May 10, 2013 - Getting it 'Copy - Right!'

Hello Everyone,

Have you ever wanted to spruce up a presentation with music and images but are afraid of breaking copy write laws?  As teachers, it is our job to not only model, but to educate students on how to appropriately use online materials and images. Here are two ways to accomplish this difficult task.

Google Image Search

Finding images on Google is easy, but did you know you can filter the results to display only images which are ‘free to use or share’ or even ‘modify’?

1. Go to Google.com and click on images in the black bar at the top of the screen.

2. Type your keyword into the search bar  and press enter

3. When the initial images are displayed, you will also see an image of a gear on the upper right hand side of the page.  Click on the gear and select ‘Advanced Search’ from the drop down menu.

4. Here you will find many ways to filter your results, including size, type, and format.  At the very bottom of the page, you will see ‘Usage Rights’.  From the drop down menu, choose ‘free to use or share’, and click ‘Advanced Search’.

5. The results that will be displayed will “be labeled as public domain or carry a license that allows you to copy or redistribute its content” (Google, 2013)

Purple Planet Royalty Free Music

The website Purple Planet (http://www.purple-planet.com/) is a fantastic resource which offers free downloadable music for use in educational projects, YouTube videos, and web based projects in exchange for a link to their site.  On their home page, you will find blocks which link to various genres of music (kids, dramatic, jazz, blues, etc.).  Each genre has several different tracks which you can preview and/or download as an mp3. The tempo of number of beats per minute are also displayed with each track, which is also quite helpful when selecting music for a project.  The music is very pleasant and will get your toes tapping.

Now there is no excuse for having boring presentations. You can make them come alive with wonderful images and moving music.  I hope that you find these resources helpful, and please feel free to share them with your students.  

Hope everyone has a wonderful long weekend!

Stacey