Version 1.1 of the definition has been released. Please help updating it, contribute translations, and help us with the design of logos and buttons to identify free cultural works and licenses!

User talk:Mercury merlin

From Definition of Free Cultural Works
Revision as of 19:32, 5 November 2006 by Mercury merlin (talk | contribs) (moved to user sub-page)
Jump to navigation Jump to search
The printable version is no longer supported and may have rendering errors. Please update your browser bookmarks and please use the default browser print function instead.


A modest proposal

for the preservation of the moral rights of authors and the public over creative content.

Common domain

Creative content of any kind shall attract the following moral rights:

Right of attribution

An author's right of attribution, not transferable under any circumstance, neither to be sold on nor otherwise disposed of.

Right to assert share-alike

At the sole discretion of the author, a moral right of share-alike may be asserted over the content, which shall apply to the contents and derivatives of the content in perpetuity. Creative content protected by share-alike under Right to assert share-alike shall be ineligible for registration of copygrant under Registration of copygrant privilege which shall not be applicable to the content.

Registration of copygrant privilege

The original author of creative content, or the author of derivative content based on existing content itself subject only to attribution according to Right of attribution and not share-alike according to Right to assert share-alike, may register the content for copygrant privilege, at the sole discretion of the author of the content.

Duration of copygrant privilege

The duration of copygrant shall be determined by statute from time to time as necessary. In no circumstances shall this duration exceed one human generation, in no circumstances shall an increase in this duration apply retrospectively to existing works already registered under Registration of copygrant privilege at the time of the increase in duration. In all circumstances shorter durations should be preferred.

Conditions for copygrant privilege

To qualify for copygrant, the content must be registered by the deposition of a full and complete copy of the content with an independent guarantor, as shall be regulated by statute from time to time. Under no circumstances shall an official government or quasi-governmental organisation be appointed or permitted to stand guarantor for copygrant.

Deposition and retrieval

Internet-based deposition and retrieval shall be preferred to facilitate the cheap and efficient operation of copygrant registration.

Source material

Registration of copygrant shall be valid if and only if full supporting source material (the preferred form of supply of the content in which copygrant is claimed for the modification of that content) is also deposited with the guarantor, such that an exact identical duplicate of the content for which copygrant is claimed may be generated by the guarantor from the source material using only additional tools available from Common domain content.

Source material not required

Any source material not required under Source material and not provided by the author shall be deemed a trade-secret not covered herein except as expressly stated in Trade-secret material.

Trade-secret material

Making public, distributing, or otherwise disseminating creative material deemed as trade-secret under Source material not required shall constitute a criminal offence.

Expiry of copygrant privilege

At the expiry of copygrant under Registration of copygrant privilege the original author may at their sole discretion choose from the following options:

Right to extend copygrant privilege at first expiry

At the first expiry of copygrant under Registration of copygrant privilege that privilege may be extended for the same duration as originally granted, by notifying the guarantor of the author's wish to extend the privilege. This shall be permissible once only and no second or subsequent extension shall be permitted.

Right to assert share-alike at expiry of copygrant privilege

At the first or subsequent expiry of copygrant under Registration of copygrant privilege the original author may at their sole discretion assert a moral right of share-alike over the content according to the provisions of Right to assert share-alike.

Reversion to attribution-only at expiry of copygrant privilege

At the first or subsequent expiry of copygrant under Registration of copygrant privilege, if neither the provisions of Right to extend copygrant privilege at first expiry nor the provisions of Right to assert share-alike at expiry of copygrant privilege have taken effect, then the content shall revert to the moral right of attribution only, according to the provisions of Right of attribution.

Derivative content created from existing content

Further contributors to a creative work itself subject only to the provisions of Right of attribution may at their sole discretion choose from the following options:

Right to assert share-alike for derivative content

At the sole discretion of the derivative author, a moral right of share-alike may be asserted over the derivative content, according to the provisions of Right to assert share-alike.

Registration of copygrant privilege for derivative content

At the sole discretion of the derivative author, the derivative content may be registered for copygrant privilege according to the provisions of Registration of copygrant privilege.

Reversion to attribution-only for derivative content

If neither the provisions of Right to assert share-alike for derivative content nor the provisions of Registration of copygrant privilege for derivative content have taken effect, then the content shall revert to the moral right of attribution only, according to the provisions of Right of attribution.

Non-commercial fair use

Non-commercial copying, duplication, derivative modification, or redistribution of any creative content (except as expressly forbidden under section Trade-secret material), for any purpose, shall be deemed expressly permitted fair-use, under all circumstances exempt from and notwithstanding any registration of copygrant under Registration of copygrant privilege.

Digital restrictions

The production, sale, or distribution of any device, algorithm, or other means intended to forcibly prevent the copying, duplication, derivative modification, or redistribution of any creative content shall constitute a criminal offence.

Plagiarism

Making public, disseminating, or otherwise redistributing creative content or derivatives of creative content without attribution or with intentionally false attribution, against the provisions required under section Right of attribution shall constitute a criminal offence.

Commentary on ' a modest proposal'

For this piece I was thinking about the way all content is automatically restricted by default under present law, requiring the contortions of copyleft to allow authors the option to make content and derivatives of content they have produced free and unrestricted in the sense used by Freedom defined.

A modest proposal is an attempt to envisage a regime where all content was unrestricted by default, where any restrictions could only exist for a strictly limited time and where original authors retained the final say on disposition of the content after that time (through a non-transferable right of attribution), and also where original authors had the option available to declare content they produced forever common under permanent share-alike.

There is a little more unsaid, and further commentary I should make to explain why some of the provisions are written in the way they are. Perhaps I can also create a specific page for it within my user-space on the site for now, as well, to keep it by itself?

The overall intent of the proposal should be clear enough, however.