I misquoted Shakespeare in the title of this blog. (Can you name the play? The character who I misquoted?) But I can do that--take a Shakespeare quote and change it around however I want to without obtaining any permissions--because Shakespeare is in the public domain. His work can be freely used and changed around by anyone without fear of being sued. If I decided to put on one of Shakespeare's plays, I could find it online and just print out as many copies as I needed for my cast.
On the other hand, I couldn't do that with the work of some of my other favorite authors like Brene Brown or Madeline L'Engle. Someone owns the rights to their work. If I do decide to use any of it I have to quote it appropriately and give the credit where it's due. I can't just copy and redistribute one of their books for a book club or a class. Each copy must be purchased.
When it comes to my own work, I need to make careful decisions about what I want to share freely and openly with others on the web, and what I want to set up so that others have to make some kind of purchase in order to use it. I do have to make a living after all. How do I decide which of my products should be made available to others under a Creative Commons license, and which should be used to help put food on the table?
I don't think these are clear and/or easy decisions, and the more I learn about it, frankly, the more confused I become. All kinds of questions come up in me about the value of my own contributions and creations. I don't ever want to make the decision to make my work available for free because I don't think anyone will pay for it. I want to make that decision because it is the right and appropriate thing to do.
I believe in the open sharing of information on the world-wide web, and the power for social change that is inherent in the free sharing of information. Hopefully I will be able to find a comfortable and workable balance between freely sharing and setting value on my work. I don't believe that the two are contradictory, but it can sure feel that way on the surface.
What do you think? How do you set a value on your own work? Do you think that ideas and words that are of particular value and interest should be those that also come with a price tag? What kind decision making process do you have when it comes to the sharing of your own work?
Hamlet's soliloquy, of course!
ReplyDeleteWhile I, too, believe in the open sharing of information, I do believe attribution should be given when someone is using someone else's thoughts, ideas, etc. I think that things like creative commons still allows one to trace an idea or work back to the original author, which is important. Just my two cents:).
Yes! Agreed!
ReplyDeleteGood ol' Hamlet!
ReplyDeleteYou've brought up a good discussion, Cathryn! I touched a little bit on the issue of sharing content for free in a blog post about social journalism this week. I think there's great value to posting one's content that is meant to be viewed, but I also wonder if sharing too much content for free could devalue the content. But, again, on the other hand, for a fledgling journalist, getting one's name out there could mean future content is indeed paid. An interesting discussion!