I use a Creative Commons licence for most of what I publish around the place. It makes sense to share and build on information. What I ask though is that my contribution is acknowledged and recognised.
Last year, for example, I found one of my MacTips had been republished in a free publication, with no link back to my site, and no credit as to its source. I contacted the organisation and asked them to put that right.
Of course, some of my work is just plain old copyrighted, such as the book Maria Langer and I wrote that was published by Peachit: WordPress 2 Visual Quickstart Guide. Thousands of hours and a significant dollar amount were invested by various contributors (writers, editors, publishers, printers and so on). That kind of investment has to be recouped by sales, and those sales are protected by copyright.
Still, Creative Commons is interesting, and an all-round cool way to contribute to the mass of information swirling around the world. To find out more, look at the Creative Commons (NZ) website, or just attend the seminar later this month.
Creative Commons aims to establish a fair middle way between the extremes of copyright control and the uncontrolled exploitation of intellectual property.
It provides a range of copyright licences, freely available for public use, which allow those creating intellectual property — including authors, artists, educators and scientists — to mark their work with the freedoms they want it to carry.
Expanding Copyright Horizons through Creative Commons — 27 October 2007
A seminar to build understanding of the new licensing environment in the digital world:
- Are you involved in creating intellectual property?
- Do you have an interest in the direction of new open content licensing?
- Would you like to know more about Creative Commons and how it applies to your work?
Then come along to this free seminar in Wellington on Saturday 27 October.
[Via : Webgrrls mailing list.]
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