Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with creativecommons

Fair use or not?

pjern — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 14:47:05 -0800

I recently found this image of mine on this webpage. My question: Has CBS conformed to the terms of my license? I say not. I have the photo licensed under CC-Noncommercial, attribution, sharealike.

As I understand it, Noncommercial means no commercial use. This is a grey area to me, I think a megacorporation like CBS is commercial on the face of it, whether or not they want to split hairs and say a particular use is noncommercial.

Attribution means that CBS is bound to attribute the image correctly, which means to me specifically, not to a commenter in a Flickr Thread. Clueless.

ShareAlike: Isn't that the very think the corporations are all screaming about when they say a license is viral? That their use binds their produce and anything incorporating it to my license? Did I just kill CBS's copyrights?

Seriously, I don't know if the EFF cares about this sort of thing, and maybe it's small 'taters (heh heh), but it bugs me, somehow.

What do you think?

Why Pay When The Wiki Is Free?

Atreides — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 20:16:25 -0800

Another creative commons question concerning a photograph. The photo is on Flickr (with generic all rights reserved), and that's where an interested person spotted and communicated to me wanting to buy the rights for use of the photograph. Catch, I also uploaded the same photo to Wikipedia with a CC-attribution and share a like license on it, as well a GNU-Free Documentation License. Now what? The bottom line question is that I can't figure out what my position as the copyright holder is with regard to this photograph. The person interested wants to purchase the rights to use the photograph for their business (as an example of their work). Is this generally a request with an expectation of exclusivity?

I also would feel like a heel accepting money for a photograph I've posted on Wikipedia, if the license attached to that photograph allow for commercial use with only attribution as a requirement (I can't figure it out from the Wikipedia definitions).

One slight difference between the Flickr photograph and the Wikipedia version is size of the file. One is 1,417 × 945 pixels (Wiki) and the Flickr version is 3456 x 2304 pixels (though, the email implied they wanted to use a smaller version of Flickr at 1024 x 683 pixels).

In short:

1) Would the Wikipedia licensing allow commercial use with attribution the only requirement?

2) If no, how would the non-commercial use of that photograph affect the offering price for the commercial use of the photograph? (i.e., You can use the photo, but it won't be an exclusive use except commercially).

3) Are there any other issues that I'm missing and need to be addressed?

Disclaimer: I looked but couldn't find quite the similar situation in previous AskMes, nor enough information about CC to answer my own question.

Thanks in advance. All help appreciated!

Using Creative Commons licensed works on a political website?

Anonymous — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 09:22:57 -0800

Dear mefites, Is it legal to use creative commons stuff, properly licensed and attributed, on a political website that 1) expresses views that the original author might not like, and 2) raises money, such as for a candidate or a party's branch? Particularly interested in stuff that's got a non-commercial license but is okay to use for derivative works. This is in the U.K. Thanks!

Is Creative Commons forever?

Tlogmer — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 04:37:20 -0800

Is it possible for cc-licensed content to be un-cc'ed? That is, relicensed under a more severe license. As far as I know, Creative Commons is forever, but I just wanted to make sure.

Public Domain Photos

hamster — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 07:23:37 -0800

I'd like to find some public domain photos for a book proposal on urban sprawl and smart growth. I'm helping my professors with a book proposal for my graduate assistantship and have been tasked with finding high resolution photos. They must be in the public domain and should be examples of either urban sprawl or smart growth. Where should I start looking?

Thanks for your help!

Where's a good source for instrumental, edgy, creative commons licensed music?

wflanagan — Sat, 17 May 2008 10:29:47 -0800

I'm looking for good sources of creative-commons licensed, edgy rock instrumental music. A really good example of this is www.saviumsaliva.com. The music there just seems to work for the podcast that I'm working on. I've tried Jamendo, and one other "search engine" for creative commons licensed music, but slow going. I keep hoping for the motherlode.. So far, not so much. Anyone have any other suggestions for places to look? Thanks!

Should I put my photo collection on a Creative Commons license?

lord_yo — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 05:07:14 -0800

As a hobby photographer, I'm playing with the idea of putting my large industrial decay photo collection on a CC license. Should I? I'm a hobby photographer specializing in urban exploration and decay photography. I have a rather big photo collection online (850+ images). I'm hardly making any money of photography - if I occasionally do, it's on high-quality prints via exhibitions, which is nice, but necessary for my survival.

