"Share No-Resale Clause” License Condition v1.0
The Licensed Material is provided to you by the Licensor under the License, as defined below, subject to the following condition.
Without limiting other conditions in the License, the grant of rights under the License will not include, and the License does not grant you, the right to Sell the Licensed Material.
For the purposes of the foregoing, “Sell” means practicing any or all of the rights granted to you under the License to provide to third parties, for a fee or other consideration (including without limitation fees for hosting, performing, exhibiting, or consulting/support services related to the Licensed Material), a product or service whose value derives, entirely or substantially, from the content of the Licensed Material. Any license notice or attribution required by the License must also include this Share No-Resale Clause Condition notice.
Licensed Material: [licensed material name]
License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International
Licensor: [ABC individual / company]
"ShareAlike Exemption Clause" License Condition v1.0
The Licensed Material is provided to you by the Licensor under the License, as defined above, subject to the following condition.
Without exempting other conditions in the License, the terms of the License will not require, and does not compel the use of, the ShareAlike condition of the License if your use of the Licensed Material is of an unsubstantial or insignificant amount.
For the purposes of the foregoing, "will not require" and "does not compel" means your remix, transformation, or building upon the Licensed Material will not need your contributions distributed under the same License as the Licensed Material if such contributions use only an unsubstantial or insignificant amount of the Licensed Material. Any license notice or attribution required by the License must also include this ShareAlike Exemption Clause Condition notice.
Michael of St. Joseph License (MSJL)
What is the Michael of St. Joseph License?
The Michael of St. Joseph License (or, MSJL) is the combination of one specific Creative Commons license (CC BY-SA 4.0), the Share No-Resale Clause, and the ShareAlike Exemption Clause. The Creative Commons organization has trademarked the name "Creative Commons" and does not allow this name to be associated with altered/stipulated versions of their licenses. For this reason it is necessary to call this license by a different name.
How can I trust the Michael of St. Joseph License?
The MSJL is not particularly new or novel, and it is not primarily written by me. The Creative Commons is an organization with lawyers dedicated to crafting an effective license and has years of legal precedent to back it up. The Common Clause (from which the SNRC and SAEC are derived) was written by the experienced intellectual property lawyer Heather Meeker. I have done only three small things:
Make the minimum necessary changes to the Common Clause to make it compatible with Creative Commons licenses and relevant for artistic works
Adopt the language of the Share No-Resale Clause to create the ShareAlike Exemption Clause.
Put the Share No-Resale Clause and ShareAlike Exemption Clause over top of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license
Why do you use the Michael of St. Joseph License?
I believe it is the best and most honest balance of public good and private gain. The most common modern argument in favor of intellectual "property" is that copying is the same as stealing. This is, categorically, not true. However, intellectual works have value and creators should be permitted the first fruits of their labor. This license allows creators to exclusively sell and "own" their work while permitting others the natural right of sharing and inspiration. Attribution requirements help prevent plagiarism (which is lying, not theft). ShareAlike requirements encourage creative reciprocity and further promotes the use of this licensing scheme.
Why did you create an exemption for the ShareAlike requirement?
While I admire the concept of Copyleft/ShareAlike licenses and their role in fighting back against overly restrictive copyright laws, I find them to be too heavy-handed in their approach. It is not fair to use this idea as a type of legal poison pill to spoil anyone else's licensing decisions if their use is only of a relatively small amount. I want to encourage others to make licensing decisions that are more friendly towards sharing. To do this it is important to build bridges to those stuck in the matrix of contemporary copyright law. Copyleft/ShareAlike licenses have created a parallel structure that does not interact with the rest of the outside world. I want to leave the door cracked open just enough for these separate worlds to enter dialogue.
I want to use the Michael of St. Joseph License, how should I do that?
You should consult with legal counsel if you have any questions, concerns, or doubts about licensing decisions. Nothing I have written should be construed as advice or as creating a legally binding relationship. That being said, I have made the notice of my license known in the following way:
In the "Licensed Material" field I have replaced [licensed material name] with the name of my copyrighted work
In the "Licensor" field I have replaced [ABC individual / company] with my author pen name
With the above changes, I have posted the Michael of St. Joseph License below my copyrighted work outlined on my personal website
TL;DR - Give me a quick summary please!
Sure, you are free to:
Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially.
Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
Under the following terms:
Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made . You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
ShareAlike — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original unless your use is of an unsubstantial or insignificant amount.
No-Resale — You may not engage in commercial use of the Licensed Material if your commercial use involves the selling of exact or substantially similar copies of the Licensed Material in a product or service.
No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
The Michael of St. Joseph License is licensed under CC-BY 4.0 in accord with how the Creative Commons licenses their own licenses. Attribution goes to: Michael of St. Joseph