TheLen

I still don’t really understand the details of copyright, but I don’t plan to stress about it since the bulk of my website will be original analysis by me — and I doubt I’m going to send myself a cease and desist letter. Also, the Owning the Past? chapter (rightly or wrongly) left me with the impression that as long as I’m (1) not making money (nor plan to make money in the future) and (2) willing to remove the offending object, I shouldn’t get into too much trouble. Am I the only one foolish enough to be so relaxed? How concerned are you with copyright in the grand scheme of things?
Of course, the “Creative Commons” described in the readings would be an ideal arrangement for historians — particularly the potential access to multimedia sources. Would such a creative commons change your plans for your website and/or future research? Would it even make a differnece since Microsoft and others charge a fee to access public domain images? (The references to Corbis throughout the reading were shocking reminders of the serious flaws in the copyright system — not to mention the potential challenge to fair use created by profit-making shcemes based on public domain images).