You had to build your own servers, buy a special fast and super expensive internet connection, maintain and scale the infrastructure and data centres yourself. And all of that, before even thinking about creating a product or even attracting customers in some way.

But during those years all of these hugely expensive and time consuming tasks have been transformed into services that can just be turned on and off and plugged into your own world.

Services like AWS, Salesforce and Hubspot have made the building of a company so much easier that it used to be. And that’s awesome.

Today, if you truly know what you are doing you can assemble a stack of services to support your vision and then concentrate on what matters. Your product, your customers and your strategy.

As I follow the start-up world and the creative world very closely I see some similarities arising.

Creators a few years ago, needed to invest in websites and marketing in order to host their creations and attract eyeballs. Today platforms like Youtube, Instagram and Facebook have made that so much easier for them.

But again, creators did not have the tools to monetise their work. Then Gumroad, Patreon and Fullscreen popped out and tried to solve this problem. And they did, in a big way. Creators can now support their craft by creating and charging for it.

Today there are Youtubers making hundreds of thousands of $ per month and influencers and podcasters making millions per year. A few years ago, this was just fiction.

As a result the number of creators that have become full-time has exploded in the last 2-3 years. It’s a revolution in progress. And the pandemic only accelerated that process.

And that’s something the big distribution companies have now come to realise. They want to get in the game by providing paying solutions and better content hosting services for the creators.

Youtube launched Channel memberships, Twitter Super follows and Facebook Fan subscriptions.  TikTok, Snap, Twitch, Substack, Onlyfans and Clubhouse are doing the same as we speak.

They want to make it easy and more accessible for creators to share content and get paid. And of course they want a piece of that pie.

But we are only scratching the surface here.

There are thousands and thousands of new companies that are created for the creators. Services that can accommodate every creator need and help them become full-time on their craft. This could be the “job” of the future.

NFTs are changing the game once again bringing the value of the “authentic”, “original” and “one of a kind” creation to the online world. A single image was sold for 69M and Jack Dorsey sold his first tweet for 2.9M just some weeks ago.

Some info on NFTs: NFTs’ actual ownership is blockchain-managed. They are unique, rare and indivisible digital assets. Non-fungible tokens contain permanent metadata – like a certificate of authenticity for a rare painting. Also, developers have the power to limit the number of rare NFTs, making them scarce and desirable. Finally, NFTs cannot be split into smaller denominations – you can only trade them as a whole.

This is crazy (but is it?) and it’s only going to get more and more interesting.

The new Creator Economy is booming. Only in the USA creators earned a baseline of $6.8 billion just on the nine top platforms in 2017. 

We could be living Renaissance 2.0. This is really big and it’s only going to get bigger as time goes by.

The internet was created by people for the people and now the same people can live out of the internet not by building a business online, but by tunnelling their creativity into it. Like fuel.

The possibilities are endless here. NFTs, VR, AR, Blockchain and many more technologies embrace the dreams of creators and are used to implement service for the creators era.

The era where people’s job will be just to express themselves and share those expressions with the rest of us. 

A beautiful era.

Which ones? Well if you are reading this article you already know one of the most prominent ones. If you ask any professional working on digital marketing what is the most valuable online asset for a business, you’ll get pretty the same answer. Content. And what are the top 3 the most valuable professionals? Writers/Copywriters will certainly be an answer. 

For writers and copywriters this is their opportunity to negotiate the terms of the work in all aspects, giving them the chance to achieve the thing many of us always wanted. Self employment, financial independence, flexible working hours and work from anywhere is at the reach of their hands. And this is how we see the online freelancing professional blooming.  Such freedom though, comes with certain responsibilities, skills and knowledge that a freelance writer should acquire to be successful. For that preparation and self- education is fundamental. 

The most important element of a freelance writer’s job is to write original articles that the readers will find interesting enough to read. The second one is to get ownership of their copyright, know their rights under the copyright laws and how to protect them. 

What is original work? 

According to the copyright laws, a work that has required significant mental activity to create, and is, therefore, considered original, automatically becomes its creator’s intellectual property. 

Recent studies reveal that there are over 5 billion blogs and 7 million blog posts are published every day! Such a thing leaves you wondering, are we honestly creating so much original content on a daily basis? Obviously no. 

Every writer is aware of the practises out there to plagiarize or citate content from other authors, either because they’ve done it, or because they have seen it done to them, or both. Both practises though can be copyright infringement cases, meaning you are not producing an original work, thus not entitled to copyright over it. 

