Appropriate source use with multimedia projects is very important, as it is with more traditional essays. But, how do you cite? How do you quote in an audio soundtrack? How do you know what you can and can't use? How do you know how you can use something--an image, a video, a sound--that someone else has created?

Basic Info:

Fair Use and Public Domain: Important Concepts for Educators

Copyright for Educators: Slideshare with Audio from Wesley Fryer

Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education

What is Creative Commons licensing, and why is it important?

A Fair(y) Use Tale

Clay Shirky on SOPA, PIPA, Information Sharing

Sources:

When using images and sounds from the web, always be sure you can use them--look for "public domain," "Creative Commons License," or, in some cases, "GNU GPL (GNU General Public License)." These are terms for, within some boundaries, sources that are available for you to re-use or sample in your projects. You still have to cite them for our class; those are two different issues!

• Books from the library, with images that you've scanned!
• Wikimedia Commons and Wikipedia (for images--you should use your text or the library for documentary content);
• ccMixter.org (for Creative Commons licensed music);
• freesound.org (for Creative Commons sound effects);
• flickr commons (for images); art galleries and history museums for images; university library exhibit websites
• Internet Archive (still images, old videos, and more--do read the licensing information, though!)
• Have another good site? Email me!

Re-Using versus Quoting and Citing:

Remember that anything you use, you have to cite for this class. If you've found effective sounds, images, and videos, then you should be able to cite them in full--the sources above will provide you with all the information you need to document your sources. In general, the best way to do this is to list, at the end of your product (if it's a video, for instance), a "credits screen," organized in order of appearance and genre. This is like your works cited or bibliography page--the entries should be formatted appropriately.

If you're working with an audio narration from a written script you've created, and you're using ideas that have been generated by others, you'll also need some way to indicate that this idea you're quoting (or paraphrasing) comes from someone else. How Do I Incorporate Sources into an Audio Narration?