I have been writing and publishing news articles for nearly a year. I am currently studying to get an arts degree majoring in English. Although I have been writing fiction, more or less, practically all my life, I only took fictional writing as a serious, outside-of-the-classroom venture in the Fall of 2001 and have written anything ranging from poems to novels. A notable work was a poem I wrote during highschool. It was entered in a writing contest along with several other poems. It did not win. I then entered the same poem (unaltered) in a university writing contest and got published in my University anthology of the year. I have only published news articles for multiple sources since. I write for Slyck.com and I have a blog and a free music download page of music I created and posted online free under a Creative Commons License.
02. What is Creative Commons?
Creative Commons is a licensing system that allows a creator to choose specifically what the creator wants to be done with his or her work. It is a legally enforcable system that is avaliable in many countries. One of the common misconceptions is that Creative Commons means that the artists are just giving away content for free and not making any money as a result. There are cases where that is such the case, but one can make money through Creative Commons and Creative Commons is flexible enough to allow creators to simply release samples of content. In fact, there are even cases where the creator is giving away the content for free and making money. If you are a creator of content (be it music, fiction, software, etc.) and you reside in Canada, you can get a license or find out more information here. If you live in the US, I can point you to the US version. Anywhere else, you might want to check out this webpage to find your jurasdiction.
03. Why Creative commons?
Like many creators befor me, Creative Commons was a choice. For me personally, it was a number of factors. I reside in Canada, although the local Copyright laws have remained to be OK (outdated, but OK) I fear that copyright stakeholders have a very good chance at turning copyright laws into an unfavorable direction. As a content creator, I feel that this is a threat to my works.
Copyright is "All rights reserved". This sounds wonderful. It sounds like the creator has rights to their works and no one will "steal" the work. This is certainly true in a legal sense, but it doesn't tell the whole story in the process. In fact, it does a very good job at covering up the downfalls of such a concept in the digital age we live in today. One downfall is that people could possibly use this as a weapon against fan creations and non-commercial reproduction. Thousands of lawsuits in the United States have been launched against allegid copyright infringers who share files over the internet. with the exception of maybe one, all have been either dropped or forced to settle. These "settlements" are typically the results of people who have been unable to pay the legal fees and have no choice but to pay up money. No evidence to prove or disprove necessary for the copyright industry, they just make 3,000 to 4,000 dollars USD per settlement. While I'm sure a potential creator or two might think they recieve the money, I have heard no evidence to support the idea. Yes, I don't think the creators see a dime of this settlement money. With the idea of a chance that this might happen in Canada, I do not want to see any risk of this happening over my works and have taken steps ahead of time to make sure that such a thing doesn't happen.
I think this whole legal lawsuits sends a terrible message to customers. As Steven Page once said, "you can't say, 'see you in court', then turn around and say 'see you at the concert'" (or something like that) I completely agree and agree with the views of the Canadian Music Creatos Coalition. I think this idea applies to other forms of entertainment including fiction. As of this writing, the copyright debate has been rather interesting in Canada, I do remain hopeful that fair and balanced copyright reform makes its way onto the legislation table and not copyright that aims to restrict users rights.
04. What do you think of file-sharing and p2p?
File-sharing, or P2P, is an amazing promotional tool. It has allowed millions of users to enjoy back catalogue content as well has enabled artists to be heard in ways that would not otherwise be possible whether it is TV or radio (the traditional means of discovering new content) I feel that file-sharing is the unbiased radio of the information age. Some artists and hundreds of studios/labels would probably rather see the demise of, what I think, the ultimate library. A lot of file-sharing is non-commercial. No one is making any money. Studies have shown that people who hear about artists actually do go out and buy the content afterwards. I think file-sharing has helped creators ten to one hundred fold. Even the major record labels (though they find it hard to admit) have been experienceing major profit increases. If one makes money, they are not sustaining "major losses" as they keep saying over and over again. More money is not a 'loss', it's a gain. Anothe side of this is the fact that creators build on other creators conciously or sub-conciously. Even Stephen King admits to being influenced by other authors in his 'On Writing' book and lists a massive list of works. He even advocated that writers need to read as well. If one locks down their work and sues people who have written works as inspired by other creators because it could be seen as somehow remotely similar, the creation process is greatly stiffled.
