Copyright is automatically given to someone who has a piece of work which needs to be or wants to be protected from being copied and sold for personal gain or manipulated in a way that slates the creator. In the UK copyright is only given to certain types of work which is in a material format. Copyright is not awarded to an idea... for example a artist must have their idea drawn up in order for copyright to be given to that piece of work
Creative commons - http://creativecommons.org/who-uses-cc
http://www.flickr.com/creativecommons/
Attribution means:You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform your copyrighted work - and derivative works based upon it - but only if they give you credit.
Non commercial means:You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform your work - and derivative works based upon it - but for noncommercial purposes only.
No Derivative Works means:You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform only verbatim copies of your work, not derivative works based upon it.
Share Alike means:You allow others to distribute derivative works only under a license identical to the license that governs your work.
