From: Kenneth Whistler (kenw@sybase.com)
Date: Wed Nov 22 2006 - 16:31:13 CST
> > I don't see how that page addresses the "we're not encoding trademarked
> > logos" argument.
>
> Indeed, that page addresses no questions about encoding at all. It lists
> four symbols not yet encoded in the UCS and explains their use. I also
> don't see how that page implies that the said symbols are trademarked
> logos.
>
http://creativecommons.org/policies
The relevant part of that is:
"Creative Commons License Buttons: The Creative Commons buttons that
describe a key term of our license, such as BY, NC, ND, SA, .... may
only be used in the context of pointing to a Creative Commons license
on the Creative Commons server that includes the license term or
to otherwise describe the Creative Commons license, that includes
the license term and that applies to a particular work."
That language is accompanied by the 4 symbols in question, which
by implication are associated with the Creative Commons claim
regarding their use.
Any symbol that is created that way, with specific intent to
control its meaning and usage, falls in the same grey area
that trademarked logos do. If I chose to take the Creative
Commons Noncommercial symbol (the backslashed circle over a dollar
sign), which they use very explicitly in particular licenses,
and hijacked it to start advertising links to a tax protest
site, or to a bunch of anarchists advocating the bombing of
banks, I'd probably be hearing shortly from a CC lawyer
wanting to deal with misappropriation of their IP rights
under a Creative Commons (R) Some Rights Reserved (R) license.
*hehe*
Symbols for encoding as characters in Unicode cannot be
encumbered with some particular group's claim to control
their exact shape, appearance, meaning, function, and usage
rights.
--Ken
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