I post most of my photos to Flickr, with a Creative Commons licence. Most of them are of only personal interest, but some have been selected for book covers, so that’s an agreeable outcome. A long-ish while ago, I got a comment on one of my photos on Flickr noting that another Flickrite had used one of my photos on her blog, and thanking me. She did everything right: all my photos are licensed through Creative Commons (attribution, non-commercial, no-derivs), so she (a) linked the photo to its place in my Flickr feed, (b) wrote an acknowledgement and (c) pointed to my overall Flickr account.
Sometimes people just go ahead and use my photos on the ‘Well, CC is public domain’ theory. Tsk, tsk. Or they ask me how to use a photo they like, as though it were rocket science. (Kara, is it rocket science? No, I didn’t think so.) Or people ask me if they may use them; but the whole point of a CC licence is that you don’t have to ask unless you’re selling. Now, it’s good manners if there’s even a slight risk of money changing hands, but at the heart of CC-licensed material lies the principle that if you do what the licence says (in my case, attribute the photo to me, don’t make money from it without making an arrangement with me, don’t remix it without my agreement), it’s all clear from the get-go.
Esther did it right. She posted the photo, with attribution, unedited, to her non-commercial blog. Then she directed my attention to it, a polite gesture but not strictly necessary. Bingo! All according to Hoyle.
Now, if you want to licence some of my photos for commercial purposes, (a) Great!! and (b) just get in touch. I’m a cheap date.