1. Audio / Video for
Slidecasts &
Podcasts
Giving Life to
Online Media
July 24, 2010

2. Intellectual Property
There are many definitions of Intellectual
Property, but my favorite is:
“a substantive and original creative
endeavor”
Our government values these efforts, and
thus gives the creator certain rights:
Copyright – protection against copying
the work
Trademark – protection against copying
the marketing of a work
Patent – protection against copying the
idea
Trade Secret – protection against
disclosure of secrets
photo credit: iStockPhoto

3. Basis of Intellectual
Property
They are granted by Article 1 of the
US Constitution because they serve
the common good
“To promote the Progress of
Science and useful Arts, by securing
for limited Times to Authors and
Inventors the exclusive Right to their
respective Writings and Discoveries”
All of these rights are about
property, and thus are about
protecting income of the creator
photo credit: ComLibrary on Flickr

4. Intellectual Property
Worldwide
The Berne Convention in 1886
provides some basic common
ground between different countries
laws
However, there are still subtle
differences between property law in
the US as opposed to those in other
nations
Canadian law largely follows US law
EU law has more differences, but
increasingly is following US model
photo credit: iStockPhoto

5. Copyright
Copyright covers any substantial work
that is not an invention
Protects the right to make a
substantive copy of a work
Protects against even giving away
copies
The creator chooses who to license
copyrights to
In US every work of creator
automatically has copyright
Thus it is actually hard to make
something public domain

6. Copyrightability
Not everything is subject to copyright
It must be original
You can’t copyright a work that is
already subject to copyright, or is
already in the public domain
It must be substantial
Definition of substantial depends on
the medium, a few sentences from a
poem could be copyrighted
It must be embodied
Copyright does not protect ideas, only
the specific embodiment of an idea
photo credit: iStockPhoto

7. Limited Time & Public
Domain
US copyright is limited in time
However, these limits have been
changed by congress many times,
i.e.“the mickey mouse protection act”
Any US work before 1922 is no longer
under copyright, and thus is “public
domain”
Public domain means there are no
restrictions on use by the public at large
Many works after 1922 may be public
domain, but it can be difficult to establish
All works after 1978 are copyright for the
life of the author + 70 years, or 120 years 2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
1998
1997
1996
1995
1994
1993

8. Copyright Additions
Over the years copyrights have been
extended as new technologies are invented
Derivative Copyright
People can’t copy works that are directly
derivative variants of your work, the same
medium or another medium
Look and Feel Copyright
You can’t copy something so much that it
looks like something else, even if the
underlying embodiment is different
Compilation Copyright
A collection of works that are individually
copyrighted may be copyrighted separately
as a collection
photo credit: Hannes Grobe on Wikimedia Commons

9. Fair Use
Under US law since 1978, the property
right of copyright has some other limits,
which may allow for “Fair Use”
Factors considered to determine “Fair
Use” are:
The purpose and character of the use,
i.e. commercial or non-commercial
The nature of the copyrighted work
The amount and substantiality of the
work
The effect of the use on the potential
market

10. Problems with Fair Use
Other then the basics considerations, there is
very little case law about Fair Use
Purpose & Character
There is no “I changed it” rule
Nature
There is no “It is just a photo of the art” rule
Substantiality
There is no “I credited the source” rule
Affect on Market
There is no “I didn’t make any money on it” rule

11. Fair Use Best Practices
Until recently “Fair Use” has been in decline
no standards meant confusion
insurance companies would not insure
without releases, thus corporations
would not publish
However, in 2005 the Center for Social
Media published Documentary Filmmakers’
Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use
This has been followed in 2009 by Code of
Best Practices in Fair Use for Online Video
None of these best practices have been
tested in case law
photo credit: EFF.org

12. Documentary Best
Practices
• The 2005 Documentary Best Practices
1. You may comment on or critique copyrighted
material
limit: use not so extensive that is no longer a
critique but instead is a market substitute
2. You may use copyrighted material for
illustration
limit: you should have multiple quotations from
multiple sources, no longer then necessary for
illustration, quotations should be attributed, and
use should not be a substitution for shooting new
footage

