Mr.

Elmo,

I am looking forward to start working with you and develop your project. After our conversation earlier today, some things regarding copyright issues came to my attention and I would like to bring some information to your consideration. Please take a look at it and contact me afterwards so we can talk about it to clarify any doubts you may have.

Public Domain Any work under this category is free to use. It can be because (1) the author has expressed a desire to give his work to the public without copyright protection (2) because of age, including any work published before 1923 or before 1964 for whish copyrights were not renewed or (3) the term of copyright for the work has expired (95 years from publication or 120 years from creation). Usually, when a work is in public domain a message displaying that information can be found within the work.

Royalty Free Lets see some important information regarding images, which are your major concern. An individual or a company has the right to use images such as photography, illustrations and clip art after a one-time payment to the licensor, and in most cases the licensor is the creator. Concerning videos and/or movies, the owner can be the manufacturer, publisher, agent, and/or distributor. Some restrictions may apply to this agreement and they can be negotiated.

Creative Commons Every time you see a creative commons notification you can use (copy, distribute and transmit the work) and make commercial use of the work by adapting it (not using the work as original). That is true under the condition of attribution and according to creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/: you must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor, but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work (2013).

Fair Use The owner of copyright has the right to reproduce or to authorize others to reproduce his work in copies; nevertheless, there are some limitations and information about it can be found in sections 107 through 118 of the copyright law (title 17, U. S. Code). Also, a work can be identified as fair use for the reasons of criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. As described in copyright.gov webpage, section 107 also sets out four factors to be considered in determining whether or not a particular use is fair.

 The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes The nature of the copyrighted work The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole The effect of the use upon the potential market for, or value of, the copyrighted work (2013). Finally, Copyright. As explained in www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-definitions.html; copyright infringement occurs when a copyrighted work is reproduced, distributed, performed, publicly displayed, or made into a derivative work without the permission of the copyright owner (2013). Remember to contact me if you have any questions.

Alex S. Vlez