I asked this question (who defines "non-commercial"?) at least three or four years ago, and it's been floating out there ever since. So I am extremely glad to see that it is being addressed. "Developments in technology, social practices, and business models are pressing the question of what should count as a commercial use" for sure, although it has actually been a pressing question since the ancient analog age. Clients and licensors, museums and artists' copyright societies, have always had differing ideas of what "commercial use" means.
Amalyah Keshet Head of Image Resources & Copyright Management The Israel Museum, Jerusalem -----Original Message----- From: read20-l at lists.panix.com [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Peter Brantley Sent: Friday, September 19, 2008 7:17 PM To: Read20 List Subject: [read20-l] what does commercial mean sometimes asking simple questions unveils hard and important distinctions. millions of works are now inscribed with the creative common's NC (non commercial) tag - but what does that mean, and what are we intending by that? CC launches a study. (n.b.: virginia rutledge is on this list). http://creativecommons.org/press-releases/entry/9554 "The study has direct relevance to Creative Commons' mission of providing free, flexible copyright licenses that are easy to understand and simple to use," said Creative Commons CEO Joi Ito. "The NC term is a popular option for creators choosing a Creative Commons license, and that tells us the term meets a need. However, as exponentially increasing numbers of works are made available under CC licenses, we want to provide additional information for creators about the contexts in which the NC term may further or impede their intentions with respect to the works they choose to share, and we want to make sure that users clearly understand those intentions. We expect the study findings will help us do a better job of explaining the licenses and to improve them, where possible. We also hope the findings, which will be made publicly available, will contribute to better understanding of some of the complexities of digital distribution of content." "Developments in technology, social practices, and business models are pressing the question of what should count as a commercial use," explained Creative Commons Special Counsel Virginia Rutledge, who is leading the study. "The answer to that question should come from creators, who should be able to specify what uses they want to permit, subject to the limitations and exceptions to copyright or other applicable law. Creative Commons is fortunate to have a stellar group of legal, public policy, and information technology experts advising on this project, as well as the help of its extensive international network of affiliates." Research is expected to be completed early in 2009. The study will investigate understanding of noncommercial use and the Creative Commons NC license term through a random sample survey of online content creators in the U.S., a poll of the global Creative Commons community, and qualitative data gathered from interviews with thought leaders and focus groups with participants from around the world who create and use a wide variety of content and media. ________________________________________ read20-l : sponsored by Panix in New York City
