Don't Deny It Any Longer, Let's Talk About Copyright

We've all seen it.....

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeblogs/3020966666/ 

The logo above usually means you're in for a jumble of lawyer-ese and threatened fines that limit our use of many forms of content.  It can be difficult as a classroom teacher to stay within the confines of copyright law, especially when all you want to do is show the world to your students.

So I've been gathering a collection of the best resources for understanding copyright, which you can find below:

From MakeUseOf:

Royalty free images: These images are not free. You have to purchase these images for a fee, but beyond that you can continue to use the image as long as you want. But this is a non-exclusive right as others may also purchase the same image for use.

Public Domain images: Images which are not covered by any copyright and are available free of charge are called public domain images. Images whose copyright have expired also fall under the public domain. To put it this way, any image which is freely available may not be a public domain image; but a public domain image is freely available for use without permission.

Creative Commons: Creative Commons images (or the licenses) should not be confused with public domain and free-to-use images. Creative Commons is a set of free licenses which cover fair use and allow creators to reserve some rights for themselves while freeing up the work for the benefit of the public. Learn more about Creative Commons on the CC website.

Copyright Confusion Wiki - Which will also link you to the Fair Use Reasoning Tool!

Photo, music, and sound effects sites to use for copyright-friendly material.

Links to create-your-own content sites such as Aviary, Wordle, ToonDoo, and more.

Let's also not forget about http://creativecommons.org which can be another information resource about using copyright correctly.

Franz Xaver Messerschmidt's The Vexed Man (1770s or early 1780s). Photo by Jean-François Chénier on Flickr

Even though copyright can be somewhat overwhelming and difficult to understand, I would say that it's most important for you to be consciously aware of it and a constant learner of how to best abide by its terms.  I also think it's extremely important to pass this same attitude on to our students since the digital world we live in makes it so easy to come by copyright-protected digital content, and remaining fair to the creators of that content should be a top priority.