[freeroleplay] Free Content Definition

[Samuel Penn]

On Wednesday 07 June 2006 13:23, Ricardo Gladwell wrote:
> Hi Sam,
>
> I appreciate you thoughts and comments. Please let me know what your
> overall impression of the definition is. If you have any ideas for the
> problems I raised in my original email I would be most grateful.

Original email was a quickie whilst I was at work.

It seems reasonable enough, though any real problems are due to the
breadth of what you're trying to define. Something like a statue, which
is very difficult to replicate, is very different from a piece of text.

Source might be construed as any plans or moulds used in the original
construction of physical objects, though whether these would normally
be kept I don't know.

The really important point for physical works is probably number 2 -
the ability to study the work and reproduce/adapt it. This is basically
saying you can take photos of it, measure it, film it etc, so even if
you can't make a real copy of it, you can reproduce it in other forms.

Hmm... could you enforce a GPL-like license in this case? I'm aware
of a story about the filming of (I think) Batman, were at the last
minute some architect sued them for filming next to some building
he'd designed, because he wouldn't allow them to use shots of that
building in their film. He got money because there wasn't time to go
to court. I don't know how well such restrictions would really hold
up in court.

If they can be enforced (you shall not publish a photo of my statue),
if you GPL'd the statue, could you force a GPL-like license on any
photos?

> > As for the corrolary to 2, does forcing the highest quality
> > image to be available put a restriction on web servers?
>
> Please note that the corollary for Source 2 does not actually require
> the highest quality, only a quality "equivalent" to the published work.
> The wording here is probably unclear though and I should certainly tidy
> this up.

Okay, I misread that (you do say *preferably* the quality of the original,
but only require the quality of the work).


Overall, it looks good though. Trying to tie it down too much to plug
any holes will probably do more harm than good by over complicating,
so I wouldn't worry too much about whether it could be abused.

-- 
Be seeing you,                         http://www.glendale.org.uk
Sam.                        
              IM: samuel.penn at jabber.org or samuel.penn at gmail.com