For some time now I have been considering a change in the license of my photographic works. Until now I have been sharing my photographs on the Internet under a strict Copyright license, the one we have always had. This is: no one should be able to use my photos, under any circumstances, without my explicit consent. Not even mentioning me as their author. Nothing nothing.
As if that were not enough, I even set up an "action" in Photoshop with which I add a watermark to all my photos and that says "Photographer's Blog". So if someone comes up with the sad idea of copying my photos without my permission, at least the photo would have its origin stamped on it.
When I think about it with perspective I realize how base and how seedy my attitude is. Oh really. Today I am considering a change of attitude, and I would like to know what you think and open up the debate a bit.
LICENSES OF USE AND AUTHORSHIP
Many people confuse the use license with authorship. The usage license is simply the framework under which people may (or may not) use your photos. For example, you can decide that nobody uses your photos without your express permission, which would be the Copyright or Reserved Rights that we all know. "This is my work and I don't want anyone to use it without my express consent."
Fortunately there are other licenses, the most famous in terms of digital photography is the "Creative Commons". With this license, what you mainly do is open the door for anyone to use your photograph, without having to ask for your express consent, as long as they respect certain conditions. Those conditions will depend on the type of Creative Commons license that you have decided to grant to your photos (we will see that now in a moment).
Authorship is something totally different. It means recognizing that so-and-so is the author of such a photograph or of such a work. It is different from the License of Use. Allowing other people to use our works does not mean that they can lie about the authorship of the photo by awarding it to another person. The authorship is unalterable.
TYPES OF CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSE
If you are interested in sharing your photographs under this license but you are worried that others could profit from them without you seeing a single penny, don't worry, there are different types of Creative Commons licenses that, although they allow people to use your work , impose certain restrictions according to your preferences.
Next I will detail the different types that there are:
Acknowledgment: Allows other people, companies or organizations to use your work as long as they mention you as its author.
Non-Commercial: Anyone can use your work as long as they are not going to profit from it.
No Derivative Works: Anyone can use your work as is, without altering it in the slightest.
Share Alike: Anyone can use your work as long as it is to re-share the final result under the same license.
With these 4 mentions that there are, one can combine them as you prefer to license your work, having the peace of mind that your name will be mentioned, that it will not be commercialized with your work and everything that one wants to include as conditions of use. Here I show you the possible combinations that there are (I copy and paste from the official Creative Commons page, click on the text to see it larger).
I BECOME CREATIVE COMMONS, ARE YOU IN?
As I was saying, I am not satisfied that my photos have strict Copyright. Since its birth, this blog has been fed with photographs whose owners had the courtesy to share them under a Creative Commons License. Thanks to that I am able to illustrate most of the articles I publish. On the other hand, publishing one's photos under closed Copyright is like putting doors on the field. Let's not fool ourselves, no matter how much you put Copyright on it, anyone can download your photo, crop it so that your watermark does not appear, and use it around under their name. What are you going to do, sue him in court? It is said soon but, I don't know...
Taking photos and hanging them means you can create something. Sharing your photos under a Creative Commons license means helping others create something out of yours.
At the end of the day I will not get rich selling photos, what else does it matter to me to share them for free and, as long as I am listed as the author, that others can use them freely.