To make sure you are creating a work entitled to copyright, you need to make sure your article is not infringing on someone else copyright, and that you have actually created an original work. To do that, remember two things

1. You should be mindful of how to use someone else’s work. If you just change a few sentences and don’t give credits to the author, you are plagiarising. 
2. In case you use work from another author, the best practise is to add a citation. Now if you use too many citations in your work, it’s not original anymore.   

To be certain that you are creating original work, use other authors’ work for inspiration and spend more time to work the outline of your piece to express your point of view. That’s the reason why you became a writer in the first place right?

What is copyright?

Otherwise known as “author’s right,” copyright is a legal term used to describe the rights that creators have over their intellectual property. Copyright means “the right to copy,” therefore, only the creator – or people permitted by the creator – have the right to reproduce the work.

As a creator of original work, you are awarded copyright automatically when you produce a work that is in a tangible form (i.e. blog post, article, social post, etc.). However, registering your copyright gives you additional legal protection. This is because you may need to provide proof of ownership (or strong evidence of it) in a court of law when someone uses, copies, or distributes your work without permission.

And now what?

At this point, you have created your original work, got proof of ownership for it and now as the rightful owner you are ready to go secure a sale for it. This point is critical for you as you need to understand the rights you have over your work to negotiate a beneficial deal for you. Read carefully the contracts passed to you by your collaborators or self publishing services or even social media and DO NOT give away the ownership of your copyright. 

Work for Hire

When signing a work for hire contract you are passing all the ownership of your copyright to the person who hired you. This practically means that you can no longer make any decisions or negotiate deals and income for your work. This is the reason why most of the people interested in your work would like you to do, so they can benefit from your work as rightful owners. And this is exactly why you should avoid it. 

First & Secondary serials rights

To unlock the benefits of passive income first and secondary serials rights are two terms that you should familiarize yourself with. 

As the owner of the work when closing a deal, you should make sure that you’ve only just agreed on the right to publish, and have not sold your rights to your article or piece.

To put it simply, this means that your collaborator has paid for the right to publish your original work for the first time in a specific location. 

And at this point, you are able to unlock the passive income deriving from your secondary serial rights. As the rightful owner,  you can modify, adapt or alter in any way you see fit in order to re-sell and publish your article or piece generating income from your original work. 

To sum up, to live the dream of self employment and financial freedom, you have to educate yourself on the copyright laws and the rights you have as a creator of original work.  Be very careful on the terms of your agreement to make sure you are not passing your rights over to someone else, as you will be passing over all rights to generate income from it too. 

Firstly, let’s define what “licensed revenue” is: money earned through the licensed use of intellectual property that has a copyright attached to it. More specifically, it is intellectual property that is permitted to be used by another company for profit by the copyright holder.

So, for instance, say one of your photographs is chosen for use by a travel agency for one of their campaigns. In exchange for the use of your image, you will receive a mutually agreed upon amount of money. This amount of money is called a “licensing fee.” Consequently, money collected from this is called “licensing revenue.”

The key takeaway from this type of copyright usage is the term “approved usage.” It should come as no surprise to you when you see your work being used by another commercial entity, as this type of usage has been cleared with you for usage in advance.

In order to get to the point where you are making money from your creations, it is important to create a “licensing agreement.” Such an agreement sets out the terms and conditions for usage of the materials, as well as the fee structure for its use.

You have almost certainly used intellectual property licensed for commercial purposes at some point in your life – most likely thousands of times. For instance, do you own any professional sports apparel with your team’s logo on it? Or maybe a shirt with your favorite artist’s image? If used legally, that image was licensed for use by the copyright holders by the clothing manufacturers. 

Licensing agreements can get pretty specific. For instance, some of the terms covered may include: 

• The approved geographic region for licensed usage. So, if you are licensed to use an item of intellectual property in the US but not the EU, using it in the EU would still be considered an infringement of copyright.
• The time period allotted for usage: once your time slot has expired, so does your license to use the content.
• The exclusivity (or lack thereof) of the agreement

To put things into perspective, every aspect of technology that you use on a daily basis has a copyright and someone, somewhere, holds a license to use it for which they pay. Similarly, every picture, video, song, and book has a copyright protecting its creator from unlicensed infringement. 

However, holding a copyright does not protect you from infringement if you are unaware of it, which is why features like CopyrightsWorld’s Infringement Monitoring tool exist – to protect visionaries like yourself from missing out on revenue.

