Inspired by the Creative Commons Licence, in this post I want to introduce the Open-World licence.
The Open-World licence, like the Creative-Commons licence, is a licence that is customization to the needs of the creator.
The licence tries to address three issues.
- First there is the issue with basic copy-rights for e-books, and how ownership and holder-ship differ between paper books and e-books.
- Secondly, there is the phenomenon of fan-fiction and the legal challenges fan-fiction writers face when they would like to publish their work without infringing on the copyrights of the original work.
- The third and most pressing issue the OW licence tries to address is the legal ambiguity of the use of copyrighted material in AI training sets. There has been a lot of controversy lately about AI and creative work, and the OW licence tries to address this controversy by removing ambiguity about use of the source material in AI training-sets.
Breaking it down.
We define six different options for licencing your work of fiction as Open-World
- OWn : Open-World
- OWn-CU : Open World Character Usage
- OWn-AL : Open World AI Lenient
- OWn-AP : Open World AI Permissive
- OWn-CU-AL : Open World Character Usage AI Lenient
- OWn-CU-AP : Open World Character Usage AI Permisive
Note that the n in OWn is a whole positive number that sets a limit to the number of concurrent legal holders of a single copy of your book. If n is set to the default of one, instead of OW1, we simply write OW.
| right | OWn | OWn-CU | OWn-AL | OWn-AP | OWn-CU-AL | OWn-CU-AP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Use of lore | attribution | attribution | attribution | attribution | attribution | attribution |
| Use of world | attribution | attribution | attribution | attribution | attribution | attribution |
| Use of characters | reference only, attribution | attribution | reference-only, attribution | reference-only, attribution | attribution | attribution |
| Use of story / plot | prohibited | prohibited | prohibited | prohibited | prohibited | prohibited |
| Royalty share | discretionary | discretionary | discretionary | discretionary | discretionary | discretionary |
| derived-work clause | mandatory | mandatory | mandatory | mandatory | mandatory | mandatory |
| royalties clause | optional | optional | optional | optional | optional | optional |
| Use in AI training sets | prohibited | prohibited | attribution | unrestricted | attribution | unrestricted |
| Paper-like transfer ownership | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Separation owner/holder | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Max number of holders including owner | n | n | n | n | n | n |
| Re-licence | NO | OWn | OWn | OWn OWn-AL | OWn OWn-AL OWn-CU | OWn-CU-AL OWn-CU OWn-AP OWn-AL OWn |
The 'OW' base licence
The base OW (Open-World) licence consists of the following text:
This work of fiction is licenced under an Open World Licence.
This means that the lore and world building can be used as the backdrop for other
works of fiction under the sole two condition of attribution of the original lore
and world building to the copyright holder of the work that first introduced the
lore and world building under this licence, and publication of the derived work
under this or a more restrictive version of the Open-World licence.
The canon may be extended by derived work, but should not be incompatibly changed
compared to the source material.
Use of the plot of the story does not fall under the Open-World re-use condition
of this licence.
Followed by the following copyright-holder-replaceable clauses:
Standard character-usage clause
Use of the characters from this book in derived work does not fall under the
Open-World re-use conditions of this licence to the point that the actual characters
should not make an appearance in the derived work.
Reference to characters though is allowed.
Standard AI clause
The copyright holder of this work declares that usage of this work in AI training
sets does NOT fall under any kind of "fair-usage" and as such is not allowed under
this licence.
Standard Paper-Like clause
The copyright holder grants the purchaser the transferable right of ownership to
this copy of this book under the condition that he/she makes sure no copies of
this book remain that are under the control of others at the moment of transfer
of ownership.
The copyright holder grants the current holder of the right of ownership to this
copy the non-transferable license to lend up to ONE copy of this book at any one
time to direct friends and family in a non-commercial way.
If you purchased this book through a vendor that has placed DRM restrictions on
your copy that is incompatible with your above rights, you may contact the author
and show proof of purchase in order to receive a DRM-free copy of this book.
More lenient holder-ship (OWn)
The default OW licence, as we saw abouve, allows for one holder to exist that isn't the owner. The copyright holder is free to change the number one in the Standard Paper-Like clause to any number. In a OW5 licence, the middle part of the Paper-Like clause would read as follows:
The copyright holder grants the current holder of the right of ownership to this
copy the non-transferable license to lend up to FIVE copies of this book at any one
time to direct friends and family in a non-commercial way.
More lenient character usage (CU)
The Character Usage clause (OW-CU / OWn-CU ) can replace the standard character-usage clause:
Use of the characters from this book in derived work is also allowed as long as
the original character building is respected.
