We have all heard the terms copyright and fair use before, but Creative Commons was new. Here is a brief overview of these three terms and their definitions.
According to WorldNetWeb copyright is "a document granting exclusive rights to publish and sell literary, musical, or artistic works." (2011) To tell if something is copyrighted we will normally see a small letter c enclosed by a circle after the name of the company or title.
WorldNetWeb also states that fair use is "the conditions under which you can use material that is copyrighted by someone else without paying royalties." (2011)
Lastly, Creative Commons is a company, established in 2002, that "develops, supports, and stewards legal and technical infrastructure that maximizes digital creativity, sharing, and innovation." In simpler terms, it offers people more freedoms that traditional copyright. Creative Commons licenses are noted by CC after company names or titles.
The world of copyright, fair use, and Creative Commons can be very tricky. Most of the time, you can find information on a company's use policy under the "Terms of Use" tab usually located at the bottom of a website. To give an example, the Creative Commons website offers 19 areas of information under their terms of use section, as with most other websites. If you can weave your way through the jargon, you can usually find what you are looking for as in if you can use information.
IF there are any doubts or you do not know where to find copyright information just ask!!! Companies want to get their names and products out into the world and people are the gateway. If you would like to use someone's music that they have posted just email them and ask. Most of the time there is a "Contact Us" tab located right next to the terms of use tab. They wouldn't put it there if they didn't want you to use it! Example... Disney movies say that you can not show any movies to a public audience. Email Disney and tell them why you want to use the video. Such as.. I want to show Fantasia to my students because we are studying the Fantasy genre. 9 times out of 10 people will let you use their material especially for educational purposed.
Copyright can be down right scary, but if you do your research and as the proprietor (and get it in writing) then there are no worries!
Ashley
Ashley.
ReplyDeleteI've never tried to get permission from Disney. There was a time when one of my kid's teacher tried and they forbid it, with a lot of extra noise about what would happen if they used it. This was quite a few years back. Maybe they have changed their stance on the issue.
Ooo, I totally forgot about the terms of use tab! Nice job!!
ReplyDeleteI would like to know how often companies agree with use of their products being used for educational purposes. Legally we can use the products for educational purposes with no financial gain, but would a company give permission? I think some would and many would not.
ReplyDeleteAre there any statistics or specific incidence of requests that you can share?
The get it in writing is the key. That's what the legal office always tells us.
ReplyDelete