So what now?

Included in this post are helpful Copyright resources provided by Dr. Serena Carpenter.

Public Domain Resources
Some organizations offer content classified as public domain, which means property rights are held by the public:

• Smithsonian Institution Public Domain Images
• New York Times Public Domain Images
• Wikipedia Public Domain Resources
• NASA (guidelines)

Stock Image Resources
Students can also use stock photos for free or for a price. Here is a list of sites that offer free stock photos:

• A Collection of 30+ Free Stock Photo Sites aggregated by Sitepoint
• EveryStockPhoto
• StockVault
• School Photo Project

Creative Commons
People have access to creative commons content because authors/creators give permission through Creative Commons licenses. Authors can choose from a variety of licensing options. A person must read the author’s restrictions related to the use of their content before posting the author’s content. Authors often times allow people to use their work as a way of promoting themselves, and thus, they want credit for their work. Creative Commons (CC) “is a nonprofit organization dedicated to making it easier to share and build upon the works of others consistent with copyright. We provide free licenses to enable sharing,” according to Vice Chair of Creative Commons Esther Wojcicki.

This screencast shows you how to navigate creative common search engines. Here are some sites that host or grant access to free creative commons content and other sites:

• Creative Commons search engine
• Wylio search engine (photos)
• Compfight (flickr photos)
• Yahoo Creative Commons search engine
• Flickr Creative Commons (photos)
• Picasa Creative Commons search engine (photo)
• PD Photo (some public domain)
• Jamendo Creative Commons (audio)
• SoundTransit (audio)
• Incompetech (royalty-free audio)
• Mashable’s Free Legal Music List (audi0)
• Adam Westbrook’s Free or Cheap Music List (audio)
• Blip.tv Creative Commons (video)
• Vimeo Creative Commons (video)

Licensing Your Site
Students can copyright their blog or site as well, however it is costly. Law student Ruth Carter said at a PodCamp AZ conference that it costs $65 every three months to copyright a blog. You do not have to register your site/content to receive copyright protection, however @rbcarter said the advantage is you are able to sue for more money if someone steals your stuff. If someone steals your content, you can also sue for statutory damages ($200 – $150,000 per infringement) and attorneys fees, not just real damage.