411 for Creators
How not to get ripped off or to rip someone off
Copyright
License
Plagiarize
Creative Commons
Piracy
Public Domain
Creative Work
A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort such as artwork, literature, music, paintings, and software. Creative works have in common a degreeof arbitrariness, such that it is improbable that two people would independently create the same work. Creative works are part of property rights.
The term is frequently used in the context of copyright law.
Fair Use
Fair use is a limitation and exception to the exclusive right granted by copyright law to the author of acreative work. In United States copyright law, fair use is a doctrine that permits limited use of copyrightedmaterial without acquiring permission from the rights holders. Examples of fair use include commentary,search engines, criticism, news reporting, research, teaching, library archiving and scholarship. It provides forthe legal, unlicensed citation or incorporation of copyrighted material in another author's work under a four-factor balancing test.
The term fair use originated in the United States. A similar principle, fair dealing, exists in some othercommon law jurisdictions. Civil law jurisdictions have other limitations and exceptions to copyright.
Fair use is one of the traditional safety valves.