HCPS Copyright

Sick of copyright already? Want to avoid most of the mess and just use stuff? Here are some alternate options.

Creative Commons

Creative Commons may sound like some weirdo, fringe cult (and this picture seems to support that) but it’s more about people taking control rather than companies. Creative Commons is simply a way for content authors to release their work to the public with many more options than traditional copyright allows. This is a big movement on the Internet right now and lots of great work is licensed this way.

There are a lot of different Creative Commons options. The least restrictive option is the attribution license which simply means in order to use the work you have to say where you got it from. Check out the options you’ve got for publishing your work and for ways you can use Creative Commons work.

Places to find Creative Commons work

• Flickr- search for photographs (searchable only from home)
• The NY Public Library simply an amazing depth and number of images
• Yahoo’s Creative Commons search
• Freesound Project – a great place to look for sound effects and music
• or search them all at Creative Commons

Image credit Franz Patzig

Public Domain

Public domain is another good option. Public domain simply means anybody can use this media for anything they’d like. Creative works that are made by U.S. government employees are automatically in the public domain. Work can also end up in the public domain after enough time has passed and the copyright expires.

The picture to the left is by Ansel Adams and was taken for the National Park Service so clearly there’s some surprisingly good stuff in the public domain. Public domain is a great place to find historical media.

Places to find public domain work

• Public domain movies – I didn’t realize how many were available online
• Internet Archive – everything you can imagine and more
• U.S. Government Multimedia – a gateway to searching all of the U.S. government’s online media