to copyright or not to copyright?

Below is the disclaimer from Leo Babuta, author of Zen Habits, the #1 blog in the world! (Yeah, he’s kind of a big deal).  He has famously left all content on both his blogs purposefully uncopyrighted.

I appreciate this mindset because I’ve always been confused by the idea that any idea is a completely new idea.  I’m 100% sure everything I’ve ever come up with has been inspired by Leo, the Bible, some random author from 1522 or my Ma.  So, is it mine?  Is it just mine?

Leo’s opened the door wide open for plagiarism, though clearly he doesn’t mind.  He’s published several books and ebooks, speaks and consults for a pretty penny.  He’s no worse for the wear.

Here’s Leo’s words…

“As some might know, I’m not a fan of copyright. In fact, I’ve uncopyrighted this blog and my other blog, Zen Habits.

And while uncopyright and minimalism might seem at first glance to be unrelated, I believe they both stem from the same mindset.

Here’s how.

Copyright stems from a protective mindset, one that believes the creator owns his work, and must protect that ownership in order to profit from said work. The creator will share his work with others, but only at a price, and anyone who takes without paying, or uses it as a basis for further creations, is stealing.

That’s the copyright mindset.

The uncopyright mindset is that of someone who gives without any guarantee of profit, who lets go of ownership and believes the world owns his creation. He hopes to contribute to the world in a small way, and if others benefit from this contribution, that’s a good thing. And if others use his contribution to create something new and beautiful, that’s a wonderful thing.

The uncopyright creator lets go of ownership, because to hold on to ownership hurts the world, and to try to protect that ownership leads to unnecessary stress.

The minimalist also eschews ownership, at least to some degree, and believes owning things doesn’t make him happy. Doing things makes him happy. Helping others makes him happy. Creating makes him happy.

It is from this place that the minimalist embraces uncopyright, and in doing so gives to the world and hopes that the world will be better for it, at least in a tiny measure.”

-Leo

Thoughts?  Are you blogger, writer or author?  Do you copyright?  What do you think of Leo’s idea on UNcopyrighting your materials?