC term, and debate around it, indicate that it is an important issue to examine rigorously, and get right (see the main [[4.0|4.0 page]] for context of overall goals) -- which could mean changes in the 4.0 suite, changes outside the licenses themselves, or retaining the exact language used thus far.
  
 
== Proposals for addressing in 4.0 ==
 
== Proposals for addressing in 4.0 ==
  
  
== Proposals for addressing outside license itself ==
+
== Proposals for addressing outside the licenses ==
  
  
 
== 4.0-related discussion ==
 
== 4.0-related discussion ==
  
 +
* [[Global Summit 2011/The definition and future of noncommercial]] presented some very high level history, consideration, and options for NC in the 4.0 suite.
  
 
== Previous discussion ==
 
== Previous discussion ==
  
 +
* [[Defining Noncommercial|Defining “Noncommercial”: A Study of How the Online Population Understands “Noncommercial Use”]] was published September 14, 2009
  
 
==Notes==
 
==Notes==
 
<references/>
 
<references/>

Revision as of 04:22, 3 November 2011

This page presented an issue for consideration in the CC license suite 4.0 versioning process. The discussions have now concluded with the publication of the 4.0 licenses, and the information on this page is now kept as an archive of previous discussions. The primary forum for issues relating to the 4.0 versioning process was the CC license discuss email list. You may subscribe to contribute to any continuing post-launch discussions, such as those surrounding compatibility and license translation. The wiki has been populated with links to relevant email threads from the mailing list where applicable, and other topics for discussion were raised in the 4.0/Sandbox. See the 4.0 page for more about the process.

The NonCommmercial (NC) term has for CC's entire history been more popular than ShareAlike and NoDerivatives, the other two optional terms in the CC license suite, though its popularity has slowly but steadily declined.[1] The term as it has appeared in all generic/international versions thus far (1.0,[2] 2.0,[3] 2.5,[4] 3.0[5]):

You may not exercise any of the rights granted to You in Section 3 above in any manner that is primarily intended for or directed toward commercial advantage or private monetary compensation. The exchange of the Work for other copyrighted works by means of digital file-sharing or otherwise shall not be considered to be intended for or directed toward commercial advantage or private monetary compensation, provided there is no payment of any monetary compensation in connection with the exchange of copyrighted works.'

This is reflected on NC license deeds as:[6]

Noncommercial — You may not use this work for commercial purposes.

Also in the CC license chooser, with the following question:[7]

Allow commercial uses of your work? ( ) Yes ( ) No

In addition to much use, the NC term has attracted much discussion and criticism (see section below), on two grounds:

  1. uncertainty as to whether particular uses fall in the scope of the term
  2. works licensed using the term are not fully free/open and the attractiveness of the term, or of CC itself, could lead to under-use of fully open terms (i.e., CC0, CC BY, and CC BY-SA)

Several legal cases have involved works under CC licenses containing the NC term.

The popularity of the NC term, and debate around it, indicate that it is an important issue to examine rigorously, and get right (see the main 4.0 page for context of overall goals) -- which could mean changes in the 4.0 suite, changes outside the licenses themselves, or retaining the exact language used thus far.

Proposals for addressing in 4.0

Proposals for addressing outside the licenses

4.0-related discussion

Previous discussion

Notes