13. Documentary Best
Practices
3. You may capture copyrighted material
incidentally or accidentally
limit: material must not be staged or directed,
the captured content must does not constitute
the scenes primary point of focus
4. You may use copyrighted material in a
historical sequence
limit: the material can’t be available from
authorized sources, should use multiple
sources, and the amount of use can’t be
disproportionate

14. Social Video Best
Practices
• The 2009 Social Video Best Practices:
Changed #4: You may reproduce, repost, or
quote in order to memorialize, preserve, or
rescue an experience, an event, or a cultural
phenomenon
limits: the same
5: You may copy, repost, and recirculate a
work or part of a work for purposes of
launching a discussion
limits: intent must be clear, social discourse
must be possible

15. Documentary Best
Practices
6. You may quote in order to recombine elements
to make a new work that depends its meaning on
(often unlikely) relationships between the elements
limits: The content must be recombined, the
audience should be different then for the original
work, the amount of use may not be excessive,
and use must be for more then evoking just a
mood
i.e. A song may not be used in its entirety as a
sound track just because it evokes an emotion of
the moment. The juxtaposition must change the
meaning.

16. DMCA & Takedown
DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) is
the US law protecting copyright holders
online
If someone thinks your content might be
violating their rights, they may issue your ISP
a DMCA Takedown Notice
Your ISP must notify you and take down the
content unless counter-notified to preserve
their “safe-harbor” under the DMCA
You can, and should respond with counter-
notification. See ChillingEffects.org

17. Creative Commons
So people choose to share their works, under
copyright law, but with limitations
One such license is Creative Commons
Creative Commons licenses are not an
alternative to copyright. They apply on top of
copyright, so you can modify your copyright
terms to best suit your needs.
The Creative Commons website offers many
tools to assist you in licensing your works
You can search for Creative Commons licensed
material using Google, Yahoo, Flickr, etc.

18. CC Choices
Attribution: You let people copy, distribute,
display, perform, and remix your copyrighted
work, as long as they give you credit the way
request. All CC licenses contain this property.
Non-Commercial: You let people copy,
distribute, display, perform, and remix your work
for non-commercial purposes only. If they want
to use your work for commercial purposes, they
must contact you for permission

19. CC Choices
Share Alike: You let people create remixes and
derivative works based on your creative work,
as long as they only distribute them under the
same Creative Commons license that your
original work was published under.
OR
No Derivative Works: You let people copy,
distribute, display, and perform only verbatim
copies of your work — not make derivative
works based on it. If they want to alter,
transform, build upon, or remix your work, they
must contact you for permission.

20. Other CC Licences
Creative Commons is experimenting with a
number of other licenses
Remix – Special version of CC for music
remix
PDDC – Explicit public domain declaration
CC0 – No rights declaration, or CC0
CC+ – Commercial Rights Available

21. Releases & Permits
In most cases Free Speech obviates need for
releases and permits
However, releases can be useful for important
parts of your creative work
Model Releases: Invasion of privacy, right of
publicity, defamation
Property Releases: Some properties are covered
under copyright or trademark law
Some local municipalities or states limit public
filming, in particular for commercial purposes
However, for non-commercial projects most
permits are free

22. Flickr Image Search
First place to look for photos.
Use advanced search and select:
“Only search within Creative Commons-licensed
content”

23. Google Image Search Second place to look for photos.
Use advanced search and select:
“return images that are labels for reuse”

24. iStockPhoto
No Creative Commons licensing, but most
web-sized versions are very cheap (~$1.00)
Photos are often very evocative

25. TinEye.com
Sometimes you are fairly certain your image is
creative commons or licensable, but can’t find the
original source.
TinEye is a search engine for images like your image.

26. PodsafeAudio
Good source for music, however, most are
restricted against commercial use

27. Magnatune
Music label with creative commons
non-commercial content, but
easy to license commercial rights

28. SoundSnap
iStockPhoto-like source for
special effects and jingles

29. Questions?
Feedback?
ChristopherA@LifeWithAlacrity.com