Den 03.02.2007 kl. 01:22 skrev Rupert <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > That's true - Copyright protection for all created media is > automatic as soon as there is a record in any form of the material > that has been created - but you can see how an infringer could make a > persuasive case to try and set precedent that material distributed > freely on the web is fair game, and how they could argue for fair use > of this, and most of all how they could put up such a good case for > this that you'd have to have balls of steel and very deep pockets to > see how far they were willing to go.
No, I do not see that happening. Maybe if you were suing a soccer mom because she used one of your photos on her personal homepage, but not in other cases. But you're not out to defend yourself against people like that. > Whereas a CC license that states clearly what it can and *can't* be > used for shifts the playing field dramatically - suddenly they are > obviously, hands down, the bad guys, for all the reasons I wittered > on about before. I would say that this *does* matter if you want > protection. In the sense of lawsuits CC doesn't change anything dramatically. What can and can't be done with a given work have *always* (since the Berne Convention anyway) been stated clearly. CC *changes* what can and can't be done (ie. the author gives up some of his rights), but it's not special in the sense that a viewer now knows what he can do - he always knew that (or should). CC does help you protect your content for two reasons. First because your work had more protections before you applied the license and secondly because ignorance if not a valid defense. The fact that the CC license is linked directly from your page doesn't give you any more protection legally than usually. It may mean fewer soccer moms put copies in the local town paper, but that's a different story. You should not choose a CC license if you want to protect yourself against misuse of your content. You should choose a CC license if you think the world would be a better place when people share creative works amongst each other. Finally, as Verdi pointed out. You shouldn't be suing people. You should just bill them and move on with your life. -- Andreas Haugstrup Pedersen <URL: http://www.solitude.dk/ >
