Even though I’ve been releasing my artwork under Creative Commons for several years, today was the first day I really thought about the relationship between copyright and license.

It all started when I received a message on Flickr inviting me to participate in a photography contest on a saltwater aquarium site.  I have a ton of great images from the California Academy of Sciences that I could submit, so decided to check it out.  The rules are pretty standard, but the following declaration they requested gave me cause for alarm:

I YOUR NAME certify that I am the author and sole owner of the material I am submitting to Aquariumslife.com. I understand and agree that Aquariumslife.com may use my material anywhere on Aquariumslife.com. I understand and agree that Aquariumslife.com may resize my material if needed. I understand and agree that I remain the owner of the Copyright of all material submited [sic] to Aquariumslife.com and that a Copyright notice will be add [sic] to my picture.

Copyright notice will be added this way: ⓒ YOUR NAME 2008.

This immediately reminded me of Flickr users who go out of their way to add those copyright notices to their photos and specify that all rights are reserved, do not use without permission, etc.  I respect that some people need to maintain extremely tight control, but being so limited in how I can share these works (and link back to them) drastically reduces their art’s value to me.  The copyright symbol is a mark of disgrace, and I want nothing to do with it.

I mentioned my predicament on Twitter and got some enlightening (and memory jogging) responses.  I remember now how copyright is automatic and exists for all creative works.  It means that you have control of the work, but the copyright (and the copyright symbol) isn’t what makes someone a creative dictator or anarchist.  The license is what specifies how others can use the work.  That license can be all rights reserved or one of the Creative Commons licenses, but the copyright still exists.

I think why this was a point of confusion for me is because I’ve never seen ⓒ specified on a photo without the intent of all rights reserved, and I didn’t want the stigma of a more restrictive license just because of this contest.  I wrote the organizer back to say that I would prefer that my photos not be watermarked at all, or to use CC-BY-SA if they must add something.  I may be over-drawing the line, but there’s no shame in defending your principles.

About the author: Lisa Brewster is a project manager and startup advisor in San Diego, CA. Subscribe to this blog by RSS or email, or follow me on Twitter for more updates.

As the economy worsens and more tech companies are forced to lay off workers, I’ve been growing increasingly distraught with the growing number of friends who have lost their jobs or are struggling to find new contracts.  I hear about cool jobs on a fairly regular basis, so today I started brainstorming for a way to help.  An intense sixty seconds later, @sdjobs was born.

What is @sdjobs?
@sdjobs is a Twitter account that publicizes Internet technology jobs in the San Diego area, keeps the community updated on the job market and layoff announcements, and offers general job hunting tips.  I’ll also provide some much needed sanity checks by pointing out how unreasonable some job descriptions are.  Searching for a new job is never easy,  and I want to help keep San Diego’s spirits up and let people know that they’re not alone.

Why Twitter?  Why not just start a mailing list?
Because Twitter is a notification system built inside a social network.  With Twitter, users have more options for where and when they receive updates.  A casual job hunter may only want to check the web page every once in a while, but someone trying to get an interview for a competitive position may want to be updated as soon as possible.  Mailing lists only send email, requiring the user to search for third party tools to get this kind of flexibility.

How you can help
Even if you’re not looking for a new job, one of your friends probably is or will be in the near future.  The best way you can help is to be prepared with leads and advice…and let me tell ya, it’s way hella cool to watch someone’s face light up when you send them a job lead.  And I am but a cat herder, so I can only do so much without you cats sending in job openings at your company and relevant content that you stumble upon.

I picked Rosie the Riveter as my icon to communicate a very specific message.  As the global economy begins it’s death spiral, local communities will have to band together tighter than ever before to support ourselves during the impending collapse.  No government bailouts can help us more than we can help each other.

We can do it, San Diego.

Two of the six fire trucks that were on my street, originally uploaded by Lisa Brewster.

When I came home from work tonight, I noticed a strange burning smell. It got stronger as I walked towards my apartment, and soon I heard a smoke detector going off. I walked around a bit to pinpoint the source, and sure enough I found an apartment that had a funny burning smell (no smoke or flames).

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