Creative Commons

All the photos I shoot and upload on the Internet are available under Creative Commons BY-SA-NC 4.0. It means that you can freely download, share and modify my pictures for non-commercial use, as long as you cite me (along with my website) as the original author and you keep the CC-BY-SA-NC license. Here are a few reasons why I do this and why I think others would benefit from doing it:

• Words like “copyright” and “all rights reserved” will not prevent people from re-using my pictures.
• There is no such thing as “stealing” a digital image (or any other kind of file) that you put on the Internet. If I copy your picture without your permission, you don’t lose it. There might be other words to describe this, but it’s not theft.
• Allowing people to share my pictures freely won’t harm and can only do good. In the worst case, someone will see my photos without knowing who is the original author, in a better case they will want to learn more about me.
• The only way to prevent someone from re-using your pictures is to upload low resolution (< 1 megapixel) images with a big watermark in front of them. Oh but then people won’t be able to enjoy the quality of your work… Why do you put your pictures on the Internet if you don’t want people to look at them?
• Some cultural industries have tried for years to fight what they call “piracy”. They have spent millions trying to prevent people from sharing and modifying digital files. It did not end piracy. Worse, it only resulted in DRM systems lowering the quality of music/films/games/books you paid for! There’s no reason to believe an individual person could do better…
• Allowing people to modify my work is allowing them to make something better out of my work, which may eventually allow me to learn how to improve my own creative skills. I can understand people that would prefer others not to modify their work, but I think that in the end, they will lose from it.
• I think the result of creativity is only worth when it is made as widely available as possible.
• Finally, it makes me feel that maybe I didn’t take pictures for nothing. If you re-use some of my photos, even though there is no need to ask me if you can (as long as you comply with the CC license), I will be glad if you let me know about it.

Other people can talk about this subject far better than I could ever do. For example, street photographer Thomas Leuthard did it wonderfully in its “Going Candid” and “Explore Flickr” ebooks. Also feel free (and please do!) to share the above few points if you agree with them. In addition, feel free to contact me if you think there’s a reason for using Creative Commons that I have missed and that I should add to the list.