[[PageOutline]] = Copyright and Licensing of content on this web site (`support.mayfirst.org`) = All content contributed to this web site (wiki edits, ticket commentary, etc), is owned by its original authors. By posting content here, you're agreeing to license your writing under a specific common license. May First/People Link uses that license to publish this web site, which we hope gives back to the broader community. When the site was created, we initially used a [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/ Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share-Alike] license. As of August 2011, we're [ticket:4562 preparing to drop the Non-Commercial clause] for new contributions to this web site. == Why Drop the Non-Commercial Clause? == The Non-Commercial clause is ambiguous; It's not clear what constitutes a commercial re-use and what specifically is non-commercial. Even if it was unambiguous, it would make the content not free for re-use by people who do legitimately need remuneration for their efforts in re-mixing, adapting, or re-publishing the information here. We tend to think speech should be free, and we don't want licensing to get in the way of communication. == The Transition (2011-08-31) == All ticket comments, new ticket, and wiki edits made to `support.mayfirst.org` after 31 August, 2011 will be licensed without the Non-Commercial clause -- with a [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/us/ Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike] license. === Pre-transition Content === ==== Wiki ==== There several dozen contributors to this wiki, but we can conceivably track them all down and ask them to re-license their old work to drop the NC clause. The [wiki:smo/licensing/author-transition-approval list of pre-transition wiki authors] shows all wiki page authors before the cutoff. If you're among them, and you're willing to re-license your pre-transition wiki page edits (and ticket content) under CC-BY-SA as well, please edit [wiki:smo/licensing/author-transition-approval your name on the list] and indicate your willingness to re-license. If we can track down and get consent from all the prior authors, we'll update this page (and the site footer) to indicate that all wiki content (past and present) is CC-BY-SA. ===== Author Notification ===== Below is a proposed notification to send to wiki authors: ---- Dear Friends and Family of MF/PL: All wiki content contributed to {{{support.mayfirst.org}}} is owned collectively by its authors, about 50 of us all together. Recently, the core support team of MF/PL has discussed the political impact of licensing this content differently -- making it more open by dropping the Non-commercial clause. When the site was created, we initially used a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share-Alike{{{[0]}}} license. As of August 2011, we're preparing to drop the Non-Commercial clause for new contributions to this web site{{{[1]}}}. Our hope is to track down and get consent from all of our contributing authors so that we can change the site's documentation to indicate that all wiki content (past and present) is CC-BY-SA. If you're OK with re-licensing your old contributions, put an "OK" next to your OpenID here: {{{https://support.mayfirst.org/wiki/smo/licensing/author-transition-approval}}} If you would like to voice objections, please respond as soon as you can -- within a week or so -- since this process is already underway. {{{[0] http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/}}}[[BR]] {{{[1] https://support.mayfirst.org/ticket/4562}}} ---- ==== Ticketing system ==== At the moment, it seems like an impossibility to track down all authors of comments on the ticketing system (some tickets are opened anonymously and never followed up on!) So if you want to re-use material from a ticket on this site commercialy, and that material was written before August 2011 by someone whose [wiki:smo/licensing/author-transition-approval OpenID hasn't approved the transition], you might still need to contact the original authors to get permission.