Take my content…Please!
…to paraphrase the late, great Rodney Dangerfield. Now, I love my content – just as I’m sure Rodney (really) loved his wife. However, I’m not too hung up on copyrighting (since I don’t sell my content). But, there’s a growing grumbling/rumbling about copyrights out here in blogville. Personally, I’ve always said to feel free to use my musings (blog, e-letter, etc.) as long as I get a link and reference somewhere.
For a good way to both protect yourself and still be user and reader friendly – you can do what my friends at Bare Feet Studios recommend: Use Google Alerts to Protect Company Assets
Lots of hoo-ha out there about all this – John Dvorak’s Creative Commons Humbug is some good perspective.
Oh – and here’s a lot of my content (nearly 2 1/2 years of e-letters, with topics ranging from when to hire a consultant to brochures to how to get investors for your business) Just give me credit and a link somewhere if you decide to use any of it.
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M – I copied this from a previous post of mine. I read Mr. Dvorak’s article and he’s pretty soggy on the subject. He needs to do more research and understand copyright law better IMHO. Mr. Lessig has created a great alternative avenue for flexible copyrights. I’ve read his works and don’t agree with everything but he’s on target more than not.
Copyrights in a digital world:
I’ve been either a full or part time commercial photographer my entire adult life so I can say with conviction that nothing is more important to commercial artists or writers than managing rights of copy. It’s how they make a living.
As you know, a digital copy is really a clone. Also as you, know, distribution of digital clones is easier than toasting bread to a golden brown. This ease of cloning and distributing pirated content inspires a knee jerk reaction similar to our current administration’s solution to global terrorism. Well … almost that jerky; the recording industry is a great example of a traditional corporate response.
Naturally, they will fail to get the results they want with a traditional approach [GW, are you reading this?]. Human motivations don’t change so we can look to history for behavior patterns. However, technology can dramatically alter tactical choices; looking to history can prove costly when planning a tactical response. My point? As a commercial artist, musician, or writer, your copyright strategy may need to change.
Go here to read more: http://www.synthesiscreative.com
Go here to learn about copyright alternatives: http://creativecommons.org