Is Uncompensated Commercial Use Of An Artists Content Really That Bad?
We’ve discussed a few times how the whole distinction between “commercial use” and “non-commercial use” can be somewhat arbitrary. Even though many Creative Commons supporters insist that a “non-commercial” license is the way to go, there are some good arguments as to why such a limitation isn’t a good idea either. Long-time Techdirt reader SteelWolf sent in a blog post he recently did on the subject, where he makes the argument that uncompensated commercial use of an artist’s work isn’t something to worry about. The idea that some company will come along and “profit” from your work without giving you a cent is misguided, because there are all sorts of opportunities for you to take advantage of such a use directly yourself: A budding musical artist writes and records a song, putting it into the Public Domain/copyleft on his website for his fans to share and enjoy how they wish. Somebody from a major television network finds the song and use it in a new show without even giving credit.
