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This document defines "Free Cultural Works" as works or expressions which can be freely studied, applied, copied and/or modified, by anyone, for any purpose. It also describes certain permissible restrictions that respect or protect these essential freedoms. The definition distinguishes between ''free works'', and ''[[licenses|free licenses]]'' which can be used to legally protect the status of a free work. The definition itself is ''not'' a license; it is a tool to determine whether a work or license should be considered "free."
This document defines "Free Cultural Works" as works or expressions which can be freely studied, applied, copied and/or modified, by anyone, for any purpose. It also describes certain permissible restrictions that respect or protect these essential freedoms. The definition distinguishes between ''free works'', and ''[[licenses|free licenses]]'' which can be used to legally protect the status of a free work. The definition itself is ''not'' a license; it is a tool to determine whether a work or license should be considered "free."


== Preamble ==
Satnds back from the keyboard in amazement! Thanks!
 
Social and technological advances make it possible for a growing part of humanity to ''access, create, modify, publish and distribute'' various kinds of works - artworks, scientific and educational materials, software, articles - in short: ''anything that can be represented in digital form''. Many communities have formed to exercise those new possibilities and create a wealth of collectively re-usable works.
 
Most authors, whatever their field of activity, whatever their amateur or professional status, have a genuine interest in favoring an ecosystem where works can be spread, re-used and derived in creative ways. The easier it is to re-use and derive works, the richer our cultures become.
 
To ensure the graceful functioning of this ecosystem, works of authorship should be '''free''', and by ''freedom'' we mean:
* the '''freedom to use''' the work and enjoy the benefits of using it
* the '''freedom to study''' the work and to apply knowledge acquired from it
* the '''freedom to make and redistribute copies''', in whole or in part, of the information or expression
* the '''freedom to make changes and improvements''', and to distribute derivative works
 
These freedoms should be available to anyone, anywhere, anytime. They should not be restricted by the context in which the work is used. Creativity is the act of using an existing resource in a way that had not been envisioned before.
 
In most countries however, these freedoms are not enforced but suppressed by the laws commonly named ''copyright laws''. They consider authors as god-like creators and give them an exclusive monopoly as to how "their content" can be re-used. This monopoly impedes the flourishing of culture, and it does not even help the economic situation of authors so much as it protects the business model of the most powerful publishing companies.
 
In spite of those laws, authors can make their works free by choosing among a vast array of legal documents known as [[w:license|free licenses]]. For an author, choosing to put his work under a ''free license'' does not mean that he loses all his rights, but it gives to anyone the freedoms listed above.
 
It is important that any work that claims to be free provides, practically and without any risk, the aforementioned freedoms. This is why we hereafter give a precise '''definition of freedom''' for licenses and for works of authorship.


== Identifying Free Cultural Works ==
== Identifying Free Cultural Works ==
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Licenses are legal instruments through which the owner of certain legal rights may transfer these rights to third parties. Free Culture Licenses do not take any rights away -- they are always optional to accept, and if accepted, they grant freedoms which copyright law alone does not provide. When accepted, they never limit or reduce existing exemptions in copyright laws.
Licenses are legal instruments through which the owner of certain legal rights may transfer these rights to third parties. Free Culture Licenses do not take any rights away -- they are always optional to accept, and if accepted, they grant freedoms which copyright law alone does not provide. When accepted, they never limit or reduce existing exemptions in copyright laws.


=== Essential freedoms ===
Touchdown! That's a really cool way of putntig it!
 
In order to be recognized as "free" under this definition, a license must grant the following freedoms without limitation:
 
* '''The freedom to use and perform the work:''' The licensee must be allowed to make any use, private or public, of the work. For kinds of works where it is relevant, this freedom should include all derived uses ("related rights") such as performing or interpreting the work. There must be no exception regarding, for example, political or religious considerations.
* '''The freedom to study the work and apply the information:''' The licensee must be allowed to examine the work and to use the knowledge gained from the work in any way. The license may not, for example, restrict "reverse engineering".
* '''The freedom to redistribute copies:''' Copies may be sold, swapped or given away for free, as part of a larger work, a collection, or independently. There must be no limit on the amount of information that can be copied. There must also not be any limit on who can copy the information or on where the information can be copied.
* '''The freedom to distribute derivative works:''' In order to give everyone the ability to improve upon a work, the license must not limit the freedom to distribute a modified version (or, for physical works, a work somehow derived from the original),  regardless of the intent and purpose of such modifications. However, some restrictions may be applied to protect these essential freedoms or the attribution of authors (see below).


=== Permissible restrictions ===
=== Permissible restrictions ===
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{{divbox|gray|Stabiilne versioon|See on definitsiooni satabiilne versioon '''1.0'''. Versiooni number suureneb vastavalt definitsiooni arengule. Selle definitsiooni (ingliskeelne) redigeeritav versioon: [[Definition/Unstable]]. Vaata [[authoring process]] saamaks täiendavat infot ning kui soovid lisada tõlke teise keelde siis vaata [[translations|tõlked]].}}
{{divbox|gray|Stabiilne versioon|See on definitsiooni satabiilne versioon '''1.0'''. Versiooni number suureneb vastavalt definitsiooni arengule. Selle definitsiooni (ingliskeelne) redigeeritav versioon: [[Definition/Unstable]]. Vaata [[authoring process]] saamaks täiendavat infot ning kui soovid lisada tõlke teise keelde siis vaata [[translations|tõlked]].}}


== Kokkuvõte ==
That's not just the best answer. It's the bessett answer!
 
Käesolev dokument defineerib "vabad kultuuriteosed" kui teosed või väljendusvormid, mida võib vabalt uurida, rakendada, kopeerida ja/või muuta igaühe poolt ning misiganes eesmärgil. Samtu kirjeldatakse teatavaid lubatavaid piiranguid, mis respekteerivad või kaitsevad neid põhivabadusi. Definitsioon eristab ''vabu teoseid'' ''[[licenses|vabadest litsentsidest]]'', mida võib kasutada vabade teoste staatuse õiguslikuks kaitseks. Definitsioon ise ''ei ole'' litsents; ta on vahend määratlemaks kas konkreetne teos või litsents on "vaba".


== Preambula ==
== Preambula ==
Please note that all contributions to Definition of Free Cultural Works are considered to be released under the Attribution 2.5 (see Definition of Free Cultural Works:Copyrights for details). If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly and redistributed at will, then do not submit it here.
You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource. Do not submit copyrighted work without permission!

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