RE: Peggy Hoon on licenses

[Sandy Thatcher <sandy.thatcher@alumni.princeton.edu>]

I don't have any answer to offer, Peggy. I think the 
disagreements you report here are probably pretty common.

Here is another example. What if an author includes a CC-licensed 
article in a book that is posted online for free in order to 
induce sales of a print edition? Is the online use 
"noncommercial" because no fee is charged for accessing the 
online version but "commercial" in the print edition that is for 
sale?

Does every use in a Gold OA publication become, ipso facto, 
"noncommercial" because the work is free to the end user? 
Wouldn't authors expect some kind of monetary benefit from use of 
their material in a Gold OA publication that is making money for 
its publisher? Down the line we may find the use of this CC 
license has given away the store!  Gold OA publishers will be 
delighted to get this windfall.

Sandy Thatcher


>That is a good question, Sandy.  Often in licenses for 
>electronic resources for university libraries, there is a 
>prohibition against "commercial" use by the authorized users. 
>It is likely that authorized users will read these resources and 
>perhaps use quotes or fair use portions in their own scholarly 
>article that may go on to be publisher by clearly "commercial" 
>publishers.  So how literal should we take that prohibition? 
>Is that faculty's use "commercial" or "noncommercial".  I've 
>been in other groups where the definition of "commercial" was 
>argued heatedly - where half the group thought that charging 
>only for cost recovery was noncommercial and the other thought 
>that any exchange of money, was commercial, even if there was no 
>profit.
>
>So I'm as interested as you are.  How would you explain the
>difference?
>
>Best, Peggy
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: owner-liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu on behalf of Sandy
>Thatcher
>Sent: Wed 3/2/2011 5:54 PM
>To: liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu
>Subject: RE: Peggy Hoon on licenses
>
>While I agree about the general utility of CC licenses, I wish 
>someone could explain to me what the difference between 
>"commercial" and "noncommercial" use is. The CC itself conducted 
>a survey a couple of years ago and found little consensus beyond 
>a very small core of shared understanding of what the 
>distinction connotes. This is not just a philosophical concern, 
>since very real practical consequences depend on knowing the 
>difference as it applies to various publishing ventures.
>
>Sandy Thatcher