This guide will help you find "rights-free" and "rights-implied" media and content that is available for re-use, sharing, and oftentimes modification (aka "remixing").
There are many different types of rights-free and rights-implied designations, such as: Creative Commons, Public Domain, Open Source, and Open Access. These designations do not replace copyright; instead they work alongside copyright. It is still ultimately the responsibility of the content consumer to verify terms of use for each intellectual property item.
When you browse this guide you will find:
Copyleft public domain image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
The term “public domain” refers to creative materials that are not protected by intellectual property laws such as copyright, trademark, or patent laws. The public owns these works, not an individual author or artist. Anyone can use a public domain work without obtaining permission, but no one can ever own it.
There are three common ways that works arrive in the public domain:
The public domain covers works not protected by copyright. Learn which works are in the public domain and how works become a part of it.
Creative Commons a nonprofit organization that enables the sharing and use of creativity and knowledge through free legal tools. It does not replace copyright; instead it works alongside copyright.
Content creators may choose from one of six free, easy-to-use copyright licenses that provide a simple, standardized way to give the public permission to share and use your creative work — on conditions of your choice. Creative Commons licenses let you easily change your copyright terms from the default of “all rights reserved” to “some rights reserved.” Conversely, the application of a Creative Commons license to a piece of intellectual property tells content consumers that they may use, share, and sometimes modify your content for free. Creative Commons licenses are frequently applied to photographs and artwork, videos, music and audio files, presentations, coursework, ebooks, blog posts, and wiki pages.
Description of Above Video: "When you take a photo, make music or shoot a video it’s yours, you own it. You also own the copyright. Which means you decide how it is used and who can use it and if it can be copied and shared (or remixed). Creative Commons is a set of licenses that enable lawful collaboration to do things like copy, share and remix. Creative Commons is a way to give permission to everyone to freely reuse your creative works. Hundreds of sites use these licenses: Wikipedia, YouTube, Archive.org, Vimeo, Soundcloud, Flickr, Bandcamp, Boundless, Jamendo, TED, Musopen, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Free Music Archive, Freesound." (taken from the video description page on YouTube)
Additional Pollak Library Guides to help you learn more about related topics.
