Hello,

I am enthusiatic about the idea of copyleft, and on the whole, I like
the Design Science License, but there is one small issue concering the
application of the DSL that I find somewhat problematic.

In Section 3 of the Design Science License, it states that
distribution of the Object Form of a work under the DSL requires that
"a copy of this License is distributed along with the Work."  In many
cases, it is easy to include a copy of the license with the Work, for
example when distributing a copy online, or when distributing a
full-length book.  However, there are cases where it would be hard to
distribute a copy of the License with a Work.

An example I've been involved with directly is the following: I and
several other students in activist groups at New York University are
considering using copyleft with material we create.  A good deal of
our material, such as fact sheets, flyers, and short articles, are
very short, in many cases no more than a single page.  If you're
printing out a large number of copies - in many cases more than 100 -
of a 1-page document, it's cumbersome to attach a 3-page license to
each copy (especially if you are using a 1-side photocopier).  I can
envision a similar problem with off-line copies of pictures, or
printed material not substantially longer than the DSL itself.

In cases like these, I suggest that instead of requiring that a full
license be attached, the DSL should state that the Work may instead
list an URL where the License may be read.  The copyleft notice plus
URLs for the License and Source Data could fit on one or two lines of
text, which does not take up too much room on a 1-page document or at
the bottom of an image.

Joel Schlosberg



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