Luckily, you are one of many creators today who have to work to protect their work against potential copyright infringement, be it accidental, or very much deliberate.  

We’ve boiled down the essential steps of what to do if the worst happens and you realise that, for whatever reason, your work has been stolen. 

1. Evaluate

It’s a hard pill to swallow, but it is worthwhile to step back and objectively evaluate what exactly has occurred, and what the best and worst case outcome scenarios look like. Before you engage the party that did the infringing, figure out their goals for using your content. For instance, are they using it for personal or commercial use? Based on that, decide for yourself whether you want to ask for a certain amount of money in recompense or whether it’s worthwhile pursuing legal action… or both, or neither, or something in between. 

2. Document

Screenshots and any other documentation you can collect are your best friends at times like these. A high-resolution image (with the URL included) can speak a thousand words and solidify your case against the guilty party. Include a time-stamp, if possible. In other words, anything that will amount to concrete, irrefutable proof of infringement. Moreover, continue documenting any and all communications pertaining to the infringement, whether they are with the infringer or even your own lawyer. You want a paper trail. 

3. Notify

One follow-up possibility (although it probably won’t garner you any money) is sending a takedown notice to the host or whoever manages the websites. In many countries, a takedown notice alone requires the party that has infringed on the copyright to take down the item in question, or at the very least to take some sort of action.

4. Advocate

Copyright laws are complicated on a good day, more so when infringement occurs. Laws also vary from country to country. If you have any doubts at all as to how to proceed (and you most likely will!) or even just have questions in general, now would be a great time to reach out for professional guidance. Luckily, there are many copyright protection and monitoring services, (CopyrightsWorld is one), not to mention organisations and lawyers, that are there to help you reach the right conclusions and not over or under-react. At the end of the day, many creators tend to undervalue their work, yet engaging in a lengthy legal battle can have disastrous consequences for you. This is precisely why constant professional monitoring of infringement can be a life-saver. Automating and digitizing this process, as CopyrightsWorld has done, makes it much easier to avoid copyright infringement.

5. Contact

Now comes the trickiest part… making contact with the party you think is stealing your work. Let’s be honest – there are very, very few scenarios in which personal contact with the infringer can go smoothly. Of course, resolving matters peacefully and fairly is never off the table, but there are too many cases of the exact opposite occurring for us to recommend reaching out to the other party yourself. 

Not reaching out in person is not the extent of how far you have to remove yourself from the situation, however. You must absolutely 100% refrain from posting anything whatsoever about potential infringement activity on any public medium such as social media. 

If you decide to contact the other party after all, make sure you have a clear purpose in your communications that makes it obvious what you want from the other individual: is it money? Licensing? Recognition? If it is money, attach an invoice from other work you have licensed showing approximate costs. However, if you’re unsure about the exact commercial value of your work, don’t “guesstimate”. This will make it difficult later to seek an accurate amount for your work. Avoid the topic of pricing at all until you can ask for a specific number. 

Although the famous Oscar Wilde quote “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery” is true in some instances, creators like yourself can have their livelihoods destroyed by unauthorized copyright infringement. When your uniqueness is the backbone of your earnings, there is nothing more important than protecting your individuality. At CopyrightsWorld, we get it, and we’re here to be your copyrights watchdog.

Here is what you should know getting started: 

1. A logo can be protected by both copyright and trademark, depending on how it is used.
2. A logo copyright protects a creative design or an expression of an idea, while a logo trademark protects things that identify a business on the marketplace. 
3. As a designer this means that you can copyright protect your logo design the moment you create it. Note thought, that if you are creating it on contract for hired work, the copyright belongs to the person who hired you to create it. Registering a copyright for a logo you create can be of great importance when you are presenting a client ideas before signing a contract with them, as you can claim your rights if the client decides to take your creation and create a contract with another designer to finalise your original idea. In this case as the copyright owner you can claim your damages or payment for your work. 
4. As a business owner, make sure you obtain copyright ownership over the logo of your business using a contract for hired work with them. Whether you choose to trademark your logo or not, having copyright over it, will be crucial in case of a legal dispute. 

Having said that, let’s go see all the details around how logos are legally protected. 

Copyright © vs. Trademark ®

Copyright ©

Copyright, also referred to as “author’s right”,  is a legal term used to describe the rights that creators have over their intellectual property. Any work that has required significant mental activity to create, and is, therefore, considered original, automatically  becomes its creator’s intellectual property and is awarded with copyright. However, according to the Berne Convention, the legal framework that governs copyright globally, the beneficiary of the work is the person who has the strongest and earliest proof of ownership of it. That’s exactly who has a registered copyright and proof of ownership is so important.

