Law Office of Jason H. Rosenblum, PLLC

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How to Share Your Work with Others Using a Creative Commons License ** Attorney Advertising **

Much of the focus of intellectual property law is dedicated to helping business owners protect their work from being used by others. But, there are times when an artist or content creator may actually want to make their work available to the public for easy and widespread use that would otherwise infringe on their copyright.
In such cases, a person or artist can attach a Creative Commons License to their work to meet their goals. A Creative Commons License gives someone else permission to do anything with a work that the law reserves exclusively to a licensor and that the license does not expressly allow.
For example, a photographer may wish to make their images available for use to the public in order to provide greater exposure to their art and open their work up to potential new client bases. But, rather than provide their photographs completely free for use on the internet, the photographer may attach a Creative Commons License which allows others to copy, distribute, or even tweak their work without the artist losing his or her copyright protection.
The terms of a Creative Commons license may vary as the artist or content creator is able to stipulate their desired level of protection, including whether or not to allow commercial use or modification to the work. Generally speaking, the Creative Commons License that is created works around the world and lasts as long as the applicable copyright lasts.
It’s important to note that having a Creative Commons License that clearly lays out the terms of use regarding a work is not just beneficial to the artist, but to the end user, too.  When the user is able to understand and ultimately follow the artist or creator’s demands, he or she can feel confident that they are not engaging in activity that would result in copyright infringement down the road.
Again, the level of protection that an artist or content creator wishes to attach to their work may vary, so it’s best to work with a Copyright attorney when developing a Creative Commons License for full protection and peace of mind. If you have questions about how to attach a Creative Commons License to a work, or if you’d like assistance developing the terms of your own license, we invite you to contact our New York and South Carolina Copyright attorneys at 888-666-0062 to schedule a complimentary consultation.