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Library DVDs and Film Streaming

Use this guide to explore film and video streaming rights, copyright information, and more resources at Ringling and beyond.

Legal Use of Creative Commons Videos

There may be some film and video under Creative Commons licenses, which give the legal right to use these videos.

Creative Commons is a system, built upon current copyright law, that allows you to legally use “some rights reserved” music, movies, images, and other content — all for free. CC offers free copyright licenses that anyone can use (without a lawyer) to mark their creative work with the freedoms they want it to carry.

YouTube has launched a Creative Commons video library containing 10,000 videos under CC BY from organizations such as C-SPAN, PublicResource.orgVoice of America, and Al Jazeera. The library will serve as a base catalog of videos for users to access, edit, and incorporate into their own video projects. The YouTube Video Editor now contains a CC tab that allows users to search the Creative Commons video library and select videos to edit and remix. Users may remix videos directly on the editor platform, and any video that is created using CC BY-licensed content will automatically display the linked source videos’ titles underneath the video player. Since CC BY is enabled as a licensing option, the library will grow as more users choose to license their work under CC BY.

There are many other options as well, but make sure you find the license before use!

Almost — you need to make sure that what you want to do with the film or video is OK under the terms of the license. CC-licensed video isn’t free for all uses, — so check the terms. Most importantly, use video that is not licensed under a No Derivative Works license. This means that the filmmaker doesn’t want you to change, transform, or make a derivative work using their work. Also, make sure to properly credit the filmmaker, as well as express the CC license the video is under.