Where Can I Find Copyright Free Videos?
Jun 30, 2009
in
Tornado Pictures Video
Where Can I Find Copyright Free Videos? I Need Good Footage Of Tornadoes, But They Need To Be Copyright Free. And So Far I’ve Searched, Yahoo, Google, And Some Other Sites, And Got Nothing. Can Anyone Help Me Out? BTW, I Never Understood The Purpose Of "Copyright Free" Technically, As Long As You Give Credit To All Your Sources, You’re Not Violating Any Copyrights? Anyone Care To Explain That To Me?
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3 comments
Mike W on June 30, 2009 at 9:17 am
You would absolutely love Creative Commons.
http://search.creativecommons.org/#
Or check out Wikimedia Commons.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
Not all videos have to be copyright. If they’re released on, say, the GNU public license, you’re allowed to make derivative works if you release your derivative works under the GNU license too. Or, some creative commons licenses say that you just gotta tell other people whose work you used, then you’re free to do whatever you like with it.
If you find copyrighted material that you want to use, you’re in a bit of a bind. Citing your sources is not usually enough. Legally, you could find sources that are not allowed to be used in commercial works. If what you’re doing is going to be public, it’s always best to ask the author for permission.
However, I am not a lawyer, so I don’t really know. If you’re really concerned about this, hit up one of your lawyer friends for advice.
Good luck!
~Char~ on June 30, 2009 at 9:17 am
i thought all videos were copyrighted somehow….?
colanth on June 30, 2009 at 9:17 am
If it’s copyrighted it’s not free. (Copyrighted means that only the copyright holder has the right to make copies – and downloading to your computer is making a copy.) The copyright holder can grant you permission to make a copy (or to own one – that’s what you pay for when you buy a DVD, the right to own the copy).
Publishing content (showing it in public, on TV or on a web site) with a copyright notice (the © 2008, Someone’s name thing) means that it’s copyrighted. (Just publishing it like that is all that’s required to give it a copyright.) Copyrights last 75 years, and can be renewed. So if you want copyright-free content it has to be very old or it has to plainly state that it’s being released to the public domain.
"As long as you give credit to all your sources you’re not violating copyright" is false. If you make a copy – for any purpose for which you don’t have permission in writing (like the old Borland copyright – you could make as many copies as you like, as long as you only used one at a time) – you’re in violation of the copyright. Most copyright agreements require that you give credit – so do most public domain releases – that’s probably where the claim comes from. But it’s the rationalization of a thief – "I gave credit, so it’s not stealing". It is.
Fair use may apply, but not to an entire footage, and not to use instead of making your own. (For instance, you can show a snip of a film about tornadoes to show how the photographer uses shadows to make the cloud look 3D – that would probably be fair use in a biography of the photographer, or an article about using shadows to give depth.)
For footage about tornadoes you probably have only 2 legal choices – film your own or buy footage.