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Introduction > Virtual Volunteering : Other Approaches : Copyright

copyright

Whenever you're using anyone else's material, be it graphics, text, fonts, software or whatever, PLEASE respect the copyright of others.

Someone has spent their precious time making the material, and whether it's their livelihood or as a hobby, they deserve to be compensated for that labour. If you require material for a non-commercial site, you may find that the copyright-holder will be willing to allow you free or low-cost usage rights - this usually requires at least an acknowledgement of their copyright to prevent the work being taken from your site and used by someone else without knowledge or permission of the work's owner.

There are exceptions, where people have specifically designated their work as public domain or where a period of time, usually 50-80 years, has expired after the creation of the work or their death (depending on the country). Hence why I use a lot of antique material when I don't have the time or talent to make all of my own content for a project such as this.

Aside from the fact that it's bad karma to steal, it's also illegal. If you've used material believing it to be copyright-free, and someone claims it's theirs and asks you to remove it from your site, do so immediately or you may end up with a hefty legal bill. Even if you dispute their copyright, at least remove the material until the issue of ownership is resolved.

The basic rule - respect the copyright of others, and protect your own. An excellent resource for Collage Artists that's also relevant to anyone using other peoples' content can be read at:

http://www.funnystrange.com/copyright/index.html