Please Steal My Music

You may have noticed a new button at the bottom of every page that looks like this:

That means that anybody (including you) has permission to distribute, remix, or use the songs on It'll Never Come Again under a Creative Commons license. There are, however, a few catches: The tiny man (BY) says that you have to give me credit. The crossed-out money symbol (NC) says that my music is only available for non-commercial purposes. (If you wanna make money, then I wanna make money. We can work something out.) The little circley arrow (SA) says that if you rework, remake, or remix my music then you have to freely share your rework, remake, or remix the same way I have freely shared the originals.

Why would I leave my car door unlocked with my intellectual property sitting in plain view on the front seat and a big sign that says "Please steal me!" on the windshield? (What a metaphor!) I think that the internet is an amazing distribution outlet for creativity and people should be free to use it without fear of legal retribution. This way, the free flow of ideas will not be hindered and our lives will be richer for it.

Here's what the Creative Commons people think:

So if you want to make a techno remix of I've Been Stuck in New York City for Way Too Long and put it on your Myspace page or put Origami under a slow motion video of your uncle getting hit in the nuts by a tennis ball, or (better yet) share It'll Never Come Again with your friends via a P2P file sharing site, you have my blessing. I love watching other people get hit in the nuts with stuff.