Copyright Infringement and Permission
You just got your new LeadSite and are now ready to put those ideas in your head on your page to share with the world. One way to create fantastic transitions in your great content is to add an Image, Video or Song somewhere to break up large amounts of verbiage.
If you aren't sure of the content's origins you may find yourself wondering if it's legal for you to share. You might want to do some research on the copyright laws of the media in question. Below are some helpful tips to know when you might want to double check the media and make sure its safe to use on your site.
What is a Copyright?
noun
- 1.the exclusive legal right, given to an originator or an assignee to print, publish, perform, film, or record literary, artistic, or musical material, and to authorize others to do the same.
"he issued a writ for breach of copyright"
With the definition properly displayed we can take a look at the different types of Copyrights that you may come across when looking for content to add to your site.
Types of Copyright
Public Domain: Anything under Public Domain is no longer copyrighted. This means Public Domain content can be used freely, and without attribution! Also anything licensed under Creative Commons as CC0 is also Public Domain.
Creative Commons: If something is licensed under Creative Commons, it means that you do not need the explicit permission of the creator to use their work. There are various levels of Creative Commons licensing that will determine what your are allowed to do with the asset:
- By Attribution (CC BY): The simplest of all Creative Commons licenses only requires that you give credit to the creator. This is the name or username of the person/organization/entity/etc. that created what you want to use. You also need to include the type of license.
- By Attribution-Share Alike (CC BY-SA): The share alike license requires the same attribution model and inclusion of licensing as CC BY, in addition to you being required to license the asset under the same CC BY-SA license.
- By Attribution-NoDerivatives (CC BY-ND): Under this license you cannot modify, remix, alter, change, etc. the asset if you want to use it. Only CC BY and CC BY-SA allow you to modify an asset under Creative Commons.
- By Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC): This is the most restrictive of all the Creative Commons licenses. Anything licensed as CC BY-NC, CC BY-NC-SA, or CC BY-NC-ND cannot be used under any circumstances for commercial gain. This is important to understand since your Real Estate Blog is a commercial asset! Be sure to avoid these types of images, videos, and audio files!
As mentioned above, Creative Commons makes finding media assets for your site easier since you don't have to get explicit permission from the creator. But you still have to give them credit! There is a simple formula that will keep you out of trouble and compliant with any Creative Commons license you end up using: TASL!
- Title: This is the name of the work, linked to the source page.
- Author: This is the creator's name or username provided, linked to their profile page.
- Source: This is the website you found the work on (which you already linked in Title).
- License: Your license will be one of the Creative Commons acronyms, linked to the license deed.
Here's an example attribution you would include at the end of a blog post for your Featured Image if you used the one pictured below:
"White House" by Diego Cambiaso, licensed under CC BY-SA.
Find your next Featured Image with Flickr Creative Commons Search!
If you need extra help about determining if you can use an image, check out this infographic by The Visual Communication Guy.
Now that you're a media master with Creative Commons, check out this resource about avoiding Plagiarism!
Still worried about Images?
We have you covered. Take a look at this blog article with a list of free to use images for squeeze pages, web blogs/articles and everything in-between!
Free Real Estate Stock Photos!
- Easy Agent Pro is not responsible for any copyright infringements or the penalties associated with the infringement on any clients site. Please review your Easy Agent Pro Terms Of Use information by clicking here to review Copyright policy.
- Cheers!