I think it is true what they say. Copyrighting your work is turning out to being a time-bomb for intellectual property. Sooner or later, it'll die under the restraints of restriction because the creator likely feels that his or her work is being 'stolen'. There is a great irony when an author is worried about other creators 'taking from' his or her work. I think that if one loosens up and relieves the work from heavy restrictions, it'll stand a larger chance of transending time - much like public domain scholars works (which is what I have studied in depth for my english degree strangely enough ;-) )
Unlike some creators who are afraid of having their works "pirated" on file-sharing networks, I hope someone "rips me off", "steals" and posts my works on file-sharing networks. I would be thrilled if it lands on file-sharing networks that are notorious for being little more then "garden variety theft" and "gets swapped at a ferocious rate". "Steal;" my works, please! :-) (but you just can't sell it :-P )
05. Do you say piracy is OK?
It's a very tricky question. I do not actively condone pirating copyrighted works, especially when the artist or creator have explicitly asked not to have their works so-called "pirated". While I personally do not think they have the right idea when it comes to intellectual property, it is ultimately their decision and not mine to make. However, especially if the creator has explicitly stated it's OK, I'd say you are only helping the creator by re-posting the content elsewhere like file-sharing networks and other websites. So the short answer is, 'depends on what you are so-called "pirating"'.
07. I would like to make a cover/artwork for your project, interested?
Are you as open to Creative Commons as I am? Then, by all means, knock yourself out. Go ahead and make any artwork, etc. Chances are, though, I won't be posting anything up in terms of official covers/artwork until the project or book is done unless I know for sure that the picture is suitable for the work. Of course, I'll attribute to whomever creates the picture ;-). If you want to get paid for the artwork, then, sorry, I'm a broke and starving student. I can't really afford something like that at all. Also, bear in mind that these won't likely be a picture book in digital format either, so if I do recieve a large amount of submissions, I'll have to decide which is best. This does NOT mean I won't link to fan art and the likes (I'd be more then happy to - just don't expect to instantly get added, I'm a busy sort too). I am also open to more than one cover as well especially since other published works feature more than one cover.
08. Can I do an audiobook version of this?
You spoil me! Go for it! Like I said with the other question, I won't be able to pay anyone to make it, but I would be more then happy to link to it. I know I have space for my music, but I simply don't have enough space to post the entire audiobook on this website. Linking? Hash-linking? No problem, I'd be happy to do it (though, like I said before, don't expect it to be an instant thing)
09. Can you make money on this book?
In the confines of this website, no. That would breach the rules of me being able to have this webspace. I do not feel like testing the limits of what I can get away with here, but any commercial purposes on this server has been prohibited on this server as far as I know. However, that doesn't stop me from posting on external sites.
10. HELP! I'm being sued by a publishing company for sharing your work!!!
I need to see the cease and desist letter then. I will then proceed to try and file a complaint with Creative Commons Canada over a breach in contract with whoever is alleging this. However, if you are sharing copyrighted files as well, I cannot help you because I have no rights to those files. Also, derivitives of these works are to be under an identicle license. So the above mentioned procedure is to be followed. the only time it is possible is if I change the license of the work, but that is as likely as hell freezing over at this point. Either way, I'll do whatever I can to alleviate the problem that arises over my work.
11. Umm, this stupid FAQ didn't answer my question!
Really? Is it a question about a specific work? You might need to refer to that specific FAQ for more information. Otherwise, you can contact me through the usual channels.
12. Usual channels? WTF???
Most of you probably heard me through Slyck, so you can PM me on the forums very easily. Some of you personally know me, so you should know my personal e-mail account(s). A couple (it might change if this project unexpectedly takes off) of you might know me through my blog, so posting a comment should also be sufficient. I won't post them up here to avoid spam bots. They found my blog, so I'm being extra cautious ;-).
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