Creative+Commons+411



Populating a website with image requires more than trawling the web for appropriate content and pilfering it. Technically, you are bound to follow copyright and (ethical) best practices associated with online publishing and content production. So, for the final assignment you are only able to use image content on your site that is published under a [|Creative Commons license].

Many major webservices (flickr, google, etc.) have options to search for content that is published under a creative commons license. The //easiest// way to search for CC license from across the web is to use [|search.creativecommons.org] – as the site links in to several major media resources. When searching, just plug in your query, pick the appropriate criteria (a default search here will be fine, but if you are looking for content to edit/alter be sure to select 'modify, adapt or build upon') and then hunt away. Assuming you find appopriate content, now you need to credit the author.

Say you wanted to use the [|above flickr photo](this is the view you are presented with if you select 'view all sizes' of a particular flickr photo). If you clicked on the 'license' information at the top you'd get the CC info for this image. In this particular case it is [|Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic] – which means it is fine to use for our purposes.

There is no 'standard' way to link to material published under a CC license. Two popular approaches:


 * 1) Put 'photo: [|Alicia Bernal]' (with the name of the content author linked back to the base URL of the content) under the image
 * 2) Use a more formal blurb that also mentions the license: 'photo:[| Alicia Bernal], available under a Creative Commons [|Attribution-NonCommercial][| license].

The latter option is probably overkill though – so I'd recommend the former. If you end up setting up a slideshow or gallery where it is not possible to append images with credits, make a dedicated 'photo credit' page.

//What is the point of this?// There is rampant content theft within professional web publishing and this practice leads to numerous 'cease and desist' letters and the occasional lawsuit. It is best to develop content-hunting skills that are ethical and won't get you in trouble.

• [] - the "free" section; make sure to read over the "usage" options, but most are free to use as long as you don't claim them as your own, or redistribute them • [] - the license and usage options vary for each resource, so make sure to read the uploader's description section to make sure what license it is released under • [] - the free textures are all free to use with no attribution required (Terms of use: http://lostandtaken.com/tou/)
 * Here are some good places to find textures and stock images released under a CC license:**