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Does anyone know if it is possible to file physical objects under creative commons or something similar? I don't want to make money off anything I make, I want to show the public how to make it and if someone uses one of my creations for a not for profit cause then all the better. That being said I also don't want someone else profiting off something I have created. Any suggestions would be great!

endolith
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aaronalai
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I understand your concerns, but even if you were able to protect your ideas (see @endolith, @jluciani) you would still face the "make me" crowd. That is, people who will make money off your design anyway. When you remind them that they can't (if you've gone through the effort and expense of a patent), they may just say "make me". Then you have court costs on TOP of everything else. Sure, if it's a clear-cut case you may be able to get a lawyer to take on your case without charge (knowing the reward will be huge), but it's still an incredible time sink, and that's if you're lucky.

I'd say, just go ahead and say your work is under the spirit of the license. People may try to make money off of it anyway, and by just putting it out there you save yourself a lot of time, money and effort. Honestly, you're more likely to get some consulting side gigs out of it if you build something really cool. Of course, that's my opinion on the subject and it doesn't really give you the answer you were looking for.

Lou
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Try this one, it should do the trick -> Non-commercial CC license

It's more effective than any patent for what you need - as an individual or small business you couldn't afford to do anything in the way protecting your product from the big guns.

The big boys use multiple patents and trade marks - plus they have a colossal legal team to back them up in a court of law. So from that point of view, there's fairly little you can do to protect your ideas. However - the Non-commercial CC license should protect you from the majority of idiots from running off with your hard work.

Good Luck!

Jim
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Similar question: Best licenses for Open Hardware

Creative Commons can be applied to anything that's copyrightable. PCB layouts are copyrighted all the time, which is what most companies try to do to protect their designs, but anyone can re-design the same circuit and it won't be a violation, just like paraphrasing text. You can copyright creative expression, but you can't copyright an idea. To protect a circuit, you need to get a patent on it.

Even architecture can be copyrighted in some places. The number of things you can copyright and the length of time they're protected is increasing all the time...

Community
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endolith
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Unless you patent your idea and grant rights there is no legal way (in the U.S.) to prevent someone from using your idea for any purpose. Creative Commons (copyright protection) only protects the documentation.

If someone rewrites the documentation then they hold the copyright to the new documentation. If they copy significant pieces you may have some recourse.

Daniel Grillo
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jluciani
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"I also don't want someone else profiting off something I have created."

I think that's the wrong attitude. Making and selling something usually requires more effort (and is IMHO less fun) than designing something, so using your idea commercially wouldn't be freeloading.

And you gain more the more your design is used.

starblue
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    That's a good point...if you don't plan to make money off your idea, why are you so against someone else attempting to? – davr Mar 24 '10 at 21:11
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    It's his choice. Under a NC-only license, people can still make money off it - they just have to talk to you first. Maybe you want to be involved in the making and selling stage, or know that even a small cut of the profits will be a huge amount for you. I don't know why everyone's so deadset against people making money off their designs. – endolith Mar 25 '10 at 00:08
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Very, very few ideas are worth commercializing.

Those ideas that are worth it are very hard to commercialize.

Given that, you can release everything of yours into the public domain, and it's such a low chance that someone will profit off it that it's probably not worrying about.

However, you will reap great rewards through simply showing people that you can do particular work well.

Further, the people who would rip you off are not your customers - in fact they could likely do the work themselves, but are seeking a shortcut for an idea they already have. Your customers are people who can't do what you can do, and can't do what the people who would rip you off can do. So there's really no conflict of interest.

If you successfully protect your work from being used commercially, it doesn't mean those people are going to fall in line and license your design - it just makes them look for another way to accomplish their goals without being caught, or without doing something that would fall afoul of the law. Any effort you put into protecting your work is wasted - you should instead spend it on creating more, and protecting less.

So there's no benefit to protecting your work:

  • Ideas are rarely worth commercializing
  • Good ideas are very hard to commercialize
  • The people who would steal it aren't your target audience
  • Your target audience isn't going to be able to steal it
  • The people who steal it will find a way around any roadblock you put up anyway
Adam Davis
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