Copyright and permissions

Anything you choose to use in your project that isn’t created by you, is likely to be the intellectual property of another person or organisation. In other words, someone else may have legal “ownership” of it… yes, even of words.

If in doubt, have someone check for you. If you are using information from a published book, or journal, or magazine (even from an advertising brochure), say where you got the material from. In other words, acknowledge the source. That will sometimes be enough to prevent future problems. Again, if doubt, check.

With images, the same applies. Some images are in the public domain. That means they are readily available and for no charge or cost to you. Other images may be used for a small fee. Still other images require that you purchase them. For images taken from published books, or journals, or magazines, you may need to obtain permission to use them. Get this checked. There are specialists who can obtain permissions clearance for you.

Remember to protect yourself.