As a content creator respect the rights of others. I repeatedly see the rights of others abused all the time in multimedia, video, and ebook projects. Be sure to preserve the rights of others as you’d expect your rights to be upheld.
- Music – There are affordable stock music options for purchasing or licensing music. You can also hire a composer or use software tools to create your own music. What you cannot do is used recorded music made by others. Giving credit is not enough. I am sickened by the number of videos I see created using copyrighted music and the number of excuses and loopholes others try to give to justify its use.
- Stock Photos and Footage – Make sure the photos and footage you choose to use is properly acquired. There are numerous libraries and sources for licensing these. Some are buy out libraries, others offer per photo or clip purchases; even still you can find public domain collections. Make sure your images are properly licensed.
- Client Provided Assets – Just because the client gives you materials doesn’t mean they are free to use. I’ve faced many instances of clients providing copyrighted materials that they did not have rights to use. Their assurances of “it’s okay” or “this is an internal use only video” would hold no bearing to my being held liable for violating the law. Be certain that what you are given to use is materials that are properly cleared.
