If this is your first time producing an online course, you probably have been told something rather frustrating: You can’t use all of those perfect images that you found on Google, and subsequently placed in your PowerPoint slides! This is quite confusing, as you though that you were protected under that warm and fuzzy blanket known as “Fair Use.” The problem with fair use, in the online environment, is that the distribution model has changed. Instead of showing material to a single group of students one time – you now have a video, PowerPoint presentation, or some combination that is being published over the web for multiple classes, and quite possibly a much wider audience than the students enrolled in your course. For at least a brief moment you might wonder if you could just ignore copyright, and only find new materials if you get caught. This is a very dangerous game to play. You are representing a University, and it is a personal and professional nightmare to be caught stealing media.
The Good News: Ohio State has resources to help you to find out if your images are copyright free “in the public domain” and can help point you towards resources that will lead you to acceptable free images/media.
Here is a link to OSU’s Copyright Services: http://library.osu.edu/projects-initiatives/copyright-resources-center/
Here is a Video on Fair Use: http://go.osu.edu/fairuse
Here is a Checklist to Determine Fair Use: http://hsl.osu.edu/copyright/fair-use-checklist
Here are a few copyright free image banks that they suggest:
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American Memory collection: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html -
Wikimedia Commons: http://commons.wikimedia.org/ -
Library of Congress: http://www.loc.gov/pictures/ -
Flickr Commons: https://www.flickr.com/commons/ -
Welcome Images (historical images): http://wellcomeimages.org/
Here is a really cool tool that allows you to upload any image, and it will tell you were you can locate that image on the web to find information about it: https://www.tineye.com/search