AI Lenient (AL)
The AI Lenient clause (OW-AL / OWn-AL) can replace the standard AI clause with a slightly more lenient one:
The copyright holder of this work grants the user of AI the right to use this
work as part of an AI training set under the same conditions as he does human
re-use.
The use of AI does not void the condition of attribution.
AI Permissive (AP)
The AI Permissive clause (OW-AL / OWn-AL) can replace the standard AI clause with a slightly more lenient one:
The copyright holder of this work considers AI training to be FAIR-USE of and
grants the user of AI the right to use this work as part of an AI training set.
Full licence texts
The following are examples of full-text licence statements according to the six OW licences. In these examples we use four for n as do define OW4 licences. It should be easy to replace 4 with the standard 1 to reflect your own preferences.
OW4
This work of fiction is licenced under an Open World Licence.
This means that the lore and world building can be used as the backdrop for other
works of fiction under the sole two condition of attribution of the original lore
and world building to the copyright holder of the work that first introduced the
lore and world building under this licence, and publication of the derived work
under this or a more restrictive version of the Open-World licence.
The canon may be extended by derived work, but should not be incompatibly changed
compared to the source material.
Use of the plot of the story does not fall under the Open-World re-use condition
of this licence.
Use of the characters from this book in derived work does not fall under the
Open-World re-use conditions of this licence to the point that the actual characters
should not make an appearance in the derived work.
Reference to characters though is allowed.
The copyright holder of this work declares that usage of this work in AI training
sets does NOT fall under any kind of FAIR-USAGE and as such is not allowed under
this licence.
The copyright holder grants the purchaser the transferable right of ownership to
this copy of this book under the condition that he/she makes sure no copies of
this book remain that are under the control of others at the moment of transfer
of ownership.
The copyright holder grants the current holder of the right of ownership to this
copy the non-transferable license to lend up to FOUR copies of this book at any one
time to direct friends and family in a non-commercial way.
If you purchased this book through a vendor that has placed DRM restrictions on
your copy that is incompatible with your above rights, you may contact the author
and show proof of purchase in order to receive a DRM-free copy of this book.
OW4-CU
This work of fiction is licenced under an Open World Licence.
This means that the lore and world building can be used as the backdrop for other
works of fiction under the sole two condition of attribution of the original lore
and world building to the copyright holder of the work that first introduced the
lore and world building under this licence, and publication of the derived work
under this or a more restrictive version of the Open-World licence.
The canon may be extended by derived work, but should not be incompatibly changed
compared to the source material.
Use of the plot of the story does not fall under the Open-World re-use condition
of this licence.
Use of the characters from this book in derived work is also allowed as long as
the original character building is respected.
The copyright holder of this work declares that usage of this work in AI training
sets does NOT fall under any kind of FAIR-USAGE and as such is not allowed under
this licence.
The copyright holder grants the purchaser the transferable right of ownership to
this copy of this book under the condition that he/she makes sure no copies of
this book remain that are under the control of others at the moment of transfer
of ownership.
The copyright holder grants the current holder of the right of ownership to this
copy the non-transferable license to lend up to FOUR copies of this book at any one
time to direct friends and family in a non-commercial way.
If you purchased this book through a vendor that has placed DRM restrictions on
your copy that is incompatible with your above rights, you may contact the author
and show proof of purchase in order to receive a DRM-free copy of this book.
OW4-AL
This work of fiction is licenced under an Open World Licence.
This means that the lore and world building can be used as the backdrop for other
works of fiction under the sole two condition of attribution of the original lore
and world building to the copyright holder of the work that first introduced the
lore and world building under this licence, and publication of the derived work
under this or a more restrictive version of the Open-World licence.
The canon may be extended by derived work, but should not be incompatibly changed
compared to the source material.
Use of the plot of the story does not fall under the Open-World re-use condition
of this licence.
Use of the characters from this book in derived work does not fall under the
Open-World re-use conditions of this licence to the point that the actual characters
should not make an appearance in the derived work.
Reference to characters though is allowed.
The copyright holder of this work grants the user of AI the right to use this
work as part of an AI training set under the same conditions as he does human
re-use.
The use of AI does not void the condition of attribution.
The copyright holder grants the purchaser the transferable right of ownership to
this copy of this book under the condition that he/she makes sure no copies of
this book remain that are under the control of others at the moment of transfer
of ownership.
The copyright holder grants the current holder of the right of ownership to this
copy the non-transferable license to lend up to FOUR copies of this book at any one
time to direct friends and family in a non-commercial way.