I like the idea of people being able to use my art for non-commercial purposes and have familiarized myself with the diffent kinds of Creative Commons licenses.

What do you think - should I put my collection on a CC license? If yes, which type?

Any CC-licensed short story collections or repositories?

zainsubani — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 09:07:47 -0800

Are there any collections or online repositories of contemporary short stories written in English and licensed under Creative Commons?

Feature length movies with a CC license?

clockworkjoe — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 13:41:54 -0800

What are the largest creative projects released under a creative commons license, such as feature length movies or full albums? I've seen lots of short form projects released with CC licenses, but I have yet to see a feature length movie or a project that would take months or years to complete with a CC license.

How should I release and distribute my album?

lukeomalley — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 13:15:07 -0800

How should I release and distribute my newly recorded album without a record label? I am finishing up my record and it is time for me to start planning the release. The more I read about the RIAA and record labels, the less I want to be associated with them. I am looking for an alternative route.

I am not averse to giving it away, but it is a lot of money out of my pocket. I figured that the hive mind might have some solutions that I am unaware of.

Looking for a Creative Commons Lawyer

dripdripdrop — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 08:59:54 -0800

Please help me find a lawyer with Creative Commons license experience We would like to use a large amount of Creative Commons licensed works for an upcoming website. We would like to display the works, not sell or modify them, but since it is for a for-profit company I think it will still fall under commercial use.

Our current lawyers have never worked with CC licenses before and I would love someone who can hit the ground running. While not mandatory, it would be great if I could find a Canadian lawyer since it's a Canadian site.

Which Creative Commons license is most like public domain?

cog_nate — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 13:52:48 -0800

Which Creative Commons license is most like public domain? Does it make any sense to license the content I've posted if it's in the public domain? I have a collection of images on flickr which, from everything I've read, are in the public domain.

Here are the options Flickr gives under licensing:
None (All rights reserved)
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike Creative Commons
Attribution-NonCommercial Creative Commons
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs Creative Commons
Attribution Creative Commons
Attribution-ShareAlike Creative Commons
Attribution-NoDerivs Creative Commons

Flickr has no "public domain" option. I'll be honest, I got confused as to which is most like public domain and whether I should or even can license the content, and how. "None" can't be right, can it? Since I only mined images out of a database and there's nothing expressive about the reproductions, it's still public domain. Right? In the set descriptions I've inserted that, to my knowledge, the images are in the public domain. Is that all I need to do? Is there a CC option that fits this collection?

I Think I Want To Give My Work Away

joannemerriam — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:35:41 -0800

Is there any reason I shouldn't post my out-of-print poetry book on Gutenberg under a Creative Commons license? So my poetry book is out of print, and I don't expect it get re-issued or be picked up by any other publisher (except maybe in the distant future when I win the Pulitzer, and/or it gets subsumed into a Collected Works or something). The rights reverted to me when my publisher put it out of print, as per my contract, so I am free and clear to do whatever I want with it, including give it away.

I'd really like for more people to be able to read it - that's why I sought publication in the first place, after all - and it strikes me that I'd get much wider exposure this way and possibly increase my readership for my next book.

Gutenberg appears to have quite straight-forward guidelines for sending them your own work, and they can append licensing information that states that it can be reproduced only in its entirety and only not-for-profit. I'm not worried about it getting stolen, and my intent is not to release it into the public domain (and the legalese would state that), but simply to make it available for free. Here is an example of the sort of copyleft I'd assign it (except I'd use the more up-to-date Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported, I'm guessing).

Is there any reason I shouldn't do this? If I decide to do it, is there any reason I shouldn't go with Gutenberg?

And to clarify, I know y'all are not lawyers or not my lawyers, and that any advice you give me does not constitute legal advice. I'm more asking about practical difficulties/repercussions I might encounter now or in the future.

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.

Creative Commons Porn?

Anonymous — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 10:10:48 -0800

Is there someplace I can find some creative commons licensed adult photos? I just had the best idea ever and I need some freely useable porn. Images only, not videos or anything. This is just for a creative, whimsical project, so I don't want to piss anybody off by stealing copyrighted photos.

Thanks a bunch!

Maybe FUD: "All the other sites have viruses."

