[PGCanada] Licensing for PG-Canada content

Jon Noring jon at noring.name
Fri Jan 28 08:03:10 PST 2005


Andrew Sly wrote:
> Darryl Moore wrote:

>> I'll open this discussion by suggesting a cc|ca licence option (1)
>> attribution
>>
>> http://creativecommons.ca/index.php?p=explained
>>
>> I.E. anyone can do anything they want so long as they attribute PGC as
>> the source.

> I know that some people have expressed their concern over the PG
> license. However, I don't believe it should be discarded out of
> hand.
>
> A key point is that it does _not_ claim any copyright on the
> text itself and only restricts what can be done with the text
> as long as it is done along with the Project Gutenberg trademark.
> This helps to end the self-perpetuating new claims of copyright
> on old material that is so prevalent.

Can't the CC|CA license option be tweaked to cover the special needs
of PGCan and which conforms with Canadian copyright law?


> I have a problem with releasing PG Canada e-books under an
> Attribution license that says we can:
>    let others copy, distribute, display, and perform
>    [our] copyrighted work - and derivative works based upon it -
>    but only if they give [us] credit.
>
> If we own the copyright to an item, we are entitled
> to say that; but as long it truly is public domain material,
> we don't have a right to impose such restrictions on it.
> We could _request_ to be acknowledged as a source, but I don't
> see that we could require it.

Again, I'd get with the CC|CA folk to ask for some new category/
approach/wording to fit PGCan's special needs. Even though most of the
works will derive from PD sources (but not all of the works -- for the
rest, such as modern donated works, CC|CA is a must), there are
portions of what PGCan issues which will automatically be copyrighted
by the "born copyrighted" principle.

Standing back and looking at the Bigger Picture, I believe it a Very
Good Idea (tm) for any PG country group to not go it alone when it
doesn't have to (as PGUSA seems to do for just about everything under
the sun.) And for PGCan to tie itself to the key movements such as
Creative Commons which wish for positive copyright reform not only is
a very good idea, it is a smart political move to gain friends and
influence (for example, consider asking someone from the CC|CA group
to serve on the PGCan Board of Trustees.) PGUSA could have been a lot
more powerful in influencing public policy (which would then have
gained it greater prominence, leading to more stable core funding and
greater results) had it not been so strangely xenophobic the last
decade with its "Everyone is out to screw us and the Public Domain, so
we must go it alone in everything we do" philosophy. It is sad.

So PGCan, being a new entity with no baggage, is well-positioned to
not repeat the same mistakes of the past and to take the leading
world-wide role in copyright reform issues and the protection of the
Public Domain. Grab the ring! Want to influence Canadian copyright
policy?, then work with CC on wording that works for PGCan and which
is also in conformance with Canadian copyright law. Don't go it alone
here unless it proves necessary to do so.

Just my $0.02 worth.

Jon Noring




More information about the PGCanada mailing list