Creative Commons Licenses

Are you worried about your blog work getting used elsewhere? And getting no credit for it? Someone else pinching a photo or three off Flickr, Picasa, Google images or Webshots? Have you done that yourself when desperate for a suitable photo?

It sure happens. Have a look at : http://www.creativecommons.org.au/licences as this system is applied in Australia. Similar systems operate elsewhere around the world too.

This is a system which tries to fairly sustain ownership of creative work - written, scientific, visual, audio and so on to the creator of the work through a lowered level of copyright. If you like, allowing use under certain conditions and purposes provided they give attribution to the original creator of the work, for mostly non-commercial use.

You can join and claim ownership of your work. As easy as putting a license on your blog or website.

It is a sensible and useful option where you can assert ownership of the creative work, without getting all tied up in copyright disputes. Something that has happened recently over a photo that seems to have been used almost everywhere this person's photo appeared, in both commercial and non-commercial uses. Was getting a bit crazy.......yet this system would have overcome almost all of the issues raised by the purported original copyright owner [they never really established that either].

We all seem to use a variety of sources in what is written or created, and this option can offer a degree of fairness to all - creators and users.

Have you any experience with the system? Do you attribute any sources used in your blog or website? Please share your ideas.