Getting In The Phonebook

A GIS-browsing phonebook cover designer had the courtesy to use CreativeCommons attribution when borrowing a photo for this year's edition:


They even had the courtesy to contact the photographer and ask his permission. I'm impressed with the diligence of a phone book publisher, who usually aren't seen as the highest level of publishing excellence. It does show that the environment of the professional photographer is being encroached upon; in the old days there were complex licensing processes to get in contact with and permission from a pro photographer to use his or her images. CreativeCommons isn't a copyright-replacement that most people believe it is -- it's a simplified licensing process for behaving as both an amateur and a professional, which lets anybody with talent show off their work and get published without having to work too hard at it.