Since March 2011, the University of Florida’s George A. Smathers Libraries have included a Creative Commons CC0 statement in all of its original bibliographic cataloging records. This initiative was discussed with OCLC senior management at the time and we were assured that it was consistent with the then current OCLC Rights and Responsibilities.
We have been advised by OCLC that “the inclusion of a CC0 statement in a WorldCat enhanced record implies unrestricted use of the record which is not aligned with WorldCat Rights and Responsibilities.… Additionally, it is not permitted in your contractual agreements with OCLC.”
We were also informed that OCLC has removed the CC0 statement from our records. This action by OCLC does not affect retention of the CC0 statement in any copies of our records that are available elsewhere. Nevertheless, effective immediately, we are no longer inserting the CC0 statement in records created using OCLC platforms and services.
The following MARC 588 field (Source of Description Note) will continue to be added to records in Alma and other platforms and not contributed to OCLC platforms and services.
588 _ _ $a This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 “No Rights Reserved” license. The University of Florida Libraries, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.
“The Creative Commons CC0 “No Rights Reserved” license is in use at this time. The full legal code is available here.
For more information, please refer to the RDS@UF LibGuide.