Article - The Question of Copyright

By Ron Cotton – August 16, 2005

As your reading this, creative minds are creating new material. Recent legislative changes in copyright law deem all creative works as “copyrighted by default.” A majority of authors demand this protection, while others wish for their materials shared and added upon by the general public. In these other circumstances, a copyright might not be the best solution, but if it is, it might require clarification so others may make use of your materials without infringing upon your rights.

Public Domain is a donated work demanding nothing from others who use your work. Public Domain is also known as “No Rights Reserved.” Any duplication, recreation, modification, or merchandising of Public Domain material is allowed. Copyrighted works that expire go public domain, while other works are immediately dedicated to the public domain. Be aware! If you use public domain in your derivite works, you must somehow provide prove that it's in fact Public Domain.

Creative Commons licences are additive to copyrighted material explaining outright the terms in which your materials are treated, opening the spectrum between “All Rights Reserved” and Public Domain's “No Rights Reserved.” Creative Commons gives the author four conditions to apply to his copyrighted material. As long as others follow the conditions set, they may do so without contacting the author. Permission by the author is needed only if others wish to use your copyrighted materials that serves against the Creative Commons Licence.

For example, a Creative Commons licence might specify “No Commerical Use.” Others can create numberous variations stemming from that material without asking the original author. Yet as soon as that material or a modified version of that material is used “for profit” purposes, they must contact and negotiate with the creative author to get a release.

Open Content is materials that are created to be shared amongst the public. GNU licencing is the most infamous while Creative Commons licences has mechinisms in place forcing derivative works to “Share-Alike.” GNU protected great works like the Linux Operating System and Wikipedia from industrial copyright theft. Originally to protect computer software, GNU licenses now also protect other written works.

In close, Public Domain, Creative Commons, and GNU open the scope in which to protect, share, and collaborate information among peers and the general public. Licences should be considered before completion of any serious work. This article touches upon some options available. All of the above techniques including copyright law has its weeknesses and flaws, so for your own sake, allow time for further research and protect your material accordingly.

References:
Wikipedia Entries: Public Domain, Creative Commons, Open Content, and GNU License.
Creative Common's Publishing - This page allows publishing Public Domain, Creative Commons, as well as GNU Licenses.