Creative Commons for Educators

There have been times when (and I’m embarrassed to admit this because I’m married to a librarian) that I’ve stolen a picture from a website for something I wanted to use in class.

I broke the law. And maybe you have too.

But here’s the thing — you don’t need to violate copyright law to get beautiful photos. Or breathtaking PowerPoint templates. Or music to put in videos you create.

Enter Creative Commons.

Creative Commons is a global nonprofit organization that enables sharing and reuse of creativity and knowledge through the provision of free legal tools.

Creative Commons website

You may have heard of Creative Commons. Or seen their symbols:

Anything licensed under Creative Commons is legal to use in your work. Usually all you have to do is give credit to the author. And in most cases you can modify the content.

The world of Creative Commons is a bit more complex — consult your librarian for more information. But if you want to see the power of Creative Commons right now, there are two websites you should visit:

Unsplash.com is the place to go for copyright-free images. Licensed as Creative Commons 0, you can use these images however you want (and you don’t have to give credit to the photographers — but you should because it’s good karma).

SlidesCarnival.com has a collection of eye-popping presentations (both PowerPoint and Google Slides). Licensed as Creative Commons Attribution, this means you can use the templates however you wish, but you must credit the author.

Go out and start exploring! The number of quality assets available to use — for free — is amazing.

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CREDITS
Photo of library by Ivo Rainha via Unsplash.com
Quote from Creative Commons