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Since I added Creative Commons protection to this blog, I have received a number of enquiries about what it is and how it works.

So… I figured I’d elaborate. See, I’m nice like that.

What is Creative Commons?

Creative Commons is actually an organisation. A non profit organisation to be more specific. Their fundamental aim to encourage and expand the use of online creative works in a legal way that protects the rights of their creators. It does this through a series of licenses… The Creative Commons Licences.

Essentially, anything that is copyrightable can be protected under Creative Commons. So written materials such as blogs or poetry can be protected. Music and other audio recordings can be protected too. So blogs are definitely eligible. Bear in mind though, that ideas cannot be copyrighted at all. This means that a Creative Commons License would not be suitable for ideas or concepts.

There are several types of license available, all elaborated on the website I have linked to below. Some allow for completely free reproduction of your work, while others allow for non-commercial reproduction with attribution to the creator of the work.

How Do I Apply for Creative Commons?

This is easy…. just go to this website and follow the questionnaire through. It will ask you what types of permissions you want to apply to your work and give you the appropriate licence.

How Much Does It Cost?

It doesn’t! Creative Commons Licenses are free.

Of course being a freely available license, Creative Commons is growing in popularity. Previous legal case studies have resulted in Creative Commons license holders winning, which means the license holds legal credibility as well.

This really is a very brief rundown of Creative Commons Licensing. Your best bet for a full breakdown of all the small print and whether it will work for you, is to read around the Creative Commons website carefully.

Either way, protecting any work you make available online should be a high priority. Of course, the fact remains that once you make something available online, you cannot control who accesses it and what they do with it. This is how Creative Commons works so well.. it actually encourages others to use your work in ways and means that you stipulate.