Alternatives to Copyright

There are alternatives to copyright.
COPYLEFT
The author can give permission to someone to reproduce, adapt and/or distribute the work as long as they mark their work as copyleft as well.

Creative commons are a non-profit organisation that allows people to share, reuse and remix things legally, however it can get confusing;

CC BY- you can remix, tweak, distribute and build on work, as long as they credit the original artist for the work.

CC BY SA- you can distribute, remix, tweak and build on wok, as long as the original artist is credited and as long as they license it under the same terms (similar to copyleft)

CC BY ND- non-commercial and commercial re-distribution is allowed as long as it's not been changed and it credits the artist.

CC BY NC- work can be remixed, tweaked, distributed and built on, as long as the original artist is credited.. but it is non-commercial.

CC BY NC SA- work can be distributed, remixed, tweaked and built on, as long as the original artist is credited, but it is non-commercial and must be licensed under the same terms.

CC BY NC ND- others can download and share your work, but they must credit you as the original artist and they can't modify it or use it commercially.