Trademark ®

According to WIPO (Worldwide Intellectual Property Organisation ), a trademark is a sign that can differentiate the goods or services of one business from those of another. Such signs can be, a word or a combination of words, letters, and numerals, drawings, symbols, three-dimensional features, non-visible signs such as sounds or fragrances, or color shades used as distinguishing features – the possibilities are almost infinite.

So, as it is clear by now, both copyright and trademark protect a logo. They just protect different aspects of it. Copyright protects things a company produces. Trademark protects things that identify a company to customers and distinguishes it against rivals. 

This is also the reason why  it’s not uncommon for larger corporations to protect their identity under both trademark and copyright.

Now you might be wondering why not all businesses protect their identity and logo under both trademark and copyright. One of the main reasons is the cost. Proof of copyright ownership can be obtained easily and at very low or zero cost if you are using a service like CopyrightsWorld. 

Trademark registration can be significantly more expensive than copyright. Prices can vary a lot, depending not only on the goods and services, but also on the country or region of the business. 

One more thing you should know is that a logo without copyright or trademark registration is still protected from what is known as “common law” which is a form of legal protection for the creator of a logo or phrase, created by a business or individual to identify themselves in their industry. Just because you don’t have a trademark or copyright on your logo, it doesn’t mean you are not protected. Someone using your logo without consent, constitutes an infringement on your intellectual property.

If you find yourselves in this situation remember that you can still protect your logo in court, but you must be able to provide proof of ownership. 

To conclude 

If you are a business owner we strongly suggest consulting with a lawyer about the best option between copyright or trademark, but no matter what your case is, obtaining proof of ownership over your logo and brand identity can be a significant game changer in a court. 

Copyright infringement of digital photos differs in important ways from infringement in the markets of  music and movies. 

Opportunities for photo infringement are numerous as an infringer need not actively log into a peer-to-peer file-sharing network to infringe; one need only right-click an image found via an online search. 

It is very interesting that some infringers are unaware of the fact that they are breaching someone’s rights, or that they have any legal obligation to pay for the use of a photo. Even if they do know that they have to pay, they don’t know how much and to whom. The second fact is that infringers are typically unaware of an image’s price at the time of infringement.

While some might advocate that it’s impossible to completely prevent digital photo infringement, there are ways to protect your photos and prevent or revert their unauthorised use. 

We have picked the top five most effective things you can do to retain full control of your work – and make sure you get fairly paid.

1. Get proof of ownership by registering your copyright

When you create an original work, you are automatically granted copyright of that work, which means you can decide how it is used and distributed. 

Even though it is not mandatory, copyright registration provides valuable legal protection. It makes it easier for other people to find your protected material, and also helps you  assert your legal rights by providing date stamped evidence of the exact or approximate creation date. It can help you mitigate the risk of expensive and timely litigation, whether you are a claimant or a defendant, as you have proof of ownership. Registration is essential if you ever find yourself filing or defending an infringement lawsuit and recommended for businesses and individuals alike, who wish to protect the inherent value of their work.

Read more about the importance of copyright registration explained by General corporate lawyer Harender Branch, from UK law firm Branch Austin.

2. Use a copyright notice

Displaying a copyright notice, such as ‘© All Rights Reserved,’ has not been a legal requirement in the US since 1989. It does, however, clearly identify you as the copyright holder, thereby decreasing the likelihood it will be used without authorization and bolstering legal evidence in the case that it is.

If your photo is used online without your consent, you can assume that the user knew that the photo was copyrighted. This is a very good example of how a copyright notice can help as evidence of ownership in case of legal dispute.

3. Watermark your work

A watermark is a very prominent way of protecting your work and showing evidence of copyright ownership but unfortunately not one you can fully trust. Watermarks can be removed with a series of photo editing software and apps. 

The best method to apply watermarks is that of randomised digital watermarking. This method is based on constantly changing the watermarks’ shape and design before being applied on your photo. While it is effective it enhances an already existing challenge with watermarks which is the final design. With randomised digital watermarking, you can’t have any control over the final result and its effects on your photo. 

4. Digital sign all your photos

A very good way to have a proof of ownership is by digitally signing all of your photos. If you use this method, you can control the final outcome of your photo since it does not affect the visual of your work. In simple words, a digital signature is a photo attribute that’s not visible on your photo, until someone downloads the file. 

