[OSM-legal-talk] legal-talk Digest, Vol 31, Issue 4

[John Wilbanks]

 > > (although I find the idea that freedom can only come from the
 > > barrel of a license deeply depressing).

 > That's CC Zero out of the running then.

Actually no. This is a slightly wonky lawyer debate about semantics, but 
we think tools like CC0 should be called *waivers* and not *licenses*.

Licenses reserve some rights and impose some conditions - they are "some 
rights reserved" - and there's a contract established between two parties.

Waivers do not reserve rights or impose conditions. They create zones of 
public domain, and there are no contracts between the parties.


This is why if you peruse the CC0 site, you'll see it referred to as a 
legal tool and not a license. It's a small thing, but an important thing 
to remember. Conflating the waiving of rights with the licensing of 
rights is what we're trying to avoid in this context.

jtw