# uncopyright **Everything on this site, unless otherwise noted, is uncopyrighted and freely shared with the world. My art and visual design work still retains copyright though.** --- I'm old and remember the early days when the internet was a brand new thing. There was a guiding principle that information should be free. It seemed like everyone was sharing ideas without concern over ownership and commerce. People made cool things and shared them with the world, especially in the design and creative industries. I like to think that it is still possible to find at least a small taste of that mindset. People need to eat and pay rent, so I don't want to denigrate those who are attempting to monetize their creative work. You should respect their copyright and support the arts by purchasing directly from creators. Don't steal what isn't freely given, instead acknowledge and reward people for the work they do. Fortunately, my income is not based on selling my creative work. I get paid to teach others how to create their own work. Part of that education is training them to value their contributions and to expect payment for their efforts. This site primarily exists as a repository of ideas, notes, links, resources, and inspiration for both my students and anyone that stumbles into my little world. I want people to use this stuff to increase their own creativity and to share ideas with others. To that end, I am freely sharing my content with whoever has a need for it. It is my humble contribution to the free web that can still exist. You don't need to pay me or even acknowledge my site, however, if you do find something that resonates, please [[contact|let me know]]. --- I learned about the concept of **uncopyright** from Leo Babauta at [Zen Habits](https://zenhabits.net/uncopyright/). He makes a good point about how corporations are using copyright to "crack down on the little guys so they can continue their large profits". I like the idea that it is harder to make money off of something that is freely given. Similarly, on his [mnmlist](https://mnmlist.com/uncopyright-and-a-minimalist-mindset/) site, he says that creators who uncopyright their work "hopes to contribute to the world in a small way, and if others benefit from this contribution, that's a good thing. And if others use his contribution to create something new and beautiful, that's a wonderful thing." --- #### CC0 1.0 Universal (aka Creative Commons Zero) By marking the work with a CC0 public domain dedication, the creator is giving up their copyright and allowing reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, even for commercial purposes. This work has been marked as dedicated to the public domain. [Learn more about Creative Commons Zero.](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) Here are some [awesome uncopyrighted projects in the public domain](https://github.com/johnjago/awesome-uncopyright) worth checking out. Also, my lists of [[free images for commercial use]] and [[free fonts for commercial use]].