Last month Norman Walsh started using a Creative Commons license for his essays (consistently informed and provocative on XML, Semantic Web, and other technical topics) and photographs. Norm does us the favor of explaining his choice:

When I started writing this collection of essays, I slapped on a quick copyright statement asserting “All Rights Reserved.” That was simple and easy to do, but it has always struck me as overly conservative.

I wouldn’t release code under such a restrictive license, so why release words or images that way? There’s no good reason, and Creative Commons offers a selection of much more friendly alternatives.

So this morning I’m switching to the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License. In a nutshell, you are free: to copy, distribute, display, and perform the work and to make derivative works.

But you have provide attribution (you don’t get to take credit for my work) and you can’t use my work for commercial purposes. At least not without getting my explicit permission first.

Seems fair. Share and enjoy!

A common story, but one that bears repeating when told so simply and well.

By the way, the design of Norm’s site is a real treat. I can see that he has honed every detail. Those with different tastes my see nothing special.