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      • Chapter 2: Lindsi
      • Chapter 3: Fusion
      • Chapter 4: Morning
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~ A selection of tales from across the Multiverse! Travel via Waypoint to learn more…

Tag Archives: Copyright

Copy-What Now?

21 Fri Oct 2016

Posted by Metalwings in Authorial Gubbins

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Copyright

Seems it’s about time to do one of these again. I don’t think my position has particularly changed, but some of these thoughts are worth restating, at least from my point of view. Look away now if you disagree!

Copyright. When you think about it, it’s kind of an odd idea. It has a pleasing emotional sense, right up until you end up on the wrong end of it, or think a little too hard. According to the simple explanation on the government’s website, copyright

  • prevents people from copying your work
  • prevents people from distributing your work
  • prevents people from renting or lending your work
  • prevents people from performing, showing, etc. your work in public
  • prevents people from adapting your work
  • prevents people from putting your work on the Internet

You get it automatically and don’t need to make any note of this, and it lasts decidedly longer than you’re going to be alive, since the term is “life plus…”. It propagates to other countries by a variety of international agreements, so is in effect around a pretty big chunk of the world.

Continue reading →

So About That License…

24 Sun May 2015

Posted by Metalwings in Authorial Gubbins

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Admin, Before the Sun Fades, Books, Copyleft, Copyright, Creative Commons

In Q&A format, apparently.

So what license did you end up picking for Before the Sun Fades?

A Creative Commons one: specifically, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International. What that means is that anyone with a copy is free to share it with others or base their own works on it as long as they credit me with the original, provided that they do so under the same terms and don’t use it commercially (at least, not without asking me for permission first – basically I just don’t want to be completely cut out in the unlikely event of someone making a massive film out of it or something). So if you’ve bought a copy? Share it with your friends! Want to edit it or write something based on it? Go right ahead! It’s none of my business how you arrange the 1s and 0s on your hard drives! Continue reading →

Creative Commons: Choosing a License

29 Mon Apr 2013

Posted by Metalwings in Authorial Gubbins, Writing

≈ 1 Comment

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Copyleft, Copyright, Creative Commons, Reasoning

Before actually putting up a story itself, I wanted to make sure I knew what I was getting into with the terms and conditions. More than anything else, I want to share what I’ve done with the world, and I want the world to be able to keep on sharing. I’ve learnt a lot from stories, whether written or watched or experienced through games, and I’ve built on it in myself. If something I write means something to someone, in some way, then I want that person to be able to build on that and pass it on. If you care about what I write enough to want to work with it yourself, that’s the best compliment I could ever receive. I don’t want to lock down what I’ve written. I want those who like it to be free to read it, as and when they please, and to pass it on to their friends, and mess around in my worlds without fear of retribution.

Reasonably enough, then, the ever-increasing fuss about copyright-this and copyright-that has me rather concerned. I want to make sure nobody, not even me, can wield the banhammer over my own work, and it seemed to me that the best (and most widely-known) way to do that would be through a Creative Commons license applied to each story. Then, of course, I had to decide which license to choose.

  • By: Attribution. The original attribution must be preserved. Sounds good to me – I’d like to be recognised as the author of the original. That’s really all I ask. But… attribution alone won’t preserve the freedoms of others as regards my work.
  • Share-Alike: Using this option requires subsequent uses of the work to use the same license that I used. In order to prevent anyone else wielding the banhammer over my work (a rather ridiculous but unfortunately plausible situation!) I feel I need to select this option. Besides, it basically ensures that any and all derivatives can freely spread through as long a chain of descent as you like!
  • Allow Derivative Works: Creative Commons licenses can allow or disallow derivative works, specifying whether only the original work can be passed on. The whole point of my sharing my stories with the world is so that everyone can enjoy them as they see fit, and share and build on them in turn.
  • Allow Commercial Use: I had the most trouble deciding on this one, in the end. Was I really comfortable with someone else making money off what I’d done? But – in the end, why not? I always say that I should act on my principles or they’re worse than worthless, so here’s taking the plunge! If you’ve added your own interpretation, or something else that people want, then go ahead! I get credit for the original, and at the end of the day, that’s what I really care about. No matter who makes money, I’m not going to stop writing. Besides… any reproduction or derivation has to include the Share-Alike provision! This license spreads wherever my work does, allowing derivative works of derivative works, and if [insert major publisher/film company/game company here] choose to make a book/film/game based on it? They have to put it out under this same license. They can’t ban fanfic, or insist that only they are allowed to sell related merchandise, or whatever other draconian restriction they feel like inventing. Anyone who wants to go commercial, go for it – but remember that Share-Alike provision!

I freely admit this is a massive experiment on my part! Let’s see how it all turns out. This is my work, and my dream, and I don’t want to limit other people’s enjoyment any more than I have to. I won’t see anyone else’s dreams snatched away if I can help it.

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