Creative Commons - That's news to me!

Ever snagged a photo from the web and included it in your presentation?  Ever added a popular song to your video on Youtube?  What about modified a great photo from the web and sent it out to your contacts?  You may be violating copyright laws.  Oh dear.  I must admit, I’ve never thought too hard about the legality of using web content before.  And apparently many people don’t.  It’s just become part of our culture. 

So, what do we do about it?  Probably should change our MO’s, especially if we want model the behaviour that we ask of our kids.  Start by being conscious of what we are borrowing from the web, and what the restrictions are.  A quick way to ensure that you are not violating copyright laws is to start looking for media with the Creative Commons ‘cc’ designation, and become familiar with the variety of sharing permissions that exist.  For a nice summary of how to use the information in the licenses, check out

Creative Commons on Flickr , or here is a more condensed list (from The Clever Sheep): 

What inspired this new awareness for me was an Elluminate session on this topic given by Rodd Lucier today.  Rodd really opened my eyes relative to permissions on media content. Check Rodd out on Twitter @thecleversheep, or visit his very generous share-friendly space on slideshare, or his blog.  An incredible wealth of information.  Thanks Rodd, for sharing your knowledge and creativity with us.