48 Even though copyright law was established globally at a very early stage through treaties (as early as 1886, eight countries signed the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works), the concept of a work under copyright law is understood differently in detail at the international level. This is particularly true when comparing the concept of a work in the German UrhG with Anglo-American copyright.
49 The CCPL, as an internationally designed standard contract, therefore defines a superordinate term that encompasses both works and other licensed items. The decisive factor is that content can be subject to licensing because the licensor has an exclusive right in this regard, which he can dispose of.
50 The definition of licensed material forms the conceptual introduction to the conglomerate of interrelated definitions: "Licensed Material", "Licensed Rights", "Licensor", "Copyright and Related Rights" and "Sui Generis database rights" (and, strictly speaking, also "you" as the last definition in section 1, which, however, has no independent relevance). Due to the reduced wording of these sections, several other parts of the text must always be consulted in order to complete the definitions in the sections.
51 Here, the term "material" is used as a generic term that covers both the objects of copyright and related rights, as well as databases and other items to which "similar rights" may apply, as determined by the following definition of "Licensed Rights" and the earlier definition of "Copyright and Similar Rights" (see also there).
52 The phrase "subject to this Public Licence" means nothing more than making the material available – whether individually or to the general public – with the addition of a notice which, from the perspective of a reasonably informed observer, states that the conditions of the CCPL referred to in the notice apply to the use of the material (cf. also CCPL Einl Rn. 5 on the conclusion of the contract). It ensures that the scope of the licensed or licensable material is ultimately determined by the scope of the rights covered by the licence. These are set out in the following section of definitions, "Licensed Rights", together with "Copyright and Similar Rights" and "Sui Generis Database Rights".
53 Examples of CC-licensable material are, on the one hand, works within the meaning of Section 2 UrhG (cf. wording "works of literature and art", the latter term being intended to cover all non-literary types of works, including unnamed ones, cf. also definition "Copyright and similar rights"), and, on the other hand, databases, which have only been explicitly mentioned since version 4.0.
54 Content that is not CC-licensable is content to which only patent, trademark or personality rights exist, cf. sections 2.b.1 and 2. All three refer to the respective areas of law in general: patent rights also refer to utility model rights, and trademark rights refer to trademarks as well as designs.
55 Material that is also not CC-licensable is material that is protectable under copyright law, related property rights and database producer rights, but for which protection no longer actually exists. The phrase "has placed under this Public Licence" should not be understood as referring to the external act and appearance, but rather to the legal transaction. This is lacking if, in the absence of existing exclusive rights, there is nothing to license. For example, if a text in the public domain is provided with a CC licence notice, If, for example, a text in the public domain is provided with a CC licence notice, this does not constitute a legally relevant placing under a CC licence and is therefore not licensed material. It is very likely that a claim of property rights will exist instead (see also Section 8 margin note 7).
Creative Commons License
Open Access Kommentar, Commentary on Section 1.f./e./h. Licensed material is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
