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This is post to sum up my ideas before I pop off on holiday
for a few days.
1) Consider making the license apply to more than just
parts or the parts library. This would allow things like
documentation or software to be distributed too.
2) I would also recommend trying to track down a pre written
(hopefully by a lawyer) license to use (or at least base
an ldraw one on) as this will cut down on the legwork.
Steve Bliss's draft based on the zlib one is a good example.
There are lots of licenses used for open development processes
here.
http://www.opensource.org/licenses/index.php
3) In drafting licenses try to make the language as
definite as possible and the number of clauses to
a minimum. This will prevent people interpreting the
license in different ways.
I think was pretty obvious about my view on the need (or
lack of) for two licenses in the other part of this
thread. Were a two license system proposed there are some
issues that need to be understood/made clear.
4) The rights given to end users by ldraw.org can only be
the same or a subset of those given to ldraw.org by the
part's author.
As the only reason so far publicly given for the endures
being licensed by ldraw.org is that ldraw.org might want to
change the terms of that license at a later date also brings
up some issues.
5) If Person A downloads the library under license version
1. Then the ldraw.org updates the end user license to
version 2. Person A's copy of the library is still licensed
under version 1. (This is because licenses are built on
copyright law, and the license that applies is determined
at the time the copy is made (when it's downloaded)).
6) Related to point 4, as ldraw.org is restricted in the
rights to give to the end users by the rights granted to them
by the author. This means to make an additional right for the
end user they either have to ask the entire part author base
(again) for permission or initially ask the authors for all
possible rights [note 1].
So basically it seems to me that ldraw.org changing the
ldraw.org to end user license agreement seems rather a tricky
issue. Removing a right, perhaps due to an end user using a
work covered in a way which the ldraw community or ldraw.org
dislikes, won't be able to stop that end user due to issue 5).
And adding a right to the ldraw.org to end user license either
means asking the whole author base again or asking the
authors to give away everything under the author to ldraw.org
license.
If there are other reasons for requiring the 2 step license
process, can they please be stated here so I can understand
them.
My suggestion to this is to ask the part authors which
rights they are willing to grant, and to grant these rights
to end users directly.
7) On a different note, people that cannot be contacted
about their parts. I've 3 suggestions, unfortunately none
are that good.
7-1) Keep trying to find them (this is lame, I know :-( )
7-2) Recode the part without looking at the original (this
is very bad too :-( )
7-3) Release the library in two parts, one under the new
license, one under the status quo method of no license.
The 2 part library would also deal with any authors that
said 'no' to the license. (this is far from ideal, but
may be the only practical solution)
Unfortunately you can't say 'well they probably wouldn't mind'
and include them under the new license. As the copyright
holder of the part they are well within their rights to sue
you for breach of their copyright :-(.
Peter
[note 1]
As I'm only speaking as an End User, I'm very interested to
here the views and opinions of part authors on these licenses.
As you are the people be asked to give various rights to us,
please let us know what you think, don't be shy :-)
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | License Intent
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| Vision As promised previously, the Steering Committee would like to share our thoughts on licensing goals. We think it's important that any license, copyright, trademark, trade dress or other legal construction be done in the spirit of the overall (...) (20 years ago, 25-May-04, to lugnet.cad.dev.org.ldraw, FTX) !
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