We wanted to share some more information on the choices one has with a Creative Commons license and also update a mistake we made in our previous post ‘IMAGES, COPYRIGHT LAW, PUBLIC DOMAIN & THE CREATIVE COMMONS’. The post said *incorrectly* that a common characteristic of the licenses is ‘no commercial use’ and that should have said a characteristic of the license CAN BE ‘no commercial use’. Our friend and top St Petersburg FL real estate broker Sharon Simms was kind enough to point this out and, while it has been corrected, this post may support those interested in understanding their choices… which certainly include ‘for commercial use’

The Creative Commons Licenses

Attribution

This license lets others distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you for the original creation. This is the most accommodating of licenses offered. Recommended for maximum dissemination and use of licensed materials.

Attribution-NoDerivs

This license allows for redistribution, commercial and non-commercial, as long as it is passed along unchanged and in whole, with credit to you.

Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike

This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work non-commercially, as long as they credit you and license their new creations under the identical terms.

Attribution-ShareAlike

This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work even for commercial purposes, as long as they credit you and license their new creations under the identical terms. This license is often compared to “copyleft” free and open source software licenses. All new works based on yours will carry the same license, so any derivatives will also allow commercial use. This is the license used by Wikipedia, and is recommended for materials that would benefit from incorporating content from Wikipedia and similarly licensed projects.

Attribution-NonCommercial

This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work non-commercially, and although their new works must also acknowledge you and be non-commercial, they don’t have to license their derivative works on the same terms.

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs

This license is the most restrictive of our six main licenses, only allowing others to download your works and share them with others as long as they credit you, but they can’t change them in any way or use them commercially.

And then you can go here to choose a Creative Commons License for your work.

Good Luck!

We wrote on the subject of ‘Pictures, Copyright And Your Blog‘ back in 2008, but it’s probably useful to get into the subject again. For folks who enjoy adding pictures to their content this may be useful information on the subject of image copyright, the public domain and the creative commons.

We spend a lot of time here discussing ‘how to satisfy the search engines organically’, but we’re convinced that when people like your content … a whole heckuva’ lot more can happen. And images will help!

I Like Pictures. Don’t you?

The fact is, good images in your content are likely to appeal to people, therefor; it’s a great deal more likely people will not only like, but share it to Facebook, Google ⁺, LinkedIn, Twitter and the list goes on. It’s a networked web, nice images will certainly improve your chances of leveraging it!

Copyright Law

But if the law has anything to say about it you can’t just go out there, grab any image and use it. Copyright Law exists to prevent us from using anyone’s work. The possibility exists for civil suits with punitive damages, so best to be informed about your options.

Apparently, at least until 1976, creative works such as images were not protected by copyright law unless they had a published copyright logo. If the image did not have the official logo, it was ‘in the public domain’ for anyone to use. Changes in the law occurred in 1976 and again in ’88, effectively saying that all creative works were automatically copyrighted. The reason for this was based upon the belief that, if there was no ‘copyright by default’, the circumstances might lessen a creators’ or an artists’ interest in sharing their work. And if so, it would severely limit the public’s’ access to art. In effect, to protect art is to protect culture!

Copyright Law is pretty simple now. It says that any work or image you or anyone creates is automatically copyrighted. No one really needs to do anything at all to receive protection under Copyright Law. While one might go to such ends as ‘the Registrar of Copyrights’ in Washington DC, there isn’t much preventing an owner from exercising her rights when someone has used or copied their work.

Not to worry – there are exceptions and opportunities to use images you don’t own: there are those in the public domain and then those made available via the Creative Commons.

The Public Domain

The Public Domain describes any work that is not protected by copyright. Again, all images are copyrighted automatically unless they have given up protection. Explicit permission, from owner to user, is one example of giving up protection. Another includes when you have a photo on the web, you notice other folks have been using it and you don’t do anything to stop it. Eventually, in this scenario, the work is in the public domain. And then there’s the creative commons, which we’ll detail some more below.

Regardless, if the picture is not yours, you don’t have permission or you’re not abiding by the owners disclosed rules THEN the rule of thumb should be “don’t use it!” FAIR WARNING: sites that say they have free or public domain pictures may not be reputable… be careful to use good judgement. If the site you find the image at doesn’t reveal an owner or a means to communicate with one it’s likely not reputable. Better yet, it’s likely not a good idea!

Creative Commons

Creative Commons is a nonprofit organization that has delivered a widely accepted alternative, filling the gap between where no use is permitted without strict permission and the public domain. Creative Commons’ licenses allow folks to use and even distribute images under several specific sets of  ’owner disclosed conditions’. These Creative Commons licenses allow owners of works [including images] to communicate which rights they reserve, and which rights they waive for the benefit of the user. Restrictions may include whether an image can be used for personal or commercial purposes, and whether or not the photographer requires attribution or credit. 

