Any thoughts?

*I hate thinking about this because I’d really like to build and ad-supported database of resources, but there’s no way I could without the financial compensation. Asking every author of CCL work in the database is almost impossible. I don’t want to deprive the community, but I have to be realistic to myself. I don’t want to build the thing and have to take it down because of licencing. Gah! I could ask for donations and such, but again, there could be an extensive amount of work only to have the project collapse. Hm… Any thoughts?

Sincerely,
The Songnumbers Team

I have a rather amateurish blog that reviews CC netlabel releases (and the occasional free release from bands looking to to drum up some publicity). My blog does not feature adverts and always links to the artists reviewed, encouraging visitors to make donations or to purchase CDs, etc. I do not receive any income at all from the blog.

Two quick questions:

1. I wish to install (the free) Yahoo Media Player so that visitors can hear embedded mp3s/audio files in my blog’s posts. Would this constitute advertsing for Yahoo and so breach the CC NC licence?

2. An online magazine has asked me if I’d like my blog’s content to be circulated at their website, which is run by a private company that takes advertising. I probably won’t take up their offer but I’d like to know if circulating a CC blog’s CC content to a commercial enterprise would also contradict the NC agreement.

Thank you.

Using a photo on an ad-supported website = Commercial

In the Netherlands, there is a pilot project involving Creative Commons and the music collecting society BUMA/STEMRA. Music authors who are members of the collecting society can get back the right to distribute their music under a CC non-commercial license. For the purpose of the pilot, commercial use includes:
- any for-profit organisation using the work
- distribution or presentation (offline or online) for any sort of compensation (including combination with ads, PR ativities etc.), i.e. if the aim is to generate income for a third party
- radio transmission, use in restaurants, shops, at work etc.
see http://creativecommons.nl/extra/bumafaq/#5 (in dutch)

My understanding is that the netlabel world is slightly different from the situations I was talking about; netlabels make agreements with artists, or artists choose to post their music on netaudio sites, in order to get exposure/airtime/etc. The songs are usually NC licensed so that the musicians retain the ability to make money on commercial uses, but the netlabels themselves may be ad-supported or even downright profit-making, and that’s okay because the artist chose to enter into a relationship with the label under certain terms. If an ad-supported music website went around collecting NC-licensed music from all over the web without consulting musicians and making it available for streaming or downloading, I get the sense that it would cause an uproar. What do you think?

As for pubs and restaurants playing CC-licensed music, that’s an interesting example. So far I haven’t found anything on the CC website that explicitly addresses the playing of NC-licensed works in bars and restaurants. The license does make clear that in jurisdictions where there are non-waivable compulsory license schemes the creator is entitled to collect royalties. I’d be curious to learn what CC’s official stance is on that kind of use.