1. Canoe the
Open Content Rapids
Photo: Diego Torres Silvestre, “Waterfall,”
http://www.flickr.com/photos/3336/142845984/, CC-BY

2. Photo: Justin See, “To-do list book,” http://www.flickr.com/photos/
3336/1487072348/, CC-BY

3. I am not a lawyer.
This is not legal advice.
If you need a lawyer,
get one, okay?

4. A word about ©
• (speaking only about the US)
• A limited monopoly granted by federal law
• over “original works of authorship” that are “fixed in a tangible medium of
expression”*
• ‘To promote the progress of science and the
useful arts’
• Life of author + 70 years; 95 years corporate
*yes, the Internet counts as “tangible” for copyright purposes
Photo: Diego Torres Silvestre, “American Falls at Night,”
http://www.flickr.com/photos/3336/1487072348/, CC-BY

5. Common © myths
• “If I give credit, it’s okay.”
• Nope. You can still be sued for copyright infringement.
• Copyright infringement is not the same as plagiarism!
• “If it’s on the Internet, there’s no copyright.”
• Wrong-o.
• This is why you MUST be VERY CAREFUL about your use of Google Images.
• “My use is educational, therefore it’s
automatically fair use.”
• Sorry, no.
Photo: Diego Torres Silvestre, “American Falls at Night,”
http://www.flickr.com/photos/3336/1487072348/, CC-BY

6. Fair use
• Possibly the least-understood concept
in copyright!
• An “affirmative defense” in a copyright
lawsuit.
• Principles and guidelines, not hard-and-
fast rules.
Photo: Kathleen Conklin, “The fishermen,”
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ktylerconk/3719425068/, CC-BY

7. Four-factor fair use test
• Character of the use
• Nature of the work
• Amount of the work copied
• Effect on the market for that work, if
everybody did what you’re doing
• ALL FOUR considered in a lawsuit.
• Fair Use Evaluator: http://
librarycopyright.net/fairuse/
Photo: liz west, “canoes afloat,”
http://www.flickr.com/photos/calliope/909753159/, CC-BY

8. How to know for sure
whether a use is fair,
in four simple steps
1. Copy a copyrighted work.
2. Get yourself sued by the work’s
legitimate copyright owner.
3. Plead fair use as a defense.
4. Win the case.
AFAIK, this is the only way.

9. Have I scared you yet?
The next bit is less scary.

10. Government documents

11. Three cheers for the feds!
• Original work produced by federal
employees in the course of their jobs is
in the public domain.
• Unless it’s confidential or something, of course.
Photo: O Palsson, “Inside the dome of the U.S. Capitol Building,”
http://www.flickr.com/photos/opalsson/3089698096/, CC-BY

12. http://nasaimages.org/
Photo: NASA (via http://nasaimages.org/), “Multiwavelength M81”

13. The motherlode:
http://www.usa.gov/
Topics/Graphics.shtml
(but be careful; not everything you’ll
find here is by federal employees)

14. Creative Commons

15. Creative Commons
• What if you want people to reuse your
stuff?
• You could grant it to the public domain...
• ... but then anybody can do anything with it.
• Creative Commons is a middle ground.
• Creators licensing copyrighted works to all comers for reuse!
• Under certain terms and conditions.
• If you don’t obey the terms of the license, you can be sued for
copyright infringement. So do what the license says!
• http://creativecommons.org/

16. Terms and conditions
• BY: Must attribute to creator.
• On all CC licenses except CC0/PDD (public domain dedication)
• ND: No derivative works.
• NC: Non-commercial use only.
• SA: Share-alike
• Release your new work under the same license.
• These can be combined!

17. Where to find
CC-licensed works
• Images: Flickr
• Has its own CC search, or use Google Images advanced search, or
• Flickr Storm: http://www.zoo-m.com/flickr-storm/
• Compfight: http://www.compfight.com/
• GREAT source of legally-usable images for your projects!
• Music: ccMixter
• http://ccmixter.org/
• Also see http://incompetech.com/ (yes, really)
• Jamendo: http://www.jamendo.com/en/
• PLEASE GIVE BACK!

18. Paddle on!
http://www.slideshare.net/cavlec/
This presentation is licensed
under a Creative Commons 3.0
Attribution license. Photo: Pete Birkinshaw, “Canoes and Borrowdale,”
http://www.flickr.com/photos/binaryape/3314036576/, CC-BY