ramblings on Creative Commons and whys and wherefores and the like

[taichara]

Sorry, it's not game stuff today. The month/season/year/etc continues doubling down on kicking my arse -- and also the non-psionics bits of Lindwyrm Liberty went up last week, and there's that.

Instead I'm going to ramble on about using Creative Commons for some of my stuff, because why not.

=> Why did I do it? Why do I do it?

Why the hell not?

I like the idea of letting people have access to my stuff -- which is why virtually all of it is free or pay what you want to begin with -- and, hey, letting people be able to play with stuff in their own published stuff (as long as my contribution gets a nod) is just one more step.

It's a sharing thing, basically?

=> But then, why not everything?

Because of a lot of reasons, some of which are here in no particular order:

- some things I feel strongly about personally (and am not done with)
- some things might have more iterations in the future (so, also not done with)
- not every bit and bob and table I dump out of my skull is going to be useful that way
- some things I'm just more attached to and that is also okie
- fanworks and homages are really, really not going CC do I look that stupid

=> Creative Commons can't be revoked, what if someone awful uses your stuff

I'm going to be level with you here, hypothetical person actually reading this: the absolute kaleidoscope of terrible fuckholes that infest this hobby and cottage industry absolutely do not give one single solitary fuck about other people to begin with, so it's not like anything's stopping them from lifting my stuff anyway.

I don't fancy locking down everything for everyone in a futile attempt to keep out the Fuckhole Factor[tm].

Of course if I come across any given terrible fuckhole using my work, I'm going to have my blood pressure spike in absolutely unhelpful ways, because those guys can rot in the lowest levels of the most frigid iron-mawed hell imaginable. But it's not really a gamble opening things up for those with good intentions, when I know nothing -- not a lack of license, not a warning, not a "not for you" notice -- will stop fuckholes from being fuckholes. Because they're fuckholes.

=> Why CC-BY-SA?

Do you want the reason, or the reason?

On the one hand, it's because I'd like some small acknowledgement for having made something, something that another person liked enough to make use of (my life sucks enough as it is, just acknowledgement is nice if I can get it); and I want to encourage spreading more stuff under the same banner (that's the -SA part).

On the other it's because that's the result I got for my criteria in the license picker and it's the one Cairn uses and if it's good enough for Cairn it works for me.


There's probably even more I could ramble but this is long enough, I'm drawing a blank atm, and also a headache is threatening and I really should give in and feed myself so, good enough for now >.>

Comments

[stepnix]

...is "someone awful uses your stuff" a common concern in ttrpg licensing conversations? like I know I'm out of the loop on this end of things but that bit is extra surprising

[taichara]

Unfortunately, there's been more than enough instances in the scene -- and I mean the hobby/indie scene, I can't speak to corporate publishers other than to say they've certainly had their own share of wtf over the years -- even in the last half-decade alone that it's something to consider a possibility, yeah. Many different stripes of fuckholes, even, from bigots to abusers to garden-variety plagiarists (murder arson and jaywalking, ha).

Would anyone, fuckhole or otherwise, go for my stuff in particular? Probably unlikely, but certainly not impossible, especially since CC means free.