Upon downloading it, the user has to either not use the photo or remove the signature by cropping it out. This is a very strong evidence of photo infringement as the user intentionally breaches copyright when cropping your signature out of the photo. 

5. Use an active protection & monitoring service

While all the ways described above could work, they require your time and energy and they still don’t cover one big need. Knowing who is using your work without your consent. The web is vast and you can’t always know who is infringing your right. 

Using a copyright protection and monitoring service, such as the one offered by CopyrightsWolrd, can make the protection of your rights much easier and efficient. When you upload your file you obtain indisputable evidence of copyright ownership in your email. Then with a simple click, you can add your files for infringement monitoring and receive reports when your rights are breached. 

This way you can be certain that your rights as a creator are protected and spend more time creating more of work than worrying about how to protect it. 

Conclusion 

Photo theft is a cruel reality enabled by the technology we all hold in our hands every day and while it can be hard to eliminate it, we can find new ways to protect our intellectual property by deterrenting potential attempts or acting on the ones that have already happened. 

#1 Ideas can be copyright protected.

Ideas may be the most important part of being creative, but they can’t be “stolen” as they technically don’t belong to anyone. That’s the reason why they also can’t be copyright-protected. By “ideas,” I don’t mean patent ideas and inventions, of course, which also can’t be copyright protected. 

They can be trademarked and registered as patents. Either way, I think you know where I’m going with this: Many people can work on the same idea, and produce a totally different result. An idea can’t be copyright protected because it doesn’t mean much unless you put the work into making it a reality. An idea needs to become “tangible” for it to be copyright protected. 

The Pareto rule of 20/80 suggests that it’s 20% idea and 80% execution, and if you take a moment and think about it you’ll see that it’s true for you as well. 

An idea is conceived at the speed of light, yet an artist puts hours, days, and months into making that idea a reality. It is work and energy that make a creation significant – not the idea. 

Furthermore, the idea that inspires an artist to create a work of art can be dull or seem insignificant to others. 

We all have an unreasonable fear of sharing ideas and having them stolen. As far as I’m concerned, that actually limits creativity – and does not enhance it. 

#2 Copyright is automatic, so why register? 

Copyright is indeed “automatic”, but copyright registration is not. According to the Berne Convention, the legal framework that governs copyright globally, copyright is awarded automatically when a work is created after significant mental activity. 

However, the beneficiary of the work is the person who has the strongest and earliest proof of ownership of it. 

That’s exactly why registering a copyright is so important. It generates evidence about who the owner of the copyright is and when this copyright was claimed. 

Therefore, while timing is important, the proof of copyright also needs to be indisputable. Without registration, there is no evidence that can stand in a court of law when disputing ownership. 

#3 Copyright registration is useless, I’ve never used it in my life. 

Copyright registration is only “useless” if a creator considers their art a hobby. If they want to make a living, copyright registration is not only useful but necessary. It’s their ticket to generating revenue from their intellectual property. 

Having proof of copyright ownership over a creation allows an artist to claim damages in case of infringement, and perhaps most importantly, allows them to license their work – or even sell rights to it. 

An artist can own the copyright, but might not own the evidence of this ownership. When two artists claim to both own the copyright of a certain creation it will be one’s word against the other. 

And what happens when two people co-create a work of art, which then becomes famous? 

In the beginning, both are happy for the collaboration and proud of the work they created. They’re not thinking about what will happen if their work becomes a source of revenue for them. 

The story often ends in disagreement, lawsuits, and debates that take time, and are usually settled with compensation – and a significant amount in legal fees. 

All because there was no proof of copyright stating who the owner or co-owner is, and to what extent. 

#4 Copyright registration by sending it via mail or email to oneself. 

Sending yourself proof of ownership for your creation in a self-addressed envelope (or via email) is a way to gather evidence. It’s known as “poor man’s copyright,” as it’s very cheap. However, it’s also very weak, as it can easily be hacked and manipulated. 

The best way to acquire indisputable proof – if you don’t want to involve your lawyer –  is to trust a service like CopyrightsWorld, which has the technology to provide proof easily and reliably. 

Our platform uses blockchain technology to generate a Certificate of Ownership – an indisputable proof of ownership – allowing a creator to claim damages in case of infringement, or generate revenue by licensing rights. 

#5 Copyright registration is expensive and time-consuming. 

This claim was relevant some time ago. Copyright registration required a long bureaucratic process and a lot of paperwork needing to be filled. Less savvy people couldn’t even do it alone. 

