“When you have wit of your own, it's a pleasure to credit other people for theirs.”
― Criss Jami, Killosophy
When using materials created by someone else, always make sure you are not infringing on their rights. This page contains a selection of online sites where you can find free-to-use materials for your projects - you should still check for any use restrictions for items you use.
In addition to legal rights, there are also ethical considerations about using other people's work.
Read more about copyright and ethical considerations on the Citizen DJ Copyright Guide.
For more information on usage rights, visit the Campus Guide to Copyright created by the Copyright Clearance Center. This guide was created to help students, instructors, faculty, and staff of U.S. based colleges and universities by offering background information about U.S. copyright law.
"Copyright is a type of intellectual property that protects original works of authorship as soon as an author fixes the work in a tangible form of expression. In copyright law, there are a lot of different types of works, including paintings, photographs, illustrations, musical compositions, sound recordings, computer programs, books, poems, blog posts, movies, architectural works, plays, and so much more!" - U.S. Copyright Office
JSTOR is a multidisciplinary digital library of academic journals, books, and primary sources. NOTE: Artstor's collections are moving to JSTOR and the Artstor website will be retired on August 1, 2024. Learn more about this resource migration from JSTOR here: https://www.jstor.org/artstor
"The vast majority of music that you're familiar with is subject to copyright. Artists want to protect their music and be sure that they're getting paid whenever it gets used. And rightfully so! They put in a lot of hard work to create some of your favorite songs."