Copyright, licensing, and open frameworks for content, data, and software. I've worked in this area since 2007, including contributing to the Guidelines for Treatment of Intellectual Property Rights in ICT Contracts, co-developing the NZGOAL framework and its Software Extension, and delivering training to agencies on NZGOAL. I am well-versed in commercial licensing arrangements, the NZGOAL review and release process and Creative Commons licensing, and open source software licensing and compliance.
01 – CAPABILITIES
How I can help.
Three pillars across copyright and licensing – in contracts, in open data releases, and in open source software.
02 – EXPERIENCE
Selected experience.
A handful of representative projects involving copyright and licensing in the public and private sectors.
CASE 01
NZGOAL and its Software Extension
Provided legal advice and drafting for NZGOAL, NZGOAL Guides, Guidance Notes 1-7, agency training and training videos, the NZGOAL Software Extension and its Guidance Note 1.
Role: A mix of in-house and external counsel roles
CASE 03
Geospatial data platform agreement
Drafted substantial components of and negotiated a collaborative contract for a geospatial data platform used by agencies and organisations to make geospatial data available for reuse.
Role: External counsel
CASE 02
Data licensing for post-EQ Canterbury
Drafted data licence agreements for relief efforts in post-earthquake Canterbury, enabling recovery agencies and data providers to share data for response and recovery purposes.
Role: External counsel
CASE 04
Bespoke software re-use licence
Advised on options for releasing software openly for re-use but in circumstances that required the imposition of controls for which OSS licences were not designed. Drafted bespoke licence.
Role: External counsel
ADVICE & DRAFTING
GOVERNMENT POLICY AND INITIATIVES
LICENSING STATEMENTS, PRESENTATIONS, AND GUIDANCE
OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE
“
Now here's a question for you. Can you feed a Creative Commons-licensed work you find online into an AI tool? If the AI tool's terms require you to grant a sublicence over the content you enter, then no – the Creative Commons licences prohibit sub-licensing.
Richard Best
03 – TOOLS I BUILT
Tools that help creators.
I've built two licensing automation tools: GPL Engines, which generate GPL-related licensing and other statements for WordPress theme and plugin creators; and an NZGOAL Review and Release Process tool that automates the full NZGOAL workflow.
GPL Engines
The GPL Engines (one for themes, another for plugins) ask a series of questions about the theme or plugin and then provides content for:
→ the style.css, readme and licence files for the theme folder, or
→ the plugin file header, readme and licence files for the plugin folder.
"I wanted to help WordPress theme and plugin developers get their licensing documentation sorted quickly. The engines are freely available on WP and Legal Stuff."
NZGOAL Review and Release Process
During COVID-19 it struck me that agencies might need to release content for re-use quickly. So I built and released an automated NZGOAL review and release process. It asks the right questions and then provides an output report, including the Creative Commons licensing statements needed to release in accordance with NZGOAL. The tool is now behind password protection but I use it when I need to produce an NZGOAL report and licensing statements.
"With this tool, you can undertake the review and release process rapidly, and get the hardcopy and online licensing statements you need in a flash."
Have a copyright/licensing question?
Happy to jump on Teams or Zoom to talk it through. Just a 15-min chat to see if I'm the right fit.