Netzapper — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 17:55:59 -0800

I am creating and publishing-by-download an episodic, story-driven 3D computer game. I want to make the code GPL, and I'd prefer to release the art under Creative Commons. I also want to make mad cash. How can I swing this? With software piracy a way of life, thwarted only occasionally by the most invasive of anti-piracy methods (calling home, hardward dongles), it seems silly of me to pretend every player of my game will have paid me the $5 for an episode. So, why not go the next step, and let people who love the game mod the game? Thus, the GPL and a CC license.

However, I'd also like to actually make some money from the venture. It's sucking up a lot of my time. I cannot imagine that a "please donate if you love AOE!" button would really net me much. I understand that these licenses apply only to people to whom I license it. However, if I sell somebody a license for $5 under the GPL/cc, and he makes a copy for Suzy, that's totally legit.

So, how do I convince people to pay me for what their neighbor can copy for them?

How to attribute Creative Commons images?

Ulleskelf — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 01:25:21 -0800

Is there a correct way to attribute images used under the Creative Commons system? I work for a non-profit and we'd like to use more Creative Commons images in our website. I've only used one so far - when I did I put "Shopping baskets. Image by flickr user xxxxx, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 license" in the ALT tag? Is that enough, or does it actually need to be text on the page?

Feelings about NowPublic?

sbutler — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 19:35:15 -0800

What is NowPublic? Anyone have experience with them? Today I uploaded a bunch of my pictures of the Obama event to my Flickr account. Tonight, I got a message from someone at NowPublic because they want to use one of my photos.

I don't care who uses my pictures or what they use them for. All the photos are released under a CC Attribution license. I don't understand why, if NowPublic really wants a photo, they don't just take it.

My concern is with actively associating myself with this site. Do they have a good/bad reputation on the internet? Until now, I'd never heard of them. The whole thing just seems a little too spam-esque for comfort.

Can I re-license my CC content under a more restrictive license?

Anonymous — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 16:20:14 -0800

I have a weblog which is published uses a Creative Commons Attribution license. I've discovered that some spammers are including snippets of my weblog posts in their e-mails, presumably to poison or avoid spam filters. It turns out leaving off the Non-Commercial clause was a bad idea! Is it possible to retroactively re-license my content under a more restrictive license, or am I screwed? Submitted anonymously because I don't want to draw attention to my unprotected content until I know if I can protect it again.

Should I join ASCAP? (not a simple question in my case)

Anonymous — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 13:53:47 -0800

Should I finally join ASCAP, despite my misgivings about copyright, the music-licensing industry, and certain practices by ASCAP and similar orgs? Yes, the cash would make a real difference for me, given the way ASCAP handles my genre and given my low income overall. (A many-sided question, one I've put a lot of thought into -- but I've made this as concise as I can while hitting the important points. Thanks for listening!)

I'm a young American composer of mostly classical/"concert" music. I come from a very low-income background, so as an adult I'm still learning the right ways to relate to money & finances. I've spent my post-conservatory life making a very simple living with a combo of about half music (small grants/prizes/commissions) and half other work. I'm not at a career point where prizes/etc. just fall in my lap; I spend a LOT of time researching & applying for all these opportunities.

I've missed out on a significant amount of cash over the years because I haven't joined a performance rights organization (ASCAP would be better for me personally, so that's why we're forgetting about BMI here). ASCAP's Concert Music division, unlike most other divisions, makes direct royalty payments for significant performances of your music, plus annual cash awards based on your music's overall "prestige value" (prizes/performances/etc.) -- and the award amounts I hear about from friends with "prestige" activity comparable to mine would definitely make some difference for me each year.

--- So why have I not joined ASCAP?
• I'm still (though decreasingly) attached to my ideal of offering work freely or under alternative licenses rather than perpetuating our current copyright system. (Yeah, I do realize that many anti-copyright activists are financially secure tech-industry types who have a different kind of luxury to hold these beliefs than I have.)
• While ASCAP's Concert Music division itself is clearly a postive/beneficial force in the music world, the popular music division has a practice that disturbs me: their aggressive insistence on getting even very small venues & clubs to pay their licensing fees, typically using threats of lawsuits, which can hold back struggling venues and struggling musicians alike. U.S. law says they can do this, but I don't agree with the law in this case.
• I would benefit from and implicitly approve the business practices of ASCAP if I were a member.
• If I did eventually become high-profile enough without any money or help from ASCAP, I could be a great example for other musicians who don't want to be part of the intellectual-property industry (an Ani DiFranco-like advocate for anti-copyright ideals, as Ani has been for anti-major-label ideals).

