Copyright Tools From Creative Commons
If your blog is just something you share with a few friends and family members, you probably don’t need to concern yourself with this. If, however, you’re a professional writer, or a popular blogger of some kind, you may want to indicate what others are allowed to do with your work. Generally speaking, most professional writers are going to be plenty happy if Dick or Jane pops by the blog and discovers something they want to share with the world. If Dick or Jane wants to reproduce the writing in any way, MOST writers are cool with this: As long as the copyright terms are not violated!
So what are these terms? It varies. Different writers care about different things. Fortunately, you can make your conditions easily known by placing a special copyright button (an icon) on your blog where visitors can see it. All they have to do is click on the button, and they’ll be redirected to the Copyright Common’s webpage, where they will see your stipulations spelled out for them. More than likely, you’ll want the popular version, which lets people republish, as long as they attribute the article to you, do not alter the work in any way, and do not earn money from it.
How do I get the button thing? Creative Commons has a nifty webpage where you can make your copyright button. All you need to do is answer 2 questions and click submit. Once that’s done, it will redirect you to a page with several buttons to choose from – choose the one you like best, they are all the same, they just look a bit different.
How do I put it on my blog? That same page will then display the HTML code – cut and paste and then stick it in your blog code. For Blogger this is particularly easy. It will then show up as a clickable icon and everyone will know your stuff is copyrighted to some degree.
Does this replace a Library of Congress copyright? No. But those don’t stop people from being jerks and copying your crap, anyway. This is mostly just a way to let people know how you want your work to be treated. And generally most people are cool about it. If they aren’t, just send them an email and ask them to take it down – most will. If they don’t, you could always blog about them and give them some bad press.
How much does it cost? Nada, the icons are free!