Flickr Gets It Right with Creative Commons Licensing

By: Rae Visita
Something that all producers should know about is Creative Commons. As creators, we should be well aware that everything is copyrighted upon creation with the default “All Rights Reserved”. We’ve all seen those words somewhere. They are super important and should not be taken lightly. It’s the reason why you legally can’t post your favorite CW show on YouTube, nor can you produce a video with Tupac blasting in the background at the local film festival without the right licensing. You can get sued. It can get pricey. Just don’t do it. This is why I give a pat on the back to Flickr because with each photo, they allow their producers to utilize Creative Commons – a way to license content without royalties. So if you’re looking for a photo to use and would rather spend funds on say development instead of licensing you can head on over to Flickr and utilize the following method to peruse the CC license content: 1. Go to Flickr.com 2. Click on ‘Search’ 3. Click on ‘Advanced Search’ 4. Input your search terms, scroll to the bottom and checkmark ‘Only search within Creative Commons-licensed content. 5. Hit Search and peruse to your hearts content. However, be forewarned, there are several different types of CC licenses. Some let you modify, some don’t, almost all require that you show attribution to the original creator. Here are some more resources to take a look at for further reading: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_Commons http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_Commons_licenses