If you are including photos, videos, or other sorts of media on your website, you need to ensure you have the rights to use it.
What’s protected by copyright?
All works that are protected under copyright according to the Copyright Law of the United States are as follows:
- literary works
- musical works, including any accompanying words
- dramatic works, including any accompanying music
- pantomimes and choreographic works
- pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works
- motion pictures and other audiovisual works
- sound recordings
- architectural works
This means that if you simply pull an image off of a Google search, it is likely protected by copyright. Copyrighted works cannot be adapted, reproduced, distributed without permission even if you are doing so for free. Unless you are sure that some material you find has been released from copyright (either into the public domain or perhaps the creative commons) in some form, you should assume it’s protected by copyright.
Where can I get media for my website?
Since your website is available for anyone on the web to visit, properly sourcing your media is very important. Luckily, there are sites that curated high quality copyright free content for all the use.
When someone creates something, they have the choice of retaining all rights to their intellectual property, sharing them under certain conditions, or releasing them into the public domain or similar license.
Creative Commons
The creative commons is a global non-profit open licensing organization which provides a legal framework for using content from contributors all over the world. Through a variety of Creative Commons Licenses, creators can allow others to use and remix their work to various degrees.
Here’s the description of the different types of licenses available from the creative commons licensing website:
Attribution (by)
All CC licenses require that others who use your work in any way must give you credit the way you request, but not in a way that suggests you endorse them or their use. If they want to use your work without giving you credit or for endorsement purposes, they must get your permission first.
ShareAlike (sa)
You let others copy, distribute, display, perform, and modify your work, as long as they distribute any modified work on the same terms. If they want to distribute modified works under other terms, they must get your permission first.
NonCommercial (nc)
You let others copy, distribute, display, perform, and (unless you have chosen NoDerivatives) modify and use your work for any purpose other than commercially unless they get your permission first.
NoDerivatives (nd)
You let others copy, distribute, display and perform only original copies of your work. If they want to modify your work, they must get your permission first.
It’s also possible for created works to be freed from any licensing or attribution requirements altogether by being released into the public domain. Creative works are typically automatically released into the public domain many decades after they are created. Creators wishing to waive all rights (including attribution) sometimes struggle to enter their work into the public domain because various legal frameworks, so the Creative Commons provides the CC0 license to allow the status of their work to be as close as possible to public domain.
Sources for Public Domain/Similar Content
- Unsplash (High resolution images)
- Pexels (Images and videos)
- Pixabay (Images, Illustrations, Vectors, Video, Music, Sounds Effects)
- Project Gutenberg (Books)
- FreePD (Music)
Sources for Creative Commons and Open Licensed Content
- The Creative Commons Website
- Wikimedia Commons
- Flickr (ensure “Creative Commons” is selected in your search)
- SourceForge (look for “Open Source software”)
- Open Educational Resources Commons
Remixed from “Sourcing Media (The Right Way)” by Conventry Domains that’s licensed under CC BY-ND 4.0.