How Creative Commons licenses compromise your rights
Creative Commons licenses are popular with many artists and have gained popularity
with the rise of social websites such as Flickr and Facebook. What many people don’t
realize, however, is that a Creative Commons license actually sacrifices an artist’s
rights and limits their options.
Creative Commons licenses began as a way for people to openly share intellectual
property, including music, images, artwork, and software. Although several different
types
of Creative Commons licenses exist, each one enables others
to use an author’s work freely to one degree or another.
Perhaps worst of all, a Creative Commons license cannot be revoked. Once you make
the decision to share your work openly and freely, you cannot change your mind.
You effectively give up the rights to your work and allow others certain rights
to your work.
Copyrighting your work protects your rights to your work, and not the rights of
others to your work. Even if you copyright your work, you are still free to allow
others to use that work. But with copyright protection, you have a say in how others
use your work. With a copyright, you can license your work to ensure that, if used
commercially, you stand to share in the profits.
Don’t give others the right to your work: Copyright today and protect your rights!