Design and Copyright

Design and Copyright

I Lead-in.

1)    What free resources can designers find in the Internet?

2)    What resources for our projects do you look for online?

II Vocabulary focus. Match the words to their definitions. Use three words in your sentences.

1.	copyright	A.	to give authors name to show that the work belong to someone else
2.	font	B.	the state of not knowing about something
3.	asset	C.	to buy something
4.	acceptable	D.	imitation of another artist’s work
5.	legal	E.	belonging to all people
6.	for free	F.	to be careful
7.	repository	G.	the legal right to control the production and selling of a book, film,  image, photo
8.	in public domain	H.	breaking the law
9.	to watch out	I.	set of letters and symbols in certain design
10.	to give credit	J.	allowed by the law
11.	derivative	K.	to imitate
12.	to purchase	L.	to take legal action against someone
13.	ignorance	M.	a useful thing
14.	explicitly	N.	reasonable and approved
15.	to be tempted	O.	without paying money
16.	in breach of  law	P.	to want to do something
17.	to sue	Q.	a place where things are stored
18.	to rip off	R.	in a clear way

III Watch the video and fill in the gaps with the words from the list. There are some words you don’t need to use.

laws; Google; allowed; copy; copyright; rights; Internet; legal; symbols; paying; lawyer; financially; license; money; rights; icons; public; commercial

For today's design chat we're going to be talking about 1) _____. So if you've ever used an image that you found in a Google search in a project or downloaded a free font, this video is for you.

As designers sometimes we need to bring assets into our work that we didn't create ourselves like fonts, 2) _____, images. It's perfectly acceptable, totally legal, but only if you choose the right assets. Just because something is available online for free it doesn't mean you have the 3) _____ to use it in your project. This is a guide to making sure you do have the rights to use the images, icons, and fonts you find on the 4) _____ in your work. Now I will preface this by saying that I am NOT a lawyer, but this is just my understanding of basic copyright law and this is how I approach it.   

The first thing to do when you find an asset you want to use in your work it's to love information about the usage 5) _____. Repository sites will generally have a page that gives you information about this and on sites like Flickr for example the usage rights will be listed by each photograph because the user gets to decide what they are. They’re not a site-wide thing. When you're searching for free assets you might sometimes come across things that are marked as being in the 6) _____domain like this one here. That means that you can use it for whatever you want. You’ll also likely come across a lot of things that use a Creative Commons license. Now something to watch out for here is that there are many different types of Creative Commons 7) _____. This one means you can use it for whatever you like as long as you give credit to the creator in your project. This one means you can use it if you give credit but you can't make changes or derivatives of it. And this one here means you can use it if you give credit but not if it's a 8) _____project. Those are just a few of the main ones that I often see. There is a link in the description where you can find out more about them and what all those little 9) _____mean.  

The type of Creative Commons asset you can use in a project depends on the project.  If it's a project for a client or a business, or one that you're going to earn 10) _____from, you should only use ones that are available for commercial use. So none with this symbol here. There are much less assets available for commercial use, which is understandable. So you might want to look into something like stock photography and I did a video all about that giving you some advice on it which you can watch right here. You might also want to look into purchasing an icon set or a subscription to an icon site to get those assets. Please keep in mind though that just because you're 11) _____money for something that also doesn't give you the rights to use it for whatever you want. For example  with fonts there's a difference between purchasing the rights for a personal use license and a commercial license. So read up on the usage rights carefully of the site that you're getting this asset from. And if you're not sure, if it's not clear, ask the site owner. Ignorance is no excuse to break copyright 12) _____. You might be searching for an asset and come across one that doesn't have any rights information attached to it like on Google perhaps. But just because there's no information and they're readily available to you, doesn't mean you're 13) _____to use it in your project. You need to know explicitly that you do have the rights to use it, but if you do insist on using 14) _____images here's a handy tip for you.  If you go into the search tools, you can click on usage rights and select the license that you need for your project and then you'll only see images that have that license and you won't be tempted by other ones. It's really important to make sure that the work you're doing is 15) _____for all projects, but especially for client projects. You don't want to be responsible for them being in breach of copyright because if they get sued, guess what? They're going to pass that cost on to you. You wouldn't want someone else stealing an asset you’ve worked hard on, so don't do it to other people. And on that note I shouldn't have to tell you not to 16) _____other people's work, but don't copy other people's work. There are ways to be inspired without ripping off their piece completely and I think I might do another video on that because it is a whole different topic.

IV  Watch the video and mark the sentences as True (T) or False (F). Correct the false statements.

1.    The video talks about copyright.  

2.    Designers sometimes use images they didn’t create.  

3.    Designers can always use images they didn’t create.  

4.    Designers can use any images they find online for free in their project.    

5.    The speaker in the video is a lawyer.  

6.    Designer should always try to find information about usage rights before taking an asset from the Internet.  

7.    Repository sites like Flickr give information about the usage rights for each photograph.  

8.    Designers can use assets that are in public domain for whatever they want.   

9.    Designers can use assets that use a Creative Commons license for whatever they want.  

10.When designers are working on a project for a client they should choose assets that are available for commercial use.  

11.Purchasing an icon set or a subscription to an icon site for a personal use license and a commercial license is the same.  

12.When there's no information on copyright and assets are readily available to designers, it means designers are allowed to use them in their project.  

13.In Google designers can click on usage rights and select the license that they need for their project.

14.It's really important to make sure that the work designer is doing is legal for all projects, but especially for client projects.  

15.If a designer get sued for being in breach of copyright they're going to pass that cost on to clients.  

16.There are ways to be inspired by other people’s work without ripping off their piece completely.      

V OVER TO YOU. Follow the link https://creativecommons.org/about/cclicenses/ and learn more about different types of Creative Commons licence. What types of licence allow designers to use the image in their work? Which types do not allow making changes to the original? Try to search the Internet for three images (photos/fonts/icons) you would like to use in your work. Find out what types of licence those images have. Discuss what types of copyright protects images, icons, and fonts in your country.