This made the use of a lawyer – or a legal representative – necessary, adding significant cost to the process. 

It is not true anymore, and especially for digitally-created work. Furthermore, there are many very credible copyright registration providers out there that can provide you with a proof of ownership in minutes – and at a very affordable cost. 

We take pride in being one of those providers. We also go one step further, however. While we provide indisputable proof of ownership in just minutes, we can also help you monitor who uses your work, leading to possible revenue opportunities. 

To conclude, it’s very important for all creators to become more aware of their rights, find the most suitable ways to protect their work, and be able to make a living from it. 

To do so, they need to educate themselves further, believe in the value of their work, and take actions to protect their intellectual property. 

The digital era has come to provide opportunities to do this easily, reliably, and affordably. 

Bio 

Georgia is a digital marketing professional who has worked in content marketing for the past 8 years. Seeing copyright infringement take place in digital content, over the years, made her decide to join CopyrightsWorld – a platform that provides services for copyright registration, digital asset protection, and infringement monitoring – and work on offering creators ways to protect their works in the digital era. 

Sources: 

1. Different brain structures associated with artistic and scientific creativity: a voxel-based morphometry study,  https://www.nature.com/articles/srep42911 

If you are a business owner, or just take pride in your creations, you will be familiar with these terms. 

But despite hearing about them, you may have found it difficult to understand what they are, or how they are similar or differ from each other.. 

We wrote this article to shine some light on exactly those things.

Let’s first start with defining copyright and looking at how it works. 

Copyright

Whenever anything is created, whether it is a painting or a website, its creator automatically holds the sole legal copyright (often referred to as “intellectual property”) to it. 

Copyright allows the work’s owner to do with it as they please, including allowing others to make copies of it, or to use it with or without compensation.

A work’s copyright  owner is able to set all terms and conditions on how they would like to allow their work to be used, copied, or reproduced.

License

The term “license” literally means, “to give permission.” Licenses are given based upon how a work specifically allows others to use it by means of reproduction, and/or distribution. A license protects a work’s owner by allowing them to set terms for its use, while  allowing them to maintain its sole ownership through copyright. 

A person who wants to use a work, can pay to use it, but the license to do so doesn’t give them ownership, in any way.

Licenses can define numbers for use, conditions of use, as well as the time and length of use. Furthermore, a licensor can also grant a license which would allow licensees to freely use their work without an infringement claim.

Licensing can be used as a marketing or brand extension resource, by anyone – from small home-based businesses to large corporations. 

Finally, licensing can also be used as a business model without needing to make significant investment in equipment, facilities, or manufacturing processes.

Creative Commons

Creative Commons is the next generation of “licensing.” What makes it so different, is that it allows artists to share and use creative materials and knowledge through free legal tools.

The Creative Commons, offers free copyright licenses that allow public access to work, and the ability to use and share it  based upon conditions that the owner chooses. 

Creative Commons do not replace copyright; they work with copyright. This changes “all rights reserved” to “some rights reserved”, and allows rights owners  to choose and modify terms depending on how they decide to represent their work.. 

Creative Commons licensing is very simple, as it requires no registration to use. Creators choose one of six licences depending on their needs and standards and mark their work accordingly. 

Creative Commons licensing can be used for any type of work, including, music, photography, educational resources, databases, and many others. 

Pretty much anything can be covered by Creative Commons licensing.

Comparison

Now that we have looked at copyright, licenses, and Creative Commons, individually, let’s compare and contrast their distinguishing attributes. 

Creative Commons is more closely related to a license than it is to copyright. Copyright gives a work’s owner the exclusive rights to alter, copy, distribute, perform, display a work – and to allow others to do the same. 

Creative Commons licensing involves an owner allowing others to do the same, by setting terms and conditions. Creative Commons licensing makes it easy to manage copyright terms that are automatically connected to any creative work. 

The main differences between licensing and copyright are that a work’s creator owns sole rights to that work, whereas a license grants limited usage of the work, based upon restrictions the owner sets, defining how exactly the work can be used.

While there are many differences between copyright, licensing, and Creative Commons, it is important that you choose wisely when deciding how to protect your work. 

You wouldn’t want others to take advantage of you by claiming your work as their own. This could lead to a lengthy legal battle, which is the last thing you want to have to deal with. 

Do yourself – and your work – a favour, and protect your copyright before choosing how to licence it. In the end, you will be thankful you did.