Creative Commons
Creative Commons is a new licensing structure. It is far more flexible than traditional copyright and it gives content creators the option to protect their rights while still allowing a large degree of flexible use. In Creative Commons’ own word-
We use private rights to create public goods: creative works set free for certain uses. Like the free software and open-source movements, our ends are cooperative and community-minded, but our means are voluntary and libertarian. We work to offer creators a best-of-both-worlds way to protect their works while encouraging certain uses of them — to declare “some rights reserved.” About Creative Commons
CC Licensing Options
Resources
These are some great places to find Creative Commons content.
- Wikipedia Commons – even if you don’t like Wikipedia you’ll like the huge amount of educationally related images, videos, sound files and more found in this site.
- Archive.org – billed as the Internet’s library, you can find an amazing amount of content here. They have everything from NASA images and live concerts to 1950′s crossing guard films and full length zombie movies.
- CC Mixter – sound effects, audio loops and full songs are available here. There are even clips from the Beastie Boys and a few other fairly well known groups.
- Yahoo’s CC Search
- Google Advanced Search – expand the page and use the “Usage Rights” option to filter your search by a variety of CC licenses.
- Flickr’s CC Search – blocked in HCPS but a great resource for all kinds of photos and short videos.
- Stock Exchange – many image files. There are a few files at the top of each page that are premium files but all other can be downloaded and used (read copyright statement for each graphic.)
