From c09d63a0678c7a2fcce3ef302537c4545cf08f22 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Eric Mill Date: Sun, 26 Jan 2014 23:28:05 -0500 Subject: [PATCH 1/3] Explicitly recommend license-free options such as CC0, clarify the difference between licenses and public domain dedications, and link to best practices and guidance from civil society. --- license-examples.md | 16 ++++++++++++---- 1 file changed, 12 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-) diff --git a/license-examples.md b/license-examples.md index 73a218c8..145dc6ea 100644 --- a/license-examples.md +++ b/license-examples.md @@ -5,21 +5,29 @@ permalink: /license-examples/ filename: license-examples.md --- -This section offers usable examples of open licenses for potential use by agencies. +This section offers usable examples of open licenses and public domain dedications for potential use by agencies. ## Generally -Data and content created by government employees within the scope of their employment are not subject to domestic copyright protection under 17 U.S.C. § 105. When purchasing data or content from third-party vendors, however care must be taken to ensure the information is not hindered by a restrictive, non-open license. In general, such licenses should comply with [the open knowledge definition](http://opendefinition.org/okd/) of an open license. Several examples of common open licenses are listed below: +Data and content created by government employees within the scope of their employment are not subject to domestic copyright protection under 17 U.S.C. § 105. When purchasing data or content from third-party vendors, however care must be taken to ensure the information is not hindered by a restrictive, non-open license. + +Agencies should strongly consider making their data entirely license-free, using a worldwide public domain dedication such as [CC0](http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/). See this [guidance on making government data license-free](http://theunitedstates.io/licensing/) for best practices language, examples, and rationale. + +When using a license, in general such licenses should comply with [the Open Knowledge definition](http://opendefinition.org/okd/) of an open license. + +Several examples of common public domain dedications and open licenses are listed below: + +## Public Domain Dedications +* [Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication](http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) (CC0) ## Content Licenses -* [Creative Commons BY, BY-SA, or CC0](http://creativecommons.org/choose/) +* [Creative Commons BY, BY-SA](http://creativecommons.org/choose/) * [GNU Free Documentation License](http://www.gnu.org/licenses/fdl-1.3.en.html) ## Data Licenses * [Open Data Commons Public Domain Dedication and Licence (PDDL)](http://opendefinition.org/licenses/odc-pddl) * [Open Data Commons Attribution License](http://opendatacommons.org/licenses/by/) * [Open Data Commons Open Database License (ODbL)](http://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/) -* [Creative Commons CC0 Public Domain Dedication](http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) ## More Information *[Extended list of conformant licenses](http://opendefinition.org/licenses/)* From 2f5e0127f3eabdf144d1f1088f3c4a65b660fcd4 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Joshua Tauberer Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2014 08:46:57 -0500 Subject: [PATCH 2/3] a little more waxing on use of the public domain Also moving the PDDL up from a data license to a public domain dedication. --- license-examples.md | 21 ++++++++++++++------- 1 file changed, 14 insertions(+), 7 deletions(-) diff --git a/license-examples.md b/license-examples.md index 145dc6ea..ff64addb 100644 --- a/license-examples.md +++ b/license-examples.md @@ -9,23 +9,30 @@ This section offers usable examples of open licenses and public domain dedicatio ## Generally -Data and content created by government employees within the scope of their employment are not subject to domestic copyright protection under 17 U.S.C. § 105. When purchasing data or content from third-party vendors, however care must be taken to ensure the information is not hindered by a restrictive, non-open license. +The open data memorandum, [M-13-13](/policy-memo/), states that federal government data must be open. The "[reusable](/principles/)" principle states that data is open if, at a minimum, it is available under an [open license](/licenses/). -Agencies should strongly consider making their data entirely license-free, using a worldwide public domain dedication such as [CC0](http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/). See this [guidance on making government data license-free](http://theunitedstates.io/licensing/) for best practices language, examples, and rationale. +Data and content created by government employees within the scope of their employment are not subject to domestic copyright protection according to 17 U.S.C. § 105. These works cannot be openly licensed because they are already in the public domain, at least domestically. International copyright may still apply. -When using a license, in general such licenses should comply with [the Open Knowledge definition](http://opendefinition.org/okd/) of an open license. +When acquiring data or content from third-parties, however, care must be taken to ensure use of the work by the public is possible and not restricted by a non-open copyright license. While an [open license](/licenses/), as defined by [M-13-13](/policy-memo/), is now a minimum requirement, agencies should strongly consider making this data "license-free," i.e. in the public domain, along with the works created by the agency itself. + +A worldwide public domain dedication such as [CC0](http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) is recommended by a coalition of non-governmental organizations in this [guidance on making government data license-free](http://theunitedstates.io/licensing/), which includes best practices language, examples, and rationale. + +When using a license instead, in general such licenses should comply with [the Open Knowledge definition](http://opendefinition.org/okd/) of an open license. Several examples of common public domain dedications and open licenses are listed below: ## Public Domain Dedications -* [Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication](http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) (CC0) -## Content Licenses +Public domain dedications are suitable for both content and data: + +* [Creative Commons CC0 Public Domain Dedication](http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) +* [Open Data Commons Public Domain Dedication and Licence (PDDL)](http://opendefinition.org/licenses/odc-pddl) + +## Open Licenses for Content * [Creative Commons BY, BY-SA](http://creativecommons.org/choose/) * [GNU Free Documentation License](http://www.gnu.org/licenses/fdl-1.3.en.html) -## Data Licenses -* [Open Data Commons Public Domain Dedication and Licence (PDDL)](http://opendefinition.org/licenses/odc-pddl) +## Open Licenses for Data * [Open Data Commons Attribution License](http://opendatacommons.org/licenses/by/) * [Open Data Commons Open Database License (ODbL)](http://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/) From 5adf56edca5675f0b456f45c80ffc7caba45b3aa Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Eric Mill Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2014 12:04:58 -0500 Subject: [PATCH 3/3] real world --- license-examples.md | 2 +- 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-) diff --git a/license-examples.md b/license-examples.md index ff64addb..57304361 100644 --- a/license-examples.md +++ b/license-examples.md @@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ Data and content created by government employees within the scope of their emplo When acquiring data or content from third-parties, however, care must be taken to ensure use of the work by the public is possible and not restricted by a non-open copyright license. While an [open license](/licenses/), as defined by [M-13-13](/policy-memo/), is now a minimum requirement, agencies should strongly consider making this data "license-free," i.e. in the public domain, along with the works created by the agency itself. -A worldwide public domain dedication such as [CC0](http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) is recommended by a coalition of non-governmental organizations in this [guidance on making government data license-free](http://theunitedstates.io/licensing/), which includes best practices language, examples, and rationale. +A worldwide public domain dedication such as [CC0](http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) is recommended by a coalition of non-governmental organizations in this [guidance on making government data license-free](http://theunitedstates.io/licensing/), which includes best practices language, real world government examples, and rationale. When using a license instead, in general such licenses should comply with [the Open Knowledge definition](http://opendefinition.org/okd/) of an open license.