equal rights and copy rights

Just another observation that my photo taken during an anti-Prop 8 rally in2008 is getting increasingly popular on the web. This time Kenneth in the 212 gave a citation, but to Towleroad, who took it from me.

I'm happy to release most of my work (which has appeared in print as well as web publications) under a Creative Commons license, but at a minimum I request attribution. Sure, I myself repost web images here all the time to illustrate a post, but I always cite or directly link through to the source whenever available, particularly if it is from someone's Flickr stream. (And my site is not-revenue generating, which to me makes a difference.)

This doesn't bother me too much, and I am a little flattered, but if it goes viral I would like to have had the credit.

Update:  Kenneth in the 212 has duly noted.  Thanks!

YouTube, Copyright, and Fair Use

Important to share, and watch.  Via Laughing Squid:

Fair Use School: A Reply to YouTube’s Copyright School

BY HUGH D'ANDRADE ON JULY 13, 2011

Last April, YouTube came up with a new way to help its users understand copyright law. Alleged infringers would be required to watch Copyright School — a short, humorous clip in which everyone’s favorite cartoon characters, the Happy Tree Friends, explain the finer points of copyright law. That’s all good as far as it goes. But the advocacy group Public Knowledge pointed out that the video tended to gloss over an important question for many YouTube users, and that isfair use. Public Knowledge challenged their members to come up with a response video that explains fair use, and how, in some cases, making use of copyrighted material without permission is perfectly legal. Here’s the winning entry, fromPatrick McKay: