What are the disadvantages of not using CC?

Hello,
This is probably a very basic question. Suppose somebody
wishes to  
allow someone to copy their work and distribute it, provided
they  
receive attribution and that nobody changes their work.
Suppose they  
simply put their work online with a notice that says
"You can use  
this stuff however you want, provided you don't change it
and that  
you credit me for each use".

My question is, why is putting a notice like that (which is
obviously  
much easier than using a CC license) legally
disadvantageous? In  
other words, how does applying the cc-by-nd license differ
from  
putting a simple friendly notice on the site?

Thanks.
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Justin Morgan wrote:
>  This is probably a very basic question. Suppose
somebody
>  wishes to allow someone to copy their work and
distribute it,
>  provided they receive attribution and that nobody
changes their work.
>  Suppose they simply put their work online with a
notice that says
>  "You can use this stuff however you want,
provided you don't change
>  it and that you credit me for each use".

In principle, that will work okay, but it's easy to
mis-speak, and it's
potentially harder for the reader to find and understand the
terms
on which the work is offered. That increases the chance that
they
will make assumptions -- which may not be the ones you
intended.

>  My question is, why is putting a notice like that
(which is obviously
>  much easier than using a CC license) legally
disadvantageous? In
>  other words, how does applying the cc-by-nd license
differ from
>  putting a simple friendly notice on the site?

The CC license badge provides visual clarity (the new, more
license-
explicit versions will be even better for this).

The RDF code allows search engines to find your content
based on
license-discriminating searches (this is VERY useful for
readers, because
they may only be interested in works that they can
reproduce).

Finally, CC has thought through any legal details in the
license, so
you have a much more airtight license, should there be any
possibility
of misinterpretation. Of course, "By-ND" is a
fairly simple case, so this
isn't as much of a win as it is with "By-SA"
for example, but it still
matters.

Also, I question the claim that writing your own license is
"easier" than using the pre-prepare CC material
(which is
awfully easy to do, IMHO).  *I* certainly find ready-made
licensing materials to be a big time-saver.

Cheers,
Terry

-- 
Terry Hancock (hancockAnansiSpaceworks.com)
Anansi Spaceworks http://www.AnansiSpac
eworks.com

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