[Wikimedia-l] [cc-licenses] The termination provision

[Diane Peters]

On Mon, Aug 27, 2012 at 9:02 AM, Gregor Hagedorn <g.m.hagedorn at gmail.com>wrote:

> > This Public License is perpetual for the duration of the term of the
> > underlying copyright or Copyright-like Rights licensed by Licensor. If
> You
> > fail to comply with any condition of this Public License, this Public
> > License terminates automatically, and You must obtain express approval
> from
> > Licensor to use the Work thereafter.
>
> (The relation between the duration of the condition "fail" and the
> "thereafter" (during the duration of fail or also after the violation
> is healed?) is still not clear to me as a non-native speaker. Your
> answer implies that a kind of "life-imprisonment" away from CC is the
> intention. If so:)
>
>
If the license is terminated, you (the licensee) are no longer allowed to
use the Work under the license unless and until the Licensor grants you
permission to again use the Work under its terms.  Termination doesn't
prevent uses permitted by exceptions and limitations, or if you otherwise
have separate permission. But in the absence of some applicable exception
or limitation or other separate permission, the default status of a user of
the work is that ascribed by applicable copyright law, almost always that
of infringer.

Licensors may (and often times) choose not to press that, especially when
they contact licensees about fixing inadequate attribution and licensees
thereafter comply, for example.  In my opinion, this is a positive dynamic.
 But for purposes of the how CC licenses are intended to operate, the
answer is as stated here:
http://wiki.creativecommons.org/Frequently_Asked_Questions#What_happens_if_I_want_to_use_the_work_in_a_way_that_is_not_permitted_by_the_license.3F

As to whether the GPL and MPL cure periods address the status of the
licensee upon breach differently (until cure and/or final termination), the
definitive answer has to be provided by the stewards of those licenses.

Diane