Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with commons

Free use music

white_devil — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 11:37:39 -0800

I’m trying to find some creative commons or free use music for my GF to use on the video she did for Facebook as a fund raising tool for her Susan G Komen 3 day walks in October. She originally wanted Lady Antebellum’s “I was Here” but couldn’t because of license issues. I’m trying to find something in that same vein. Any suggestions of online resources or magic Google-fu would be appreciated. I read this previous question but had little luck and I have tried using the CC search engine but with crappy results.

House of Reps diagram, please

Dr. Send — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 10:53:37 -0800

Wikipedia has a wicked diagram of where everyone sits in the House of Commons. Does anyone know of a similar diagram for the US House of Representatives?

FairUse in iTunesU

gzimmer — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 01:47:23 -0800

FairUse: I work for a major public state university doing video podcasts for distribution over iTunesU. I've looked up many articles about fair use, but I'm never quite sure where I stand. The basic tenant of the fair use clause as I've read is that the more widespread and freely available the work the less 'fair' it is. So it that regards, online distribution is about as widespread as it goes. However, because this is all non-profit, educational, state-funded, university work in the end, it seems my usage is what the law was made for.

I've been using as much "free stock photos" as I can find and have flickr's creative commons on my shortlist. I'm currently only using photos as Ken Burns effect type B-roll over boring interviews to spice them up. (I believe this makes the end podcast a derivative work, limiting my CreativeCommons options some)

My question is: What kind of pictures can I just use 'fair use' over, unsourced images from google? flickr trademarked? DerivativeWork Commons? Newpaper articles?

Also, what would attribution look like on any of these?

It's late where I am, and I need to study, so I'll clarify more later...

How can I do right by this photographer?

croutonsupafreak — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 14:10:22 -0800

I would like to use a Creative Commons-licensed photo in the top-of-the-page banner of a web site I am developing. The photo has this license. What is the best way to fairly attribute the photo and respect the photographer's wishes? Is a mention/explanation in the about page adequate? So "This site is run by Crouton Supafreak, and was established for the following purposes (2-3 paragraphs). The photo at the top of this site was taken by NAME, and is licensed under Creative Commons. More information about this license is HERE."

Alternately, would it be ok to have an "about this photo" link, in very, very, very small text, directly under/next to the photo, which would go to a page with attribution and a link to the license?

When people actually click on the photo, I'd like to link directly to my main site, not to the creative commons stuff.

This is a non-commercial project at the moment, but I may try to make money off it down the line.

Copyright in screenshots? Who owns it?

baylink — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 19:53:09 -0800

Can anyone explain, in some detail, precisely *how* the taking and use of a screenshot of a program running on a computer can infringe the copyrights or trademarks of others? There's a foofaraw going on just now on one of the Wikipedia mailing lists about the fact that Wikimedia Commons has what I, personally, feel is *entirely* too strict a policy concerning screenshots (where, by too strict, I mean that in the example of a screenshot of a website in a browser, they're concerned with infringing on the copyright not only of the website and it's designers and copywriters -- which I could just barely understand -- but also the trademark of the browser creator (for its logo) and the copyright of the creator of the desktop manager design -- Apple's Aqua, by example).

My assertion is that if I create a screenshot, *I* own a copyright in it, and that any infringement could only be by defining it as a derivative work. I thought I understood "derivative work", but they're trying really hard to convince me I'm out of my mind.

To be clear, they don't require that the program be a browser: they're just as happy to claim these infringements about screenshots of other types of running programs.

Certainly any of those party's lawers could convince them to sue, whether they have clear and reasonable grounds or not, and they have more money than you do -- though WMF certainly has a legal budget these days after a $1.5MUS pledge drive last month.

So, in the real world, can a screenshot -- given that screenshots are almost uniformly made either for identification, illustration, or educational purposes -- *actually* infringe any of those things?

(Extra points for case law; I'll be happy to look up the citations myself.)

I know we have some lawyers, I know this won't be legal advice, I also know it's federal jurisdiction, so the usual "I'm in another state" reply will matter less. Any thoughts?

Why use a Creative Commons license?

BackwardsCity — Fri, 04 Nov 2005 21:47:44 -0800

What is a Creative Commons license good for, exactly?

Good Public Domain Christmas Music?

BigBrownBear — Thu, 03 Nov 2005 10:07:28 -0800

I need to find some christmas music I can use for a corporate e-card without paying royalty fees. I have been on the internet archive and creative commons sites but most work is not licensed for commercial work or sounds lousy (poor composition or it's midi).

By the way, this is somewhat for a good cause, because the higher-ups said that if we can put the card together without any costs (i.e. no designer but me), the money they would normally spend will go to charity.