Copyright and Creative Commons
Copyright
You do know that you can’t just copy and paste images from the Internet, right?
Copyright is a form of protection given to authors of original works. The word copyright means the exclusive right of authors to make copies of their works. This includes literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. (More info: Copyright Basics - a video from Copyright Clearance Center)
If you use images, music, video or other content from the Internet, you must cite the source, just like you do for a book or journal article (check your citation style manual for the proper formatting).
Creative Commons
Creative Commons (CC) is a nonprofit corporation working to increase the amount of creativity (cultural, educational, and scientific content) in “the commons” - the body of work that is available to the public for free and legal sharing, use, repurposing, and remixing.
Authors can choose one of six different license conditions, covering the spectrum of possibilities between full copyright - all rights reserved - and the public domain - no rights reserved.
- Flickr: Creative Commons --contains many CC licensed photos
- ccMixter: contains many CC licensed music mixes
- Jamendo: another platform for CC licensed music
- YouTube: how to access and/or upload CC videos on youtube
- Freesound: provides CC licensed sound samples
- Audiofarm: provides some licensed audio files