For decades, there has been an international convention to protect people’s rights to their intellectual property. It is called copyright. It can cause a lot of problems through misunderstandings and contentious legal issues, but fundamentally it means that someone who works with their brain rather than their hands is protected against having their hard work stolen without recognition or payment.

 

There is however a new move afoot called “copyleft.” It was developed by the Free Software Association and allows work to be distributed free, provided the original author’s copyright is acknowledged. There is more information about it here:

                                                      

http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/

 

This arrangement works very well for people like me who are happy to have their work shared, provided the source is acknowledged. One thing remains unchanged, even with those using the Copyleft format. The acknowledgement should still contain that all important © symbol.

 

Bottom line: I am flattered if anyone wants to share anything I write, but please say where it came from.