The Commons

Exhibiting artwork online can raise a number of questions for artists, including ownership and protection of their work. Although copyright law states that it is not necessary to display the copyright symbol along with the work in order to show copyright ownership, this isn’t necessarily a guarantee that copyright law will not be infringed, especially online.

The risk of copyright infringement online raises another question though – does it matter if copyright is infringed if your work of art is being enhanced, changed, being ‘created’ with or extended? This is a point which is raised in Lessig’s keynote from the 2002 OSCON. Creativity, as hard as it is to define, is often seen as the backbone of a progressing society, eras of art often go hand in hand with eras of enlightenment and progression. Copyright laws, according to Lessig, hinder creativity and innovation, since they are often actions which build upon the past.

Creative commons licences are a way of mediating this – that an artwork will be used or referenced in future artworks – by giving the copyright owner a chance to decide the level of interaction the public can have with his/her work.

Are creative commons licences enough to give artists peace of mind? What happens if an artwork is found to have been used in a way that the artist does not agree with even if it obeys the licence stipulations? Should an artist have control over copyright, or accept creative commons as a way forward?

The Tragedy of the Commons

Could this be the future of creative commons too?

Comic source: http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=1731