This week is about protecting and sharing our work. For any work you produce, it’s always best to release it under a license of some sort. There are multiple ways to do this through Copyright, Copyleft and Creative Commons.
Copyright
“Copyrights exist in order to protect authors of documentation or software from unauthorized copying or selling of their work. A copyright infers that only with the author’s permission may such activities take place.”
Copyleft
I wasn’t aware there was such thing as Copyleft.
“A Copyleft provides a method for software or documentation to be modified, and distributed back to the community, provided it remains Libre.
In the case of Libre Documentation, an author can place his or her copyright into the document, and use distribution terms, such as those in the GNU Free Documentation License, which gives everyone the rights to use, modify, and redistribute the code, but only if those distribution terms remain unchanged. This ensures that the source code and the freedoms are legally inseparable.”
Creative Commons
“Creative Commons licenses provide an alternative to standard copyrights, allowing authors to specify ways that their works can be used without having to grant permission for each individual request.“
If you don’t want anything happening with your work, chose copyright. Unless you specify the terms carefully, Creative Commons is most likely a better alternative than Copyleft if you want your work available for others to alter or distribute. The Creative Commons website can help you chose the correct combination of terms.
What if I do not choose a license for my work?
If you are lazy and choose not set a license for your work you are better of not doing the work at all. Someone can come along and steal it all too easily which would render all your hard work as good as useless. It’s super important to get an understanding of intellectual property and how you can protect it. You will likely need it sooner rather than later.
References
Copyright vs. Copyleft. (n.d.). Retrieved June 10, 2020, from https://www.gnu.org/gwm/libredocxml/x53.html#:%7E:text=Copyright%20vs.,or%20selling%20of%20their%20work.&text=A%20Copyleft%2C%20on%20the%20other,community%2C%20provided%20it%20remains%20Libre.
Creative Commons Licenses: An Introduction for Researchers | AJE. (n.d.). Retrieved June 10, 2020, from https://www.aje.com/arc/creative-commons-intro/
PRJ701 Blog - Gijs 