Produce Original Digital Media Content

When producing digital media in this course, your work must be original. You also have the option to remix openly-licensed materials for your assignments that are clearly identified as open or public domain and available for reuse. You may combine original and openly-licensed materials as part of your Digital Object assignments or for the Final Project. Be sure to always give credit to the source of all digital resources in discussion postings and projects, whether those materials are created by you and/or identified as openly-available via a reliable source (see below).

Search for Images, Video, and Music with Open Licenses

To enhance your assignments with openly-available materials, explore these reliable resources:

• Openverse - This is a search engine developed by the Creative Commons (CC) that provides access to a wide range of openly-licensed media content for reuse.
• Wikimedia Commons - This site is hosted by Wikimedia Foundation (also responsible for Wikipedia) and offers media that is freely available and openly-licensed.
• Smithsonian Open Access provides millions of images from the Smithsonian collection that are now open access and available to use for free (as long as you attribute the source).
• Artvee - This commercial web site offers many images about art and artists that are now public domain and freely available for personal and commercial projects. Be sure to only select images from this site that are labeled public domain, since many are not yet available for reuse and are protected by copyright. Review the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy (which includes their Cookies Policy).
• Pixabay - This commercial web site is for accessing royalty-free images but be sure check their license summary, terms of service, privacy policy, and cookies policy since it is a commercial platform. Also be aware that this site often features "sponsored" images that require payment so be sure to only search for free and open materials (you are not required to purchase any media content for this course).

Please note that artificial Intelligence (AI) programs such as DALL-E and Midjourney generate images based on text-input from the user. If you use generative AI to create images for your digital projects, always be clear about how the images were produced and document the source of the program used (please note that the use of AI-generated text is not allowed for any written assignment).

Several of the editing platforms include free clip art, images, video and music as well. It is fine to use these materials but remember to always credit the source, even if a built-in feature of the program.

Resources about Copyright, Public Domain, and Open License

To learn more about copyright, public domain, and open licenses, review these resources:

• SUNY Empire Copyright Information Website - This is a comprehensive resource that provides up-to-date and extensive information about all aspects of copyright.
• What is copyright? - This resource from the CopyrightGOV - U.S. Copyright Office explains what copyright is and how it is understood in the United States.
• Copyright - This page defines copyright from a European Union perspective.
• Public Domain - This Wikipedia entry provides an excellent definition and overview of the term public domain.
• Creative Commons - This is an online community committed to creating and sharing openly licensed materials. It provides information about how to Use & Remix open resources in the Commons.
• About CC Licenses - This page explains what a Creative Commons (CC) license is and describes each of the licenses available. You are not required to designate an open license for your own digital stories, but these definitions will help you to evaluate materials that have a license designated by the producer of that work.
• How to give attribution - This page explains how to give credit to CC works you identify.