CopyFair License

= a proposed license which does not exist yet

FAQ

Draft version:

The FAQ

* Why is licensing so important?

Today, more and more individuals and communities, locally and globally, are involved in the creation of shared resources, i.e. commons. Yet most of the time, the possible ‘exchange value’ that can be created by such commons, still the main mode of creating livelihoods in our political economy, is extracted by private companies. It is very hard to create a sustainable and fair livelihood outside of working as labor for companies or as freelances in the market.

Paradoxically, this situation is facilitated by the existing open licenses, which allow anyone to use the commons (we have no objection to that), but also to profit from the commons without specific required reciprocity. This is the challenge that the copyfair license addresses: can communities and their commons keep the freedoms of usage fully protected, but set a condition on profit-making that requires stronger reciprocity. In this context, we have elsewhere proposed the creation of ‘Open Cooperatives’, i.e. we recommend commoners to create their own cooperatives, but coops that are specifically engaged and oblige themselves statutorily (in their own statutes) to co-create commons.

This license, by requiring reciprocity, such as for example a license usage payment for firms who do not contribute to the commons, creates what Dmytri Kleiner has called an Exvestment strategy (http://p2pfoundation.net/Exvestment) i.e. a method to “channel value out of capitalist circulation into alternative communal organizations and keep the bulk of it circulating there”. In our vision, open cooperatives using the CopyFair licenses, and accompanied by appropriate statutes and ‘value charters’ (social charters expresses common values that guide the production and the community), can then create livelihoods for the commoners who co-create commons. Through this license, ‘commons-oriented peer production’ can create the conditions of its own self-reproduction, without having to resort to private shareholding capital. Our goal is to weaken the ‘value captation’ strategies of what we call ‘netarchical capitalism’, and to stimulate the value creation of the ethical entrepreneurial coalitions which co-produce the shared resources and are owned by the commoners (i.e. commons producers) themselves.

* What is the CopyFair License ?

The CopyFair license is the name we give for a new type of license based on stronger reciprocity.

The existing mainstream open license that creates a commons, the General Public License, is based on a ‘general reciprocity’ model. Each person has the right to use the code, but any changes to it must be given back to the code base so that other people can continue to use it and the commons can continue to grow. The code base can also be used by persons and companies that do not contribute to the commons, i.e. without such reciprocity. In a license with a strong reciprocity requirement, this is strengthened in the following way: anybody can use the code base of the license, but persons or companies that want to make profit without making any contributions, need to make another contribution to the common effort, for example by paying for the license.

The CopyFair license does not restrict any usage of the code base and maintains the rights and freedoms enshrined in the GPL-type commons licenses, but it restricts profit-making on the basis of common work without any contribution.

* Why is it needed ? What it is for ?

The dominant free software licenses allow any person and company to use the code base, without asking for any specific reciprocity. This allows huge multinational companies that do not necessarily contribute to the commons, to use this commons for profit-making. This may not be seen to be a major problem in software production itself, where the barriers to entry and participation are low, and the companies may be seen to contribute to the network effect by enlarging the user base. However, in the case of for example design, which is to be used in physical manufacturing, this means that investments are needed in workplaces, machinery, and wages, such a for-profit usage may be seen as extractive by the players who do invest in such production facilities. In practice we see that most of the open source economies are indeed dominated by for-profit entities, which may or may not contribute to the commons. Another example would be a traditional indigenous community involved in medicinal herbs. With a traditional open license, it may retain the knowledge created by their commons, but certainly the economic activities will still be taken on by firms who do not necessarily practice profit or benefit-sharing.

So the essential issue addressed by the CopyFair license is to insure fair conditions of value creation and distribution. The commoners / contributors who are contributing, investing in commons-based peer production can insure that the value of the common work is not extracted without any reciprocity.

* How does it relate to other licenses ?

The CopyFair license endorses and maintains the free software freedoms enshrined in the GPL, but restricts profit-making potential by a reciprocity requirement.

Unlike the Creative Commons Non-Commercial license, the CopyFair does not restrict the creation of an economy around these commons.

Unlike the Copysol (= solidarity) license developed by Solidarius, the Copyfair license does not restrict usage by for-profit entities, but only requires a reciprocal contribution.

Copyfair extends the user base of the Peer Production License, the first example of a reciprocity-based license, by not restricting usage to worker coops, but extending it to other forms of the ethical economy which are willing to reciprocate with the commons and their communities.. It forces entities who do not directly reciprocate, to reciprocate in other ways that are acceptable to the commoners and their facilitating organisations.

The Fairshares Association uses a similar philosophy using two different Creative Commons licenses: BY-NC-ND conditions for non-members and BY-SA for members (see http://shura.shu.ac.uk/10198/1/TheCaseForFairSharesV1.2-SHU.pdf). Anyone can share it non-commercial, but members can both share it commercially and make derivatives so long as they share alike.

* Who is it for ?

The license is aimed to all commoners, i.e. citizens who co-produce and maintain commons as ‘peer producers’, and to all who attempt to create their own livelihoods around this commons-based peer production. It is open for all outside agents who are willing to reciprocate with commons construction.

* How can it be enforced ?

Licenses are contracts that can be enforced by the courts. The CopyFair license builds on the legal force that has been achieved by already existing open licenses such as the GPL and Creative Commons. We propose that the agent in charge of enforcement is the for-benefit association (also called FLOSS Foundations), that generally maintains the cooperation and the infrastructure of cooperation for a particular commons. These democratically managed entities are responsible for the defense of the commons and the defense of its license as the chosen social contract between commoners.

* Does it restrict freedoms guaranteed by other licenses ?

The CopyFair license fully protects the four freedoms of the copyleft tradition. However, it restricts the profit-making capacity to those that reciprocate in the co-construction of said commons.

* What are the potential benefits ?

The first effect of the CopyFair license may be to create a certain income for the particular commons, probably through the for-benefit associations. The second effect is cultural, by requiring a reciprocity that needs to be defined, and defended, it strengthens the community dynamics and effectively re-integrates reciprocity values into the marketplace. If we define capitalism as a system which attempts to externalize such requirements, then the CopyFair license can be seen as a creation (or return to), ‘moral economies’, i.e. markets that integrate externalities in their own functioning. It’s main direct benefit is the creation of a ethical entrepreneurial coalition around the commons, and the creation of livelihoods in self-owned entities.

* What are the potential drawbacks ?

Requiring reciprocity may discourage the commercial uptake of the product or service associated with the particular commons that is protected.

* How can reciprocity be defined ?

Reciprocity is not a ‘hard’ concept, but is contextual to the commons and its community. This is NOT a drawback but rather the aim of the license, i.e. to create a dialogue around reciprocity, and socially accepted rules and norms.

* What kind of entities can use the Copyfair commons ?

The CopyFair license is open to all who contribute and use a particular commons.

* What kind of entities cannot use the Copyfair commons ?

The CopyFair license is closed to entities that aim to make a profit without contributing to the commons. However, it does not restrict their usage rights, only their profit-making rights, which they can restore through an agreed form of reciprocity.