SeLiLi: the Free Licenses Service Clinic

The Free Licenses Service clinic (Servizio Licenze Libere, SeLiLi) started its activity in 2006 as an initiative of the Nexa Center, funded by Regione Piemonte. The activity of SeLiLi regularly continued during the last year: its results are available on the website http://selili.polito.it.

All projects, websites, mailing-lists, etc. dealing with open source and open content issues include disclaimers stressing that any information is provided as is. In order to use such information it is necessary to contact a professional, usually a lawyer, who can advise on the specific case. This is problematic, since professional services are frequently not affordable; to avoid such situations, the SeLiLi project helps users pursuing their initiatives and openly share their results.

SeLiLi offers informative services and professional advice on free and open source software and open licenses: the first seek to solve issues regarding the basic characteristics of licenses; the second takes place when a specific request is too complex. In such cases, a professional consultation between a qualified professional and the requester takes place (the cost is covered by the Piedmont Region).

During 2014-2015 SeLiLi continued its typical informative activities with the exchange of about 28 messages on the internal mailing-list, which represents the discussion of 4 cases regarding the involvement of CC Licenses within pertaining or loosely related legal issues (e.g., dissemination of creative works, patents and copyright infringement). During the last year, SeLiLi did not activate any new professional advice; the most complex requests were handled referring to previous advices made available on the website (no requests of further assistance have been received)..

In addition to its regular activities, SeLiLi has published a Handbook for public performances of Creative Commons licensed music describing the legal requirements for public performances of Creative Commons licensed music (e.g., taxes withheld for artistic performances; permission from the Italian Collecting Society to use copyrighted material and related obligations; related rights of performers) and providing other practical information and external resources for the organization of public musical performances. Comments are welcome on GoogleDocs.

In 2012, the only professional advice activated concerned the WikiLovesMonuments initiative.

The 2011 public report of the project activities, carried out by Giulia Aresca, is available on the SeLiLi website (PDF file).