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