Multimedia Content

Sure we all want our websites to look really great but copyright issues plague all of us when it comes to trying to find images, video or audio on the web for our blogs or website projects. One solution to this problem is to use multimedia content that is free or only requires some simple attribution. I have identified a few websites that will further enhance your website or blog without burdening you with additional expenses.

If you are looking for free public domain multimedia content try checking out the Creative Commons website. This website allows you to send your query to Google (web), Google (Images), Flickr (Images), blip.tv (Video), jarmendo (Music), and SpinExpress (Media)all at once. You can search one of two ways: (1) for commercial purposes (2) or something that you can modify, adapt, or build upon: The following short video explains this website in more depth.



Another website to explore when looking for photos for your blog or website is everystockphoto.com. This website searches photos under numerouse free licenses. You can search by popular tags, top 1,000, latest photos or just by typing your query in the search box. Once the search results are displayed you just click on the image you would like to consider using and it will display the title of the image along with an info, license, diclaimer and report tab. Icons that appear below the picture indicate the manner in which you must attribute the work which has been specified by the author or licensor even though the image is free to use. Many photos are linked to the following page and include the following information: "For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the license terms of this work. The best way to do this is with a link to this web page."

Last but not least, one of my personal website favorites for finding audio, video or movie clips is called InternetArchive. Once you locate the clips you would like to use, you usually have the option of either streaming the content or downloading it to your computer. There are so many clips available on this website and many of them are from long ago. I found myself spending a lot of time on that website just searching the various categories and viewing the available content. Once again make sure to check the attribution requirements before using the content. I hope I've introduced you to some new resources that will help you either now or in the near future.