There’s been a fair amount of discussion recently in the weblog world about the Creative Commons copyright licensing system. The CC meme spread like wildfire after it was introduced — spread, in part, by the recent Eldred vs. Ashcroft court decision that extended copyright terms. Today, Shelley wondered if she and Jonathan Delacour — who have both decided to forego the CC licence in favor of the more traditional “all rights reserved” copyright — “…can be the only two people who want to have some control over how our work is used. We can’t possibly be the only two people who believe this. Can we?”
Well, other people have already chimed in, but I can too — no, you two aren’t! I took a look at the CC licences when they first appeared, and considered adopting one of them for my weblog, but in the end, also decided not to. At the bottom of every page on this site, you’ll see the standard copyright line, and that’s how I intend to keep it.
Now, I sincerely doubt that anyone would ever go to the trouble of abusing the copyright I’ve claimed. Little of what I write here would really be publishable in any form other than that of a weblog — short comments, the occasional witty-in-my-head comment that very likely falls flat when read by anyone else, and the occasional long, rambling blather about my oh-so-(un)interesting life. However, whether or not it’s something that is of a quality to “deserve” copyright protection isn’t really the point — everything here that I’ve created, I’ve created, and I have every right to determine the ultimate fate of my creations (even if that fate is nothing more than getting lost in the great bit bucket of the Internet).
So — this space, such as it is, is mine, and copyrighted as such. Quote me if you like (preferably with a link back to me — I could use the traffic!), just respect the copyright and don’t steal from me. That’s all I ask. Simple enough, isn’t it?