In addition to the preceding situations, the following are instances where material created by third parties may be used without securing permission.
- The material consists of ideas, facts or theories (but not the unique expression of those ideas, facts or theories by someone else).
- The material is a slogan or short phrase that is not being used