--- And what are some arguments that I should join ASCAP now?
• How logical is it for me to refuse to join in the name of supporting struggling musicians, if I'm a struggling musician myself (who's living without health care, etc.)? I'm basically the walking definition of why music licensing and royalties were created. If I'm dedicated to contributing to our culture, I need to generally take care of myself so I can be healthy/productive and live a long life.
• It's not just ASCAP and BMI: in virtually any industry, if we really trace the roots of where our pay comes from, we would likely classify it as coming from business practices that hold someone else back, or as being "dirty money" in some other sense.
• My friends unanimously agree that ASCAP's Concert Music administrators actually care about nurturing and promoting composers and connecting them with opportunities -- in other words, the cash might be the least of ASCAP's practical benefits for me.
• As far as I understand (and I would ENORMOUSLY appreciate any comment/clarification you may have on this point), ASCAP only controls the performance rights of the works you specifically register with them (i.e., you can hold back individual works, so I could do that for any particular piece that felt important to release outside copyright -- or for any particular piece if I planned to have only that piece performed at a venue not already licensed by ASCAP [to make sure the venue would be safe in the event ASCAP noticed the venue because of me]).

So... Currently I don't see any other in-depth discussion of these issues on the web, so I hope this can turn into a great thread with many different viewpoints. (And if you want to email me privately, you can use the anonymous account I set up for this: metaq @ bluebottle . com [remove the spaces].) Thank you!

Help me get started making drum and bass/idm.

MetaMonkey — Wed, 12 Jul 2006 19:19:51 -0800

MuFi has got the best of me - help me get started making electronic music, particularly drum 'n' bass/idm. I have a pretty good idea what sort of sounds I want to make, but I need the tools to do it. I've perused other threads on the matter (1, 2, 3, 4) but there's a couple of things missing:

1. Samples/source material/loops. I'm looking for any and all downloadable, copyright-free or creative commons samples and materials with which to mess around. Preferably, but not necessarily d'n'b style sounds. (note: I am aware of freesound). Also, kind of speculative: does there exist such a thing as open-source music? Where artists make available the source tracks from a song, for others to remix freely?

2. Software. I never got the hang of Reason, Fruity Loops irritates me, and Acid Pro hurts. In my dreams there exists a simple, elegant (preferably free or cheap) program with which to arrange loops and patterns, and not do too much more fancy stuff. Or am I barking up the wrong tree somewhat, and should just make the effort to learn Reason? (note: I'm happy with AudioMulch and Soundforge for audio manipulation and editing).

3. Any tutorials or advice on starting out would be most useful, regarding making drum and bass/jungle/hi-bpm/idm type stuff.

Many thanks for any assitance.

Need short video on environmental issues

strangeleftydoublethink — Wed, 01 Mar 2006 14:11:24 -0800

I'm looking for a short video that is a montage of environmental issues the world currently faces. The Prelinger Archives keep timing out on me. I want to use this as the opening for a video I'm producing for the engineering firm I work for.

Copyright vs Copyleft

whatitis — Sat, 03 Sep 2005 13:37:47 -0800

Second year law student wants to write a paper about alternatives to traditional copyright, i.e. copyleft, creative commons. I'm a 'lefty' type of person but am otherwise ignorant about conventional copyright law. To educate myself on what I percieve in my limited knowledge as a strong and viable alternative I have decided to write a paper on the topic in lieu of taking a final.

The paper will be 20-30 pages and I have discretion to choose the topic and thesis. My goal here, with this post, is to take suggestions for resources, suggestions, case law, etc. to help me get off my feet and put together a decent proposal (2-3 pages only) by Tuesday night.

Anything offered is appreciated!

Is there a Creative Commons license that would allow me to sell prints of other people photos on Flickr?

rschroed — Fri, 25 Feb 2005 18:56:57 -0800

Is there a Creative Commons license that would allow me to sell prints of other people photos on Flickr? And how would sharealike work in a case like this

Copyright Law

McGuillicuddy — Fri, 04 Feb 2005 20:02:48 -0800

Copyright law: Can I reproduce a table or a series of tables or diagrams from professional journals as part of a larger educational critical analysis and distribute my new work under a Creative Commons or GPL type license? I think that as long as my use is allowed under fair use doctrine, I can release my creation under my own terms. Correct? Or are data tables and modelling diagrams beyond fair use? Does the fact that it is educational and non-profit matter?