Copyleft of Text

English Open Chat
1

I am looking for a copyleft license that will guarantee a Share-Alike property (similar to Creative Commons) with attribution being optional.

The only copyleft license that I know of for books/articles is the Creative Commons. However, the reason I don’t like the CC is that all their licenses require attribution. [They have CC-BY-SA, but not CC-SA.]

Does anyone know of a copyleft license that would be the equivalent of CC-SA?!

I am also concerned about license compatibility. I want a license that will not make my work unusable by being incompatible with popular licenses.

Also, as a philosophical question: Why does CC require attribution in all their licenses, and not make it an option similar to how SA is an option?

2

On Fri, 20 Apr 2018 20:06:02 +0000, zaidgs wrote:

> I am looking for a copyleft license that will guarantee a Share-Alike
> property (similar to Creative Commons) with attribution being optional.

If attribution is optional, then it seems you can’t guarantee a Share-
Alike behaviour, since if attribution is optional, there’s no need to
include the license (after all, who would verify it?)

So Public Domain might be what you’re looking for.

> The only copyleft license that I know of for books/articles is the
> Creative Commons. However, the reason I don’t like the CC is that all
> their licenses require attribution. [They have, CC-BY-SA, but not
> CC-SA.]
>
> Does anyone know of a copyleft license that would be the equivalent of
> CC-SA?!

If CC-SA meets your needs, then why not just use that?

> I am also concerned about license compatibility. I want a license that
> will not make my work unusable by being incompatible with popular
> licenses.

Well, CC licenses tend to be pretty compatible with the popular
licenses. But it sounds like you need a lawyer to help you understand
the legal aspects of the various licenses.

> Also, as a philosophical question: Why does CC require attribution in
> all their licenses, and not make it an option similar to how SA is an
> option?

You’d have to ask someone at Creative Commons about that.

Jim

Jim Henderson
openSUSE Forums Administrator
Forum Use Terms & Conditions at http://tinyurl.com/openSUSE-T-C

3

The reason for attribution is that it has long been considered good manners to say where you stole/copied an idea from. So people tend to take attribution as a given.
Conversely, a number of politicians have lost their jobs because they did not attribute ideas in their theses to the people who first wrote them. You can only prove that someone is falsely passing off an idea as their own if you can attribute it to someone else.

4

CC-SA is non-existent. There is a CC-BY-SA license. Which is why I am looking for a license that is equivalent to CC-SA (that could be imagined by analogy).

5

I understand. However, I strongly believe that “good manners” should not be legally enforced through the license. After all, copyleft is about guaranteeing people’s rights, not enforcing rules of etiquette, and I think mandatory attribution reduces people’s freedoms.

6

On Fri, 20 Apr 2018 21:26:01 +0000, zaidgs wrote:

> john_hudson;2863335 Wrote:
>> The reason for attribution is that it has long been considered good
>> manners to say where you stole/copied an idea from. So people tend to
>> take attribution as a given.
>> Conversely, a number of politicians have lost their jobs because they
>> did not attribute ideas in their theses to the people who first wrote
>> them. You can only prove that someone is falsely passing off an idea as
>> their own if you can attribute it to someone else.
>
> I understand. However, I strongly believe that “good manners” should not
> be legally enforced through the license.

Well, then making it public domain would be the best option IMHO.

Jim

–
Jim Henderson
openSUSE Forums Administrator
Forum Use Terms & Conditions at http://tinyurl.com/openSUSE-T-C

7

On Fri, 20 Apr 2018 21:26:01 +0000, zaidgs wrote:

> hendersj;2863331 Wrote:
>> >
>> > Does anyone know of a copyleft license that would be the equivalent
>> > of CC-SA?!
>>
>> If CC-SA meets your needs, then why not just use that?
>
> CC-SA is non-existent. There is a CC-BY-SA license. Which is why I am
> looking for a license that is equivalent to CC-SA (that could be
> imagined by analogy).

As I said elsewhere, then - if attribution isn’t important to you, then
you really don’t care about the actual copyright, so “public domain”
gives those who want to reuse what you’ve created the most flexibility.

Jim

Jim Henderson
openSUSE Forums Administrator
Forum Use Terms & Conditions at http://tinyurl.com/openSUSE-T-C

8

This goes to the difference between GPL and BSD style licensing. Public domain means anyone can use the text, without having to share back.

I don’t want attribution, but I want the Share-Alike feature.

9

On Sat, 21 Apr 2018 01:46:01 +0000, zaidgs wrote:

> hendersj;2863342 Wrote:
>> As I said elsewhere, then - if attribution isn’t important to you, then
>> you really don’t care about the actual copyright, so “public domain”
>> gives those who want to reuse what you’ve created the most flexibility.
> This goes to the difference between GPL and BSD style licensing. Public
> domain means anyone can use the text, without having to share back.
>
> I don’t want attribution, but I want the Share-Alike feature.

https://creativecommons.org/2004/05/25/
announcingandexplainingournew20licenses/ explains the removal of the non-
attribution version, but it does say:

“Important to remember: Attribution can always be disavowed upon licensor
request, and pseudonymous and anonymous authorship are always options for
a licensor, as before.”

As the owner of the material in question, you can always add that back in.

But to understand how that interacts with other licenses, you’ll want to
consult with an actual lawyer.

Jim

Jim Henderson
openSUSE Forums Administrator
Forum Use Terms & Conditions at http://tinyurl.com/openSUSE-T-C