Note that Creative Commons exists outside standard copyright law, or better yet is has no legal ground; however, it’s been widely accepted. One great example of its use is Flickr.com, where many people store their works and allow use via the Commons. Again, there are conditions for use and they are made available in Flickr based upon the Creative Commons permission standards. One example of a Creative Commons Attribution License, which allows for image use is *if the owner receives credit.* You can explore what you need, including for commercial use, by going here to see the various Creative Commons Licenses and here to choose, including the proper logo, a Creative Commons License for your work.

Hope this helps you with images. Below are more resources. Good luck!

Public Domain

• http://karenswhimsy.com/public-domain-images/
• http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/
• http://www.pdphoto.org/

Creative Commons

• http://creativecommons.org/
• http://creativecommons.org/choose/
• http://www.flickr.com/creativecommons/

US Copyright & Other Useful Resources

• http://www.copyright.gov/
• http://www.stockphotorights.com/faq/

Video

• Adding & Optimizing Images In Your Content

I thought this post might be useful to folks who enjoy adding pictures to their business blogs, but that might also appreciate basic information on picture usage, copyright, public domain and the creative commons.

I don’t know about you, but I’d like to add more pictures to my business blog. We spend a lot of time here talking about how to satisfy the search engines, but we must also acknowledge the balance you need in order to satisfy humans. I mean, I’m human… and I like pictures. Don’t you?

Copyright

For starters, we can’t just go grabbing any old picture from the web. I certainly don’t want anyone using my pictures any way they choose. Do you? Copyright law exists to prevent picture copying, including the possibility of civil suits with punitive damages. It exists to protect us all and [ultimately, despite the obvious tempation] that’s a good thing. A little history on the subject: apparently until 1976, creative works such as pictures were not protected by copyright law unless they had a published copyright. If it did not, it was ‘in the public domain.’ Changes to the law occurred in 1976 and again in ’88, effectively saying that all creative works were automatically copyrighted. The belief being that if there was no ‘copyright by default’ it might undermine the creators’ or an artists’ interest in sharing their work, thereby limiting the public’s’ access to art. In effect, protect art and protect culture.

Copyright law is pretty simple, actually. Any work or picture you or someone else creates is automatically copyrighted. No one really needs to do anything at all to receive protection under copyright law. While one might go to such ends as the Registrar of Copyrights in DC, there isn’t much preventing an owner from exercising rights when someone has blatantly copied their picture.

Now, not to worry because there are good exceptions and opportunities for picture usage on the web including [obviously] those pictures you can take yourself, those in the public domain and then those for use in the Creative Commons.

Public Domain

Public Domain describes any work that is not protected by copyright. For instance, photos are copyrighted unless they’ve given up protection. Explicit permission is one example. Another is if you have a photo on the web, you notice other folks have been using it a bunch and you don’t really do anything to stop it… it’s then in the public domain. Regardless, if the picture is not ours or we don’t have permission the rule of thumb should probably be “don’t use it!” FAIR WARNING: sites that say they have free or public domain pictures may not be reputable… be careful to use good judgement. If the site doesn’t reveal an owner or a means to communicate with one it’s likely not reputable.

Creative Commons

Creative Commons is a nonprofit organization that has delivered a widely accepted means to share pictures. By using a Creative Commons license, which attaches itself to the work, a picture’s owner is allowing others’ usage. This exists outside standard copyright law, because the Creative Commons’ has no legal ground; however, it has been widely accepted… and that’s meaningful. Many people using Flickr.com offer usage via the Commons, which essentially defines various permission standards. I added the picture of a NJ Beach above partly because it’s summer time and mostly the way I’d love for it to be right now but mostly to demonstrate a Commons Attribution License, which allows for the picture to be in the public domain *if the owner receives credit.* In this example the owner is me, so not an issue.

Anyway, I hope this all helps and then I’ve included some resources for when you need a quick fix… or a picture:

Public Domain

• http://karenswhimsy.com/public-domain-images/
• http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/
• http://www.pdphoto.org/
• or you can just search public domain pictures to find a number of resources

Creative Commons

• http://creativecommons.org/
• http://www.flickr.com/creativecommons/

Other Free, possibly with restrictions

• http://weblogs.about.com/od/startingablog/tp/FreePhotoSites.htm
• http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/

US Copyright

• http://www.copyright.gov/

Information and products made available on this blog are subject to the following terms and conditions. By accessing this site, you agree to these terms and conditions. The publisher reserves the right to change these terms and conditions, the products, services, prices, and programs mentioned in this site at any time, without without notice and at its sole discretion. The publisher reserves the right to seek all remedies available by law and in equity for any violation of these terms and conditions. Any rights not expressly granted herein are reserved.

The information on this web site is protected by international copyright laws. Except as specifically permitted, no portion of this web site may be distributed or reproduced by any means, or in any form, without the publisher’s prior written permission. COPYRIGHT NOTICE: © 2007 – 2008 Kinetic Knowledge, LLC. All rights reserved.