Creative Commons started in 2001 as a project to take some of the ideas of the open-source movement, especially the GNU Project, and apply them to content. Where many commercial audio and video productions bear the words, "All Rights Reserved," Creative Commons is based on the concept of Some Rights Reserved. Now, Creative Commons has licenses specifically designed for books, movies, video, and other content forms, but you'll be most interested in the licenses designed for audio recordings. There are four different categories of license, each granting a different set of uses. They are
Attribution allows downloaders to listen to your podcast, copy it, distribute it, and create derivative works based on it, but only if they give you proper credit. tip
Non-commercial says that your podcast listeners can listen to, copy, distribute, and create derivative works based on your podcast, but only if they're doing it as a hobby or for school workthey're not allowed to try to make money off of your podcast. No Derivative Works allows your listeners to listen to and distribute your podcast, but doesn't allow them to create anything that derives from your workno mashups, for example, or long show compilations that include your podcast. Finally, Share Alike means that listeners can create derivative works from yours, but only if their work is then distributed under a license similar to yours. This license is the one most like the GNU license that is commonly used by people writing computer software. When you look through the licenses available from Creative Commons, you will likely find one that exactly matches the way you want to express your rights to your podcast. If you have any doubts, the Creative Commons website, www.creativecommons.org, has a series of questions that, when answered, help you choose the appropriate license. Once that's done, you're shown text and an icon to place on your website and in your media, and your work is protected by the license.
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