CybaSumo enables you to upload and sell your digital artwork for free. If you’re just looking for exposure, it’s a great way to show fans and friends on social networking sites like Facebook what you’ve been creating and what you’re all about.

Just because you’re offering something for free doesn’t necessarily mean you don’t want to have a say in how it’s used. You may not want your work to be used to sell something, or you may want credit if it’s used on a Web site.

Creative Commons provides a way for you to distribute your works for free, but still specify how you want them used. The main CC site is http://creativecommons.org/, but we’re going to reprint some information here.

Creative Commons is all about keeping copyright and inviting other people to use your works in specific ways. You can choose what applies to your work:

Attribution. You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform your copyrighted work — and derivative works based upon it — but only if they give credit the way you request.

Noncommercial. You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform your work — and derivative works based upon it — but for noncommercial purposes only.

No Derivative Works. You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform only verbatim copies of your work, not derivative works based upon it.

Share Alike. You allow others to distribute derivative works only under a license identical to the license that governs your work.

To add a CC license to your work, see http://creativecommons.org/about/license/, then select the license you want to add.

If your work is an eBook or document, you can embed the CC license right inside the document. Otherwise, make sure you state that your work is under Creative Commons license on your CybaSumo store and in the work’s description.

Remember, Creative Commons is entirely optional. If you want other people to use and build on your work, though, it’s a great way to ensure you retain the rights you want.

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Note: In North America, as soon as you create a work of art (or music, video, book, etc.), it’s automatically copyrighted simply by the act of creation. You don’t have to register it with a copyright agency, although you can if you need to prove when your work was copyrighted/created.