sharing the creative wealth

A massive problem with the US-centric view of copyright was that it had become legally exploited by the middlemen ...publisher ...promoters ...agents to steal much of the value away from from the creative artists ...authors ...songwriters ..etc through long legal contracts that always had a tiny clause that the copyright was transferred the middleman (or middlelady)... if you wanted to be part of the system you had to play by their runs ... and live in poverty

Unfortunately copyrights and having to sign them over are moving onto the web and through web 2.0 infrastructure...

SO if you create content its time to think about your rights and avoid signing them over to middlemen...

YET like me you may want to share your ideas and inspiration with others in a limited and fair way ... ok you can is called creative commons... and i strongly suggest you investigate the various levels of licencing and find the one that suits you and seek out those places (like flickr that support them) ... this is a good introductory tutorial to begin choosing a creatice common licence