How to choose your license

Safe Creative is a registry that allows to record the license associated to a work and any changes thereof. Many users ask us to advise them on which licenses to choose for their works, and so we are going to give you some advise, not really about which license to pick, but how to choose it by yourself.

1. Note that the choice of a license or a form of protection is a very personal decision of the creator, which can necessarily involve other rights holders.

2. As the author, and owner of the rights of your work, remember that you can change its license at any time. But you must keep in mind that according to the chosen license, its validity for those who have already accessed to your work can be for an indefinite time. So, its duration could be limited only as provided by each jurisdiction law.

3. Think what you want to happen with your work and which might be the best method to achieve it. Do you want to give default permissions or do you prefer users to contact you before making any use of your work?

4. You should weigh up the pros and cons of different license types and forms of protection. These are decisions that can’t be made lightly. Think what you’d like to be done with your work, imagine possible scenarios, and basing on that choose a more or less restrictive license.

5. Some times you will have to resort to a lawyer to write you a license, negotiating point by point so that it suits your actual needs.

6. What other authors choose doesn’t have why to be necessarily good for you. Analyze your work and your circumstances instead of imitating others. It is good to be guided and take advice, but you have to assess your personal situation first.

7. Different types of content may be better suited to different types of licenses. There’s much difference between a blog article and a film for intance.

8. Browse specialized forums and take your time to read and get informed. The experiences of other users of the type of license you are interested in will help you to make a decision.

9. Analyze what “success” means to you. This is related to point 3. What do you want to achieve? To sell books, to be known, to catch someone’s attention for a contract?

10. Be consistent with your final choice (do not forget point 2).