Appendix C - Draft of Generative Commons Agreement

As with other Appendices to this Memorandum of Understanding between OGM Bootstrap and Lionsberg, the ideas here express our early alignment and understanding, and will be the subject of our attention so that they may be improved, deepened and propagated in ways that are useful to society as a whole. This is a satisfactory starting point.

This Appendix was born in a discussion about Intellectual Property rights and responsibilities, as a way to free OGM from the traditional language of IP clauses, which all too often involve ownership and exclusion, at the expense of stewardship and inclusion.

To that end, we make the following statements.

The Generative Commons

The intent of "The Generative Commons" is to hold assets in common for the good of all. The "Generative Commons Agreement" is a way for participants to learn and agree that we are all working together, guided by our best higher purpose together.

(This section will be built out by OGM Bootstrap in its Initial Sprint.)

Goals and Intent

Our intent is to nurture, participate, and steward together The Generative Commons, including culture, information, knowledge, wisdom.

Questions to Answer

More specifically, what happens when participants who want to protect their ideas mix with a Commons that favors openness?

Also, how can resources best be made open so that they are protected from today's overly enthusiastic Intellectual Property laws, as well as aggressive IP hoarders?

Declaration of Copyright and Dedication to The Generative Commons

All work we do by, for, and with Open Global Mind is given over to The Generative Commons. Because common convention expresses assets in terms of ownership and owned property (including intellectual property, such as copyrights, patents, and trademarks), we apply copyright (and other rights as appropriate) to materials that can be copyrighted (or held within other rights domains). We license all our assets that can be so licensed under a Creative Commons — Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.

Notification About Your Participation

If any person or entity has intellectual property they expect to be protected in connection with work by, for, or with Open Global Mind, such work must have a clear indication of license that allows Open Global Mind to use it, or delineate the ways in which participates or does not participate in The Generative Commons.

Open Global Mind will not knowingly receive any intellectual property that is proprietary to anyone else and not licensed for use by Open Global mind or the general public. Open Global Mind will stop use of, and destroy any copies it holds, of such intellectual property.

Our normal process includes recording Zoom calls, taking copious notes during those calls, and posting those materials publicly online. Anyone who wants to protect their ideas should not share them in our fora, and should mention in conversations that their ideas are "off the record," so to speak.

Our preferred goal is to find our way to business models that support enriching the Commons while supporting profitable businesses. Many Open Source projects are great examples of this, coupling a foundation responsible for the code with a company that customizes that code for paying clients. We suspect there are many interesting, parallel arrangements that we will help elaborate and share.

Copyright and Licensing

Creative Commons has done an excellent job of wrapping copyright terms in easily implemented ways, such as CC-BY. We include their work here by reference.

tktk Patents and Licensing

(This section will be built out by OGM Bootstrap in its Initial Sprint.)

tktk Trademarks and Licensing

(This section will be built out by OGM Bootstrap in its Initial Sprint.)

(other sections we need)

  • (how we publish text and inventions in a way that protects our organization and its members from IP trolls)
  • (what about moral rights and droit d'auteur?)