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Copyright Basics

This guide covers the bare-bones basics of copyright law and the responsible and ethical reuse of images, in particular. It is intended to help guide college students as they build websites that serve educational purposes. It is not intended to provide le

If you own the copyright

If you want to share your own images or other content* in a digital archive, list yourself as the creator and in the "Rights" field, make sure you tell others what they can and can't do with your work. I recommend that you license your work with Creative Commons. This will help you decide which license is right for you: https://creativecommons.org/choose/. As you go through and answer the questions, it auto-generates some html code at the end. You can use this code in Omeka or on other platforms.

1. Choose your license using the license generator linked above.

2. In Omeka, simply check the little box that says "use html" just beneath the Rights field.

3. In the bar that appears at the top of the field, select <> which is "source code."

4. Then, copy and paste that embed code directly from the license creator into the source code box and save. You should see some internationally recognized symbols appear that indicate to your users which license applies to your work. Now they know what they legally have permission to do with your work and what they can't do!

* Please note that you only own the copyright if you are the original creator- i.e. you took the photograph, you wrote the play, you recorded the film, etc.