Newsletter
| September, 2005 Some rights reserved: copyright & creative commons As a creative consultant and content creator I often get questions from clients about copyright issues and how they relate to protecting content within marketing materials or web sites. You Own It, Sort Of... In the U.S. with some exceptions, you own the copyright to everything that you create. There are however, procedures you must follow to protect that copyright. Following these procedures requires money, time or an understanding of copyright law. A Flexible Alternative There is an organization that helps you keep your copyright while giving you the choice of how your original content can be used and protected. Creative Commons is a nonprofit that offers an alternative and a flexible copyright for creative work. The no fee licenses that they offer allows creators a way to protect their work while encouraging certain uses of them. Some Rights Reserved Most of us only deal with copyright in terms of all rights reserved or no rights reserved (public domain). A Creative Commons copyright license does not negate a U.S. copyright, but it does enhance it. For instance, a musician can choose to make recorded tracks available for sampling as long as attribution is given. A writer can choose to allow others to distribute their work but not allow derivative works (works based on the original). The licenses are also recognized by a good number of countries around the world and more are signing on. All pages on the Pylon Studios web site and our newsletters always include a Creative Commons license on the page. Look for the 'cc' logo at the bottom of this email. The digital code embedded in the logo is lawyer readable and machine readable and it creates a way for people to find me in case they want to get permission from me to use my content. Find out more about this innovative approach and the organization behind it at: www.creative commons.org. Other links: Nolo Press: www.nolopress.com U.S. Copyright Office: www.copyright.gov California Lawyers for the Arts: www.calawyersforthearts.org Back to the Newsletter page Sign up to get your copy of the Pylon Page |
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