61 The role of licensor is defined very simply in the CCPL in terms of the legal capacity to grant the rights covered by the licence (see the definition section immediately preceding each licence variant of CCPL 4.0 ). Insofar as German law refers to the granting of rights rather than the conferral of rights, this is readily covered by the wording of the definition.
62 The scope of rights defined immediately above ("copyright and similar rights") is not in itself a complete definition in several respects, but only acquires its definitive content in conjunction with the licence subject matter defined immediately above ("Licensed Material" under Section 1.f) and the definition of database producer rights in Section 1.j and the various rights specified in more detail in the rest of the licence text, i.e. in particular Section 2.a.1 "Grant of Licence", Section 2.b "Other Rights", which is constructed as an exception, and the special provisions in Section 4 "Sui Generis Database Rights". The fact that, in this way, it is sometimes only a chain of licence text sections that results in the basic building blocks of copyright law, such as the licensor and the scope of rights, is intended to make the licence text, which has only been restructured in this way since version 4.0, more readable for laypersons, who typically have difficulty with "legalese" parenthetical phrases and long blocks of definitions.
63 Licensors are therefore those who can effectively dispose of all rights specified in the CCPL and who do so themselves in the form of release (by making the licensed material available together with the CCPL notice). In the case of copyright-protected works, these may, but do not have to be, the authors themselves. Rather, it is fundamentally Rather, it is fundamentally possible for a natural or legal person to acquire such comprehensive rights to the work of others that this person can grant CCPL release based on derived rights. According to German copyright law, the actual copyright arises and remains with the author; the author can only grant rights of use. 64 The various mechanisms in the UrhG (German Copyright Act) that are intended to make it difficult for exploitation industries to take away rights from creators comprehensively and definitively (so-called total buy-out) are not applicable to the CCPL.
64 The various mechanisms in the Copyright Act that are intended to make it difficult for exploitation industries to take away too many and too definitive rights from creative artists (so-called total buy-out) also significantly restrict the practical use of the CCPL. If individuals or institutions are to act as licensors for CCPL releases, which in many open content projects would be the simplest and therefore preferable approach in terms of keeping transaction costs as low as possible, German law usually requires comprehensive rights to be granted, similar to a total buy-out – which is sometimes not even possible via project participation conditions as general terms and conditions (cf. on the subject of general terms and conditions and the so-called Linux clauses of the UrhG VorCCPL Rn. 26 ff.). This not only carries the fundamental antagonism of the classic exploitation logic of copyright into projects and communities where it would otherwise not occur and where it does not belong, but also increases the indirect transaction costs for such projects, often beyond what is acceptable.
65 In connection with the CCPL, the preferred arrangement under German law – at least when copyright-protected material is to be licensed – is generally one in which the licensor is also the owner of the copyright within the meaning of within the meaning of Section 7 of the German Copyright Act (UrhG) or belongs to the group of licensors where there are several of them. On the other hand, insofar as licence objects are concerned for which only other rights covered by the CCPL exist (such as database producer rights), they can be released without comparable difficulties from derived rights by means of the CCPL.
66 The legal steps required for an effective and sufficient derivation of rights in each case are governed by the relevant legal regulations that also apply outside the CC world. It therefore depends largely on what rights may be relevant in each specific case, It therefore depends largely on what rights may be relevant in the specific case, which in turn depends on what material is to be released under the CCPL (see also the definition of "Licensed Material" in Section 1.f).
Creative Commons License
Open Access Kommentar, Commentary on Section 1.h./g./j. Licensor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
