Response - Public Domain and Creative Commons

When creating art through existing media, it's important to understand that most of what is allowed for use without consequence is something called "Public Domain." When something is in the public domain, all that means is that it can be used and edited without permission or any kind of clearance. A harmful misconception that floats around the digital world is that anything that isn't explicitly copyrighted is "free to use" and is for public use. This isn't the case. The situation varies, but generally the only natural way that something becomes public domain is by aging substantially. Once the artist dies and a certain amount of time has passed, a work will eventually be considered free for public use. Otherwise, if an artist wants something they create to be officially public domain, some kind of marker is required. For example, the creative commons license which states specifically whether something can be used or augmented. 

"Creative Commons" licenses are probably the best and most efficient way to state exactly if and how a work can be utilized for outside use. This makes sense because really the entire point and reasoning behind Creative Commons is to make usage of existing media easy, safe, and fast for the average person. The license is displayed most often with a varying symbol that communicates quickly what is permitted. Some examples of these symbols include whether or not something can have derivative works made of it or if it can be used commercially. Creative Commons also makes it very easy for the average artist of just about anything to easily state to the world their requirements for their intellectual property. A large portion of public domain material online is gifted by the average online creator and this makes it much more convenient for those people.