PROPOSITION -- FUTURE DISTRIBUTION OF THREADS CREATIVE RIGHTS

[Gordon Olmstead-Dean]

Introduction: As we wind towards a finale, I am personally concerned with securing the legacy and free use of the Threads Material for any future authors, including anyone on this list, who wish to use it.  I think that becomes especially important over time as the existence of a "central continuity" fades and even the ability to contact the people who were the final officers becomes difficult.  With that in mind I'd like to clarify our Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.  I think to be fair, and honestly to avoid fights, it is important to allow individual authors to redact material if they so choose. My feeling is that creating an orderly way for this to happen (rather than simply asserting the license) will tend to discourage argument and the redaction of materials that is principally on the grounds of "I don't feel I was consulted, I feel I was under-appreciated four years ago, etc."  Despite the initial license, I do not feel that we do a service to future GMs by passing along material that carries with it strong bad feelings or feelings of ownership, so I've outlined a sane plan to allow individuals to redact content.  That will also allow for the review and redaction of any material that ought not be archived such as already copyrighted material, or incidental material.

Under the rules of Procedure this will pass automatically if it is seconded and not formally opposed before 9pm on Thursday the 7th

http://wiki.threadsofdamocles.org/index.php?title=Rules_of_Procedure#Calling_a_Vote_on_a_Issue_that_has_been_Formally_Opposed

PROPOSITION

Whereas: it has been the intention since the outset of the Threads shared Universe Project that the content be available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.

Whereas: this has been referenced on numerous occasions, but it is not possible to determine if all writers and contributors were at all times aware of it.

Whereas: it is important to move ahead with making the materials available generally with no perception that the consent or special negotiation with any individual person is required to make use of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.

Proposed:

The successful passage of this Proposition confirms the existing group policy that all material produced for Threads and not otherwise already under copyright is available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.

The Writer's Wiki will be made public to read no later than April 1, 2013

The Wiki is already public to read.  The organizational structure documents are a part of the value of the Threads Project and ought to be made available as a model.

The FTP site and Google Docs will be made public to read no later than April 1, 2013

The contents of the Admin and Writers Lists pertain to the production group and will not be made public as they do not represent creative content but management discussion

This supersedes any other licensure expressed by any individual author, though it does not purport to supersede any legal copyrights held by non-participants in the Threads Project

"Writer" is defined as having been subscribed to the Threads Writers list at any point from project start to present, as this indicates an intent, at the time of subscription to be a contributor to the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike project.

Redaction:

It is possible that individual authors may wish to redact content either because

* Whatever their original feelings they now feel that their relationship to the project or anyone who might make use of it in the future is compromised

* They are aware that material they included is copyrighted elsewhere and it was used in a noncommercial private setting for entertainment, but cannot be reproduced

* They were not aware of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike project and wish to use the material for commercial purposes in the future

* The material is not creative content but was accidentally included in the archive

There will be a redaction period from April 1, 2013 through September 1, 2013.  During this period any author may object to the inclusion of their material, by posting to the writer's list or to the Managing Director or Ombudsman in E-mail.  Any request for redaction will be posted to the main Writer's List in case anyone would like to dispute authorship.

The Managing Director will make final decisions on the validity of any request for redaction by Oct 1, 2013.  Request for redaction must include URL/FTP, and an exact description of content. Viable reasons for denial of a request for redaction are:

* The material is not principally or significantly created by the author who requested redaction

* The material is core material which was produced by an original author who was certainly aware of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike ruling (for example, Gordon)

* Failure to clarify a vague assertion "all my stuff about China."  

Authors may of course seek legal remedy if they choose.

Material that is redacted will be withdrawn completely.  At the discretion of the Managing Director, a document with a "contact X for more possible information about...." may be included in the final distribution.

An effort will be made to make as much as possible an archive of the Threads material.  This archive will be maintained by the current group using proceeds from the Finale, through at least Dec 30, 2015.  It will be maintained afterwards as is feasible, and given its nature any other group may copy and host the archives under the  Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License.

[Kirt Dankmyer]

second

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--
Kirt "Loki" Dankmyer -- http://ivanhoeunbound.com -- xiomBRAG on AIM
cats * hats * RPGs * love * Eris * Agent Patriot * anime * Dada * poetry
"Only ONE MAN can kill this many Russians. Bring his guitar to me!" -Death