I came across a post on the Google Blogoscoped blog about the use of
Creative Commons. While it didn't focus on the issues of what could
or could not be reprinted or reposted or remixed, it did focus on an
issue which didn't come up in the recent discussion about CC and the
ISED-L: Non-Commercial.
The Blogoscope wrote:
<<QUOTE>>
This has been a constant question popping up among people I've
discussed with who use Creative Commons-licensed content: Is it
allowed to show e.g. a CC-licensed photo on a webpage which also
includes ads to the side if the image uses the "non-commercial"
clause?* Indeed, if this would not be allowed, a whole lot of blogs
using CC content =96 including this one =96 would be in trouble.
<<QUOTE>>
You can find the full post here:
http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2008-02-07-n77.html.
And the answer that has been suggested: Yes, it is possible to use
something which is released under a non-commercial clause on a website
which has ads or other ways of making money. You can't, of course,
sell the CC-licensed material itself (that's the Seth Godin situation
I noted earlier this week). And, it would depend on the size,
placement, and content of the ads. Theoretically, I could put Google
Ads on the ISED-L blog and rake in the dough.
(I should note, I am **not** considering this. I mention the
Blogscoped post only because it seemed pertinent in light of our
earlier discussions.... I do have Google Ads on other webpages, and
I've made so much money off them that Google has never had to pay me
-- less than 25 cents a year or some absurdly small number -- which
makes me wonder how people actually do make money off of online ads,
but that is a discussion for a different venue.)
From the post and some other reading I've done, it sounds like this is
bound to be headed to court at some point so we'll actually have a
legal ruling to rely on. Interesting stuff...
Have a great weekend.
Peace,
/s/ Peter
P.S. And I will now returning to my usual lurking status.
--=20
"Omnia mutantur, nos et mutamur in illis."
~~ Nicholas Borbonius
"We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools."
~~ Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
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