dsresources

= = =Locating Copyright Friendly Resources on the Web=
 * Back to Digital Storytelling**

Regular copyright requires that you get permission to use images or videos in works that you are going to publish to the web. For Creative Commons copyright, the creator may have already given you that permission so you can use the materials as part of your own work and then share it on the web without worrying about breaking the rules.

Introduction to Creative Commons
Here's the good news: the Internet has made it much easier to access public domain materials and a new trend in copyright called Creative Commons makes it possible for educators to ignore all of the above and use materials for free, without permission, for all sorts of multimedia projects. The Creative Commons movement allows copyright owners to modify their rights in order to allow others to use their work in their own creations. This short video from Creative Commons explains what it is all about: media type="youtube" key="NhimdwoWM5A" width="425" height="350"

The [|Creative Commons website] is the place to start to learn more about these new kinds of licenses. It also has [|a search engine] that allows users to find Creative Commons licensed materials.

Soundzabound: Royalty Free Music
http://www.soundzabound.com/

Mutopia Project http://www.mutopiaproject.org/

Wikimedia Commons
From the same people who brought us Wikipedia, there is the [|Wikimedia Commons], a collection of audio, video and image files that are often available for use without permission under different kinds of licenses. Some of the materials are in the public domain, too.



Internet Archive
The [|Internet Archive] is a vast clearinghouse for public domain and other copyright-friendly licenses. You can find lots of movies, music, and images. Here are a few of my favorite starting places at the Archive. WARNING: There's a lot here. Be prepared to spend some time exploring at least during your first few visits. I've also found the general search to be productive if I'm in a hurry.
 * Browse the [|Open Source Audio] section for lots of different kinds of music including nature sounds and other sound effects. Most are Creative Commons licensed.
 * Ephemeral films are nonfiction educational, industrial or promotional movies. I like to [|browse this collection by keyword].
 * The [|Education section] includes lectures, links to open education archives, and much, much more.

Open Education Resources Commons
The [|OER Commons]--Open Educational Resources--bills itself as a worldwide learning network and is part of a movement

Check specific organization's websites for their copyright policy:
 * [|Alegri Free Photos] - Collection of free Creative Commons images
 * [|4 Free Photos] - Over 3000 free images
 * Free Photo Gallery - Image resources free of charge, usable in any purposes.
 * [|Yellowstone National Park] has placed nearly 13,000 images in the public domain so they are available for use without permission.
 * [|Public Domain Images] Several thousand copyright friendly, public domain images nicely organized in categories, free for any personal and/or commercial use, credit or back link is not required.
 * All the digital photos published on the [|National Archives website] are in the public domain.
 * The [|Library of Congress] is a little harder as they don't own copyright, but generally if the material was published before 1923, it is in the public domain. And, the Library of Congress just added over 3,000 photos to flickr, the photo sharing website: http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/ Most have no known copyright restriction.
 * Speaking of flickr, many of their photos have a creative commons license. You can search by license here: [|http://www.flickr.com/creativecommons/>]
 * More about flickr
 * Open Directory Listing of Public Domain Sites: http://www.dmoz.org/Computers/Graphics/Clip_Art/Public_Domain/
 * Thirty Years of News from NBC: http://www.hotchalk.com/index_bhm.html
 * The Fair Use Blog: http://fair-use.org/
 * Discovery School Clip Art: http://school.discoveryeducation.com/clipart/
 * Pics 4 Learning: http://www.pics4learning.com/