Protecting Creative Works in the Internet Age, with Mike Linksvayer
Stranova Interview Series Vol. 24, published August 28, 2006.\n\nThe Internet has made it relatively easy to distribute materials such as Microsoft Word\xae documents, Powerpoint\xae presentations, graphics files, and even podcasts over the internet. Email has been one distribution means, websites have offered another, and the growth of RSS feeds to help propogate both blog content and podcasts have created yet another wave. Individual creativity distributed over the internet is growing faster than ever, it seems, but until recently the only way to legally \u201cmark\u201d it as something you own was limited to marking it as \u201cCopyrighted Material\u201d. Unfortunately, this \u201cone size fits all approach\u201d is often too restrictive, making it effectively illegal even to download something marked as \u201cCopyrighted\u201d, except for the so-called (and, to many, confusing) \u201cfair use\u201d provisions of the law. In this week\u2019s episode of Stranova, \u201ctune in\u201d to learn how in just a few years of existence the innovative non-profit enterprise Creative Commons has changed all that, through its introduction of \u201ccommon sense\u201d legal \u201ccreative work\u201d licenses that make it easier to distribute your creative works as broadly as you want, while still retaining the legal rights you may may need.