If you purchased this book through a vendor that has placed DRM restrictions on
your copy that is incompatible with your above rights, you may contact the author
and show proof of purchase in order to receive a DRM-free copy of this book.
OW4-AP
This work of fiction is licenced under an Open World Licence.
This means that the lore and world building can be used as the backdrop for other
works of fiction under the sole two condition of attribution of the original lore
and world building to the copyright holder of the work that first introduced the
lore and world building under this licence, and publication of the derived work
under this or a more restrictive version of the Open-World licence.
The canon may be extended by derived work, but should not be incompatibly changed
compared to the source material.
Use of the plot of the story does not fall under the Open-World re-use condition
of this licence.
Use of the characters from this book in derived work does not fall under the
Open-World re-use conditions of this licence to the point that the actual characters
should not make an appearance in the derived work.
Reference to characters though is allowed.
The copyright holder of this work considers AI training to be FAIR-USE of and
grants the user of AI the right to use this work as part of an AI training set.
The copyright holder grants the purchaser the transferable right of ownership to
this copy of this book under the condition that he/she makes sure no copies of
this book remain that are under the control of others at the moment of transfer
of ownership.
The copyright holder grants the current holder of the right of ownership to this
copy the non-transferable license to lend up to FOUR copies of this book at any one
time to direct friends and family in a non-commercial way.
If you purchased this book through a vendor that has placed DRM restrictions on
your copy that is incompatible with your above rights, you may contact the author
and show proof of purchase in order to receive a DRM-free copy of this book.
OW4-CU-AL
This work of fiction is licenced under an Open World Licence.
This means that the lore and world building can be used as the backdrop for other
works of fiction under the sole two condition of attribution of the original lore
and world building to the copyright holder of the work that first introduced the
lore and world building under this licence, and publication of the derived work
under this or a more restrictive version of the Open-World licence.
The canon may be extended by derived work, but should not be incompatibly changed
compared to the source material.
Use of the plot of the story does not fall under the Open-World re-use condition
of this licence.
Use of the characters from this book in derived work is also allowed as long as
the original character building is respected.
The copyright holder of this work grants the user of AI the right to use this
work as part of an AI training set under the same conditions as he does human
re-use.
The use of AI does not void the condition of attribution.
The copyright holder grants the purchaser the transferable right of ownership to
this copy of this book under the condition that he/she makes sure no copies of
this book remain that are under the control of others at the moment of transfer
of ownership.
The copyright holder grants the current holder of the right of ownership to this
copy the non-transferable license to lend up to FOUR copies of this book at any one
time to direct friends and family in a non-commercial way.
If you purchased this book through a vendor that has placed DRM restrictions on
your copy that is incompatible with your above rights, you may contact the author
and show proof of purchase in order to receive a DRM-free copy of this book.
OW4-CU-AP
This work of fiction is licenced under an Open World Licence.
This means that the lore and world building can be used as the backdrop for other
works of fiction under the sole two condition of attribution of the original lore
and world building to the copyright holder of the work that first introduced the
lore and world building under this licence, and publication of the derived work
under this or a more restrictive version of the Open-World licence.
The canon may be extended by derived work, but should not be incompatibly changed
compared to the source material.
Use of the plot of the story does not fall under the Open-World re-use condition
of this licence.
Use of the characters from this book in derived work is also allowed as long as
the original character building is respected.
The copyright holder of this work considers AI training to be FAIR-USE of and
grants the user of AI the right to use this work as part of an AI training set.
The copyright holder grants the purchaser the transferable right of ownership to
this copy of this book under the condition that he/she makes sure no copies of
this book remain that are under the control of others at the moment of transfer
of ownership.
The copyright holder grants the current holder of the right of ownership to this
copy the non-transferable license to lend up to FOUR copies of this book at any one
time to direct friends and family in a non-commercial way.
If you purchased this book through a vendor that has placed DRM restrictions on
your copy that is incompatible with your above rights, you may contact the author
and show proof of purchase in order to receive a DRM-free copy of this book.
DRM & NFT
The Open-World licence aims to define ownership and holder-ship in such a way that it allows for NFT based digital rights management. Currently neither today's implementation of DRM nor NFTs implement a system that differentiates between the legal owner and the current holder of a copy of a creative work. And while NFTs support transfer of ownership, today's DRM does not. While the OW licence tells very little about the potential to implement future DRM with NFT technology, it is defined in such a way as to map easily to NFT-based DRM if this technology ever takes off.
