67 The concept of distribution is central to the question of when the obligations of the CCPL apply (or when the licence agreement comes into effect) and what rights of use are granted to the licensee within the scope of the licence.
68 The obligations of the CCPL, such as the attribution requirement BY, do not apply to all use of the licensed material, but only on condition that the material is used in accordance with the licence. The central concept of use in the CCPL is "distribution", which is defined here. "Distribution" as defined here focuses on the provision of the material to the public, for which consent would be required. However, the CCPL does not define what is meant by "public" (unlike in version 3).
69 Whether a use is public depends on the copyright law in which the use takes place. "Public" is an important term in statutory copyright law, as it is generally only the public nature of a use that makes a licence or statutory permission necessary.
70 In Germany, the UrhG stipulates in Section 15 (3) that a reproduction is public if it is intended for a majority of members of the public. It further defines that the public includes anyone "who is not connected by personal relationships to the person who exploits the work or to the other persons to whom the work is made perceptible or accessible in intangible form ".
71 The understanding of the public sphere in Germany developed on the basis of this legal definition has now been superseded by EU copyright law. The ECJ essentially provides guidelines for the concept of the public sphere.
72 Within the scope of the licence granted (see section 2), the CCPL grants the right to "reproduce" and "distribute" the material. The right of use under the CCPL is unrestricted in terms of the types of use . It therefore permits any physical and non-physical It therefore permits any physical and non-physical use within the meaning of Sections 15 et seq. of the German Copyright Act (UrhG). The definition of distribution reflects this; it lists individual types of use by way of example and is therefore not exhaustive. "Distribution" therefore means any type of use and is thus a central concept of the comprehensive licencegranted under CC licensing.
Creative Commons License
Open Access Kommentar, Commentary on Section 1.i./j./h. Share is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
