By Emily Romo
In this age where everyone is online more than ever, digital well-being is extremely important to consider. Staying safe online, being mindful of what you publish online, and how to protect your creative projects that you post are all factors in keeping a stable sense of well-being.
Digital well-being, at its core, is being safe online. This includes a wide variety of practices, such as being able to regulate your Internet usage, protecting your creative content, and being in spaces online that feel safe. It’s quite similar to real life spaces, but with a bit more thought put into it, as most things on the Internet stay there forever. Just like the physical world, you need to be careful with what you say, as it could affect people’s perception of you. This time, however, it would be on display for much more people to see than just the people immediately with you. Moreover, you want to surround yourself with a good group in real life too; people who make you feel safe and welcomed are just as important to have online as it is in real life.
Credit: Umberto, Unsplash
How exactly can we maintain digital well-being online with regards to copyright? If you’re a creator on the Internet, you know better than anyone else how important it is to protect your creations to avoid reposting or theft. If you don’t do this, it may be disseminated without their knowledge or consent. Copyright can be a necessity for those posting their works online, and can be done in a variety of ways. Uploading media to Creative Commons, a website that allows for the legal sharing of various media types, can ensure that you retain ownership of your projects. You can select what kind of license you would like for your piece of media, and bar others from profiting off of it or sharing without credit. Alternately, something as simple as putting a watermark on your photo, video, or other form of media can prevent it from being stolen. With the watermark in full view, people who steal art may think twice about such a thing since the creator’s mark is present.
Having your art stolen isn’t a great feeling, and in this age where so much creativity is uploaded to the Internet for free, it’s more important than ever to protect your work. Getting a license for your work at the Creative Commons website or even just slapping a name on your art are simple steps you can take to protect yourself and your property online. With this mind, now you can post to your heart’s content!
Thanks to the wonderful Kate Thornhill for visiting us and educating us on how to protect ourselves and our work with copyrights; this blog wouldn’t have been possible without her!
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