Derived work royalties clause.
If you are using the OW licence for derived work as required by the licence, then any kind of royalties share going to the original author is fully discretionary. There is no mandatory royalties share defined by the licence. If however as the author of derived work you choose to give a royalties share to the original author, you MUST add a derived work clause and MAY choose to add a royalties clause to your licence statement:
This work of fiction is a derived work that uses the original content under the
conditions of this licence.
Optionally followed by:
A royalties share of 5% of net earnings for this work of fiction will go to the
author(s) of the original work.
Or in case you use work by an artist:
A royalties share of 5% of net earnings for this work of fiction will go to the
artists whose artwork is embedded into this work.
If your work is a derived work of a derived work, it is up to you to determine a fair division of this declared royalties share between the author of the original work and the author of the first derived work.
To accommodate easy distribution of royalty shares, use of either an URL pointing to a tipping page in the leading copyright statement, or a short list of royalty payment channels is recomended.
For example:
Copyright (c) 2023 Rob J Meijer. All rights reserved. Royalties:
* pibara.github.io/coinzdense/qr.html
Or alternatively:
Copyright (c) 2023 Rob J Meijer. All rights reserved. Royalties:
* paypall: [email protected]
* bitcoin: bc1q57qspaw0xw96mg8ar2242z3jgrj7fccgq06ps4
* lightning : v4v.app/@pibara
* hive: @pibara
* litecoin: ltc1q059v6qkfg207fxffzxwwjkgc9tu7v4t9pnqtdc
Putting it all together
So let's put it all together. Here is the entire OW4-CU copyright notice for my own fiction that starting today I'm moving all my fiction and open world building to because of AI:
Copyright (c) 2023 Rob J Meijer. All rights reserved. Royalties:
* paypall: coin@z-den.se
* bitcoin: bc1q57qspaw0xw96mg8ar2242z3jgrj7fccgq06ps4
* lightning : v4v.app/@pibara
* hive: @pibara
* litecoin: ltc1q059v6qkfg207fxffzxwwjkgc9tu7v4t9pnqtdc
This work of fiction is licenced under an Open World Licence.
This means that the lore and world building can be used as the backdrop for other
works of fiction under the sole two condition of attribution of the original lore
and world building to the copyright holder of the work that first introduced the
lore and world building under this licence, and publication of the derived work
under this or a more restrictive version of the Open-World licence.
The canon may be extended by derived work, but should not be incompatibly changed
compared to the source material.
Use of the plot of the story does not fall under the Open-World re-use condition
of this licence.
Use of the characters from this book in derived work is also allowed as long as
the original character building is respected.
The copyright holder of this work declares that usage of this work in AI training
sets does NOT fall under any kind of FAIR-USAGE and as such is not allowed under
this licence.
The copyright holder grants the purchaser the transferable right of ownership to
this copy of this book under the condition that he/she makes sure no copies of
this book remain that are under the control of others at the moment of transfer
of ownership.
The copyright holder grants the current holder of the right of ownership to this
copy the non-transferable license to lend up to FOUR copies of this book at any one
time to direct friends and family in a non-commercial way.
If you purchased this book through a vendor that has placed DRM restrictions on
your copy that is incompatible with your above rights, you may contact the author
and show proof of purchase in order to receive a DRM-free copy of this book.
A royalties share of 5% of net earnings for this work of fiction will go to the
artists whose artwork is embedded into this work.
Any input will be highly welcome, ans please, if you are writing fiction, consider using one of the licences described in this post for your own fiction.
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I like where you're going with this, although I feel that most licenses would end up coming down to individual negotiation. I've put quite a bit of work into my own settings, and there are people I'd be happy to let loose in them with a free hand, others I'd give limited access to after some briefing, and others again who I wouldn't let anywhere near them !
With the number of elements going into a license, it almost feels like what is needed is a list of concepts (use of character, use of lore, use of AI, etc) and then a series of tags for the status of each one which build into individually customisable licenses.
Although it introduces an additional element of complexity, taking a cue from the world of 3D printing, I feel you also need the ability to add a c/nc/lc tag to each licence.
The commercial tag would be separate from any negotiation/agreement on royalties.
But I'd suggest that NFT's do offer a way to validate ownership. Effectively, any work could be represented by a uniquely numbered NFT, with number 1 being issued to the author. Provided the NFT is coded so that it records changes in ownership, if the author sold the full rights on, NFT #1 would then identify the author (even if only in an encrypted way) and the current rights holder, but would show that the current rights holder is no longer the author. Hopefully that makes sense !