By Mary Jaksch
What is mine and what is yours? In ordinary life there is a clear boundary. In fact, if you cross that boundary and take what belongs to another, you could be accused of stealing. But the edges of this are fuzzy.
The closer we feel to another person, the less we feel protective of our possessions.
For example, you may feel that your children, partner, or close friends somehow have a stake in your possessions. I can say that in my life, books, clothes, food, and other ‘possessions’ of mine flow freely between my home and that of friends and family. I love that!
I am sure that in olden days, when our forebears lived in villages, that kind of sharing was commonplace. Everyone helped each other out.
But what if we just kept the doors to our home open and said, “Come in and take what you like!”?
This is what I’m about to do on Goodife Zen. Read on to see how and why.
As a writer, a way to protect what we produce is through copyright. In order to use the material a writer produces, you have to ask permission. But there is a radical counter-move.
I was talking about this a few days ago with Leo Babauta of Zen Habits (we’re producing some cool podcasts together). Leo suggested uncopyrighting one’s blog. Just as. Leo explains why he uncopyrighted Zen Habits in Open Source Blogging: Feel Free to Steal My Content.
I’m going to follow Leo’s example. Yes, folks – I’m leaving the doors open! Goodlife Zen is now free of copyright. Be my guest – take my stuff! Of course I’d appreciate mention as the author and a link back to Goodlife Zen.
What do you think of this move? I’m keen to see what you say in the comments!
An aside: As I said before, Leo and I have produced some cool podcasts about blogging. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed ourselves! If you want to listen to the podcasts, get Leo’s free report (there’s an ad in the sidebar – click it). You’ll then automatically receive a link to the podcasts as they come on stream.
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Good on you Mary. I think the important ideas and knowledge you, Leo and many more possess is too important to lock-up because of how it can positively influence the world. It’s like allowing the ripples in a still pool to spread further and further out for as long and as wide as possible. Best wishes.
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Thanks, Josh!
I like your image of ripples spreading…
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Hey Mary, great post. I actually listened to the podcast with you and Leo and I’m thinking of also going the “copyright free” route as well. It only makes sense. I wish you the very best! Great blog!
Dayne | TheHappySelf.com´s last blog ..10 Ways to Dig Yourself Out of a Rut
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Hi Dayne!
Glad you listened to the podcast and are going to try the same. Let us know how you get on with uncopyrighting your blog.
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As a proud Linux user all I can say is that copyright is one of those things that brakes the world.
I wish more people follow your example.
P.S. Two colums of your blog overlap. I had to reed it through the feed.
Cheers.
IvánPérez´s last blog ..For those who have already fulfilled their dreams
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This is a great experiment, and would bring greater success just like Zen Habits to this blog… The more possessive we are the more closed we are… I did some such experiments in my personal life, where I gave things just for the sake of giving – for sometime there was only a feeling of good doing, but after few years – things came back multiplied several times along with the established respect in the society and a great base of many faithful friends ….
In this experiment except for few, most of the people would be giving you the credit – there is basic goodness in everyone… and there would be talk of this blog in entire blogosphere…resulting in more loyal readers.
zencontrol.net´s last blog ..Leo Babauta’s Experiment of Getting Rid of Email
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A bold, generous move, Mary, and one that worked well for Leo. I hope it does for you, too. Your articles are useful and lend themselves really well to being passed forward. Most people who read sites like yours and Leo’s give credit where it’s due, and respond really well to being given material with the author’s blessing – it makes good energy all over the internet!
As someone who occasionally is honoured to do guest posts here, I’d be grateful if anyone who uses any of my guest posts links back to my site or gives me a mention.(The Empty Jug one is copyrighted because of where it first appeared but the Staycation one was written specifically for GZ.)
Good luck, Mary – here’s to you and Leo making the blogging world a more honest place!
janice´s last blog ..The Meaning of Mistakes: A Guest Post by My Teenage Daughter
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Mary, blessings be upon you! I am so excited about this idea. It’s so OPEN SOURCE! So Universal. So right. I’m clicking over write now to uncopyright mine. I’ve always believed this — Nearly everything I know I’ve learned from freely reading, and I want to “give back to the pot.” I only recently added that copyright, after a friend had an unpleasant experience. I should have known better! Thanks for your nudge.
YES! YES!
Sharon´s last blog ..An Ethical Dilemma?
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@ Ivan
It’s a weird feeling opening the ‘doors’ so wide after always being so protective of the stuff I’ve written.
Your remark that copyright brakes the world is very interesting!
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Hi Zencontrol!
Your experience of generosity having such a wonderful effect in your life is inspiring!
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Hi Janice!
We’ll have to have some more lovely guest posts from you here at GLZ so that they can be offered freely to all takers
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Hi Sharon!
I”m glad your excited too!
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Hello Mary,
I really like your idea of uncopyrighting your material!
Just to be sure you also know another way of copyrighting (like
uncopyrighting): you can also license your work under Creative
Commons.
http://creativecommons.org/
Maybe that is another way too you would like to think about
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Mary, in a world full of rules, regulations, signs saying “do this” or “don’t do that” and where people will sue you at the drop of a hat, this is completely refreshing and generous of you. It’s an example of freeing up the world. Thank you!
Sami – Life, Laughs & Lemmings´s last blog ..50 Ways to Have Fun For Under $15
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Hi Marjan!
Yes, I know about the Creative Commons Licence. I use a lot of flickr images that have a CC licence.
It seems to me like a half-pie measure. And I’m not known for tentative moves
Naw! I’m going to try the full no-copyright option!
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Hi Sami!
“It’s an example of freeing up the world.” That’s lovely! If I can do just one thing to ‘free up the world’, I’m happy!
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I will be very interested to see how this effects your blog and I look forward to you sharing exactly how it has!
Now… Leo is huge, he has over 100,000 subscribers. Your blog, though also very successful, isn’t in that camp yet.
So, will it effect your blog differently as a result of the numbers and influence? I do not know–but that is what I want to find out!
I wish you abundant luck with this experiment, that it only brings good things.
Bamboo Forest – PunIntended´s last blog ..A Chance of a Lifetime Only Comes Once
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Since the forbidden fruit tastes the sweetest, often opening the doors of your home makes you feel more secure. And others will respect you more for your openness
Congratulations, go, go, go, open source, go, go, go!
Zoltán Cserei´s last blog ..Are the little things important?
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