1 Section 7 emphasises, on the one hand, that the CC licence as such is only binding to the extent described in the licence text and, on the other hand, clarifies that the licence partners are free to enter into further obligations independently of the licence.
2 For the licensor, this is expressed in Section 7.a, which states that the licensor is only bound by additional or deviating terms if these have been expressly agreed. This statement is merely declaratory in nature. It follows from the contractual nature of the licence that it cannot be unilaterally amended.
3 The same applies to Section 7.b, whereby here it is stated conversely that assumptions, agreements and circumstances that are not included in the licence are to be viewed independently and separately from it. This also makes it clear that the contracting parties are not prevented from entering into agreements independently of the licence. However, these have no effect on the licence. And since the licence is aimed at the general public, a licence agreement in accordance with the CC licence terms is concluded as soon as the material is used in accordance with these terms – regardless of what the licensor may have additionally agreed with a licensee in a specific individual case.
4 For example, if an author places a text under the CC BY licence and a publisher publishes the text on the basis of this licence, in a separate agreement with the author regarding the font and other formalities, this agreement does not affect the licence and only has effect in the relationship between the author and the publisher, while a third party may use the text even without observing these formalities, provided that they comply with the terms of the licence .
5 The fact that the CC licence itself may not be modified is evident from the annex to the CCPL (see Annex Rn. 4).
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Open Access Kommentar, Commentary on Section 7 – Other Terms and Conditions is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
