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i am amazed to see how quickly and how enthusiastically the web community has embraced creative commons licensing. unfortunately i believe many (not you of course) have embraced it because it is a web trendy thing to do. i also believe few have thought beyond the licensing to understand the potential ramifications of creative commons.
although i may not agree with the creative commons as it is designed today, i support lessig in his efforts. current copyright laws were not written with the internet or digital formats in mind, an issue that needs to be addressed immediately. the creative commons ideas are great in theory, but i am very skeptical of the execution for several reasons.
1. the average person has very little understanding of how current copyright laws apply, i believe the creative commons ideas will be even harder to the populous to understand.
2. it has been argued that creative commons could close the gap between the haves and have nots. i argue it could widen the gap. it becomes a matter of distribution channels. you and i don't have the same distribution channels that disney does. borrowing from you and i, disney could do very well.
3. creative commons has more fuzzy areas than the current copyright laws. on the back end, that leaves a great deal of personal interpretation to a judge.
4. i don't really get excited about letting you borrow my stuff because... well, let's face it... you suck.
as a big headed, ego maniac artist, odds are what ever you do to my stuff will ruin it. honestly, there are creators and consumers. consumers outnumber creators 100 to 1. no matter how much your mother tells you that you are a talented artist, you are not. you are most likely a consumer and there is nothing wrong with that. (of course all of my readers are very creative creators with no need to every borroe anything of mine, "you" is referring to all the non-readers!)
i think many people are so starved for exposure, they are willing to give up rights just to be seen. these people may feel very different about that when some one turns a buck by cultivating their creative seed.
creative commons is the first step in the right direction, but don't confuse it as the solution (yet). Lessig is a man much smarter than me, i believe he can figure it out.