3 reasons practitioners should have Creative Commons licenses

Public Relations practitioners have many tools, including the Internet, to help them relay a message to the masses. Many of those tools, especially the Internet, does not specify how a practitioners work can and should be used, and the "fine line" is getting more and more fuzzy. With Creative Commons licenses, practitioners can rest assured their work will be shared, tweaked and built upon the way that they intended.

Creative Commons is a nonprofit corporation that offers free licensing to creative works so that the work is used the way that the creator intended, consistent with the rules of copywrite. This license allows people to share, tweak and build upon others work, all within the license.

3 Reasons PR practitioners should have Creative Commons licenses:

1. Attribution/Collaboration

With these licenses, the number one term is attribution! There are a number of ways this can be done. The first is that everytime your work is to be used, permissions must be granted. Another is attribution with no derivatives, which is what may be most useful to PR practitioners. This means that your work can be used, you will be contacted, and it will be used in its original form to ensure that it is being publicized exactly how you want it.

This is also a great way to compare what the company or individual wants to what the audience wants and needs.

2. Publicity

Not only is this a great way to get works out to the masses, but its free!
When an individual or company uses your work, you have to be attributed. Whether they tweak the work or not, your name is on the work, and therefore is being publicized. This can be a great benefit to a practitioner, especially if the work that is being tweaked is displayed innovatively. The work is being spread throughout the Internet, therefore allowing millions to have access.

3. Beneficial Reasons

By having a license you are protecting your work. By putting it on the Internet, the publics have full access, and therefore causing your business to become more well known, and most likely in a good way. Both parties "win," you and your public.