{"id":117,"date":"2024-08-24T00:16:12","date_gmt":"2024-08-24T00:16:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/dla\/?page_id=117"},"modified":"2025-12-01T14:47:02","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T14:47:02","slug":"copyright-and-digital-resources","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/dla\/copyright-and-digital-resources\/","title":{"rendered":"Digital Media Rights and Resources"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some of this content was written by Brooke Schmolke, Manager of the Digital Resource Center, and copied over from her website with her permission.<\/em> Ginny Moran, <\/em>Tamatha Perlman, and Aisling Quigley also provided significant input. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finding images, sounds, music, and video to use in digital projects can be difficult. Below, you\u2019ll find some resources to help with the process, including information on copyright, fair use, creative commons licensing, and Open Educational Resources, along with specific recommendations for sharing media remotely. This page also includes repositories of materials<\/a> in the public domain or released with a creative commons license. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep in mind\u2013all of this is focused on US copyright law. Copyright law varies from country to country, which can make things a bit more difficult to figure out. For an introduction to copyright, please see Macalester\u2019s copyright resources<\/a> on the library website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The University of Minnesota’s Copyright Services<\/a> page is also a very helpful resource.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Copyright<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Copyright protects creators from unwanted usage of their works by granting them exclusive rights to duplicate and distribute copies of that work. Copyright law varies from country to country, which can make it an even more complex issue. Your best bet when using works another person has created are to ask for permission, be sure that you\u2019re using the material under \u2018Fair Use,\u2019 or use a work that the author has already granted permissions to under Creative Commons or the public domain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fair Use<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When using any sort of media that\u2019s protected by copyright, it\u2019s important to understand the legal issues surrounding this use and make sure that your use meets fair use criteria. There are four factors to fair use:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. the nature of the copyrighted work;<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Things like scholarship, research, commentary, criticism, news reporting, and parody are all considered under fair use. Because many of your projects will be viewed in classes, and may not end up on YouTube or other online services, you have a very strong case for fair use. If you\u2019re planning to upload your video to YouTube, making sure that you use short clips and avoid using lengthy portions of copyright music will help to ensure that your video stays online. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Excerpt segments, and only choose what you really need. Ask yourself: do you need a particular work, or only part of it? Would another work that is more accessible be able to fill the role of the one you\u2019d initially imagined?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The University of Minnesota’s Copyright Services page on Specific Uses: Teaching<\/a> is a particularly helpful resource.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Creative Commons<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Content creators sometimes define usage rights when they share their work, often using a licensing system called Creative Commons. Creative Commons<\/a> is designed to allow creators to share their work using easy to understand licensing options. Many repositories allow you to limit your search to work that is in the Creative Commons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The CreativeCommons.org website also lists a variety of Creative Commons repositories<\/a> that have large amounts of Creative Commons work (the quickest way to get to this page from the Creative Commons page is to select the search bar at the very top of the page). Some of them can be a bit difficult to navigate (music repository Jamendo requires you to create an account and sign-in, for instance). Double-check any item that you download to be sure that it is licensed. Icons may say \u2018Creative Commons\u2019 or \u2018CC\u2019, or you might see a series of icons describing the license. Typically, these licenses are linked directly to a plain text version of the license, but not always.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Collect and organize the information to provide attribution for media that you and your students\/colleagues create, too. Content you or your students\/colleagues develop using materials licensed using Creative Commons shouldn’t be more restrictively licensed than the content you used. Visit the Creative Commons wiki page on best practices for attribution<\/a> to learn more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Open Educational Resources<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Open Educational Resources (OER) are publicly and freely accessible materials and resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Macalester’s Open Educational Resources Toolkit<\/a>: A selection of the support and resources available to the Macalester community through the library and through the OER community<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Public Domain<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Public domain refers to the works for which rights have expired, which were released into the public domain by their creators. One notable source of public domain works is the United States government; works created by government employees are typically within the public domain. Not everything you find on a federal government website falls into this category (independent contractors often retain their copyright), but much does fall into the public domain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Most older works are in the public domain\u2013and photographs that are direct reproductions of those works are typically also considered to be public domain (though you may still see people requesting licensing fees). If the reproduction is artistic in nature and not simply a reproduction of the work, then it may be copyrighted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In the case of written work, while originals may no longer be in copyright, translations or edited editions may.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    How to know if something is in the public domain? Check out Stanford\u2019s excellent guide<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Recommendations for Remote Media Sharing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    For when sharing media over Zoom is your only option:<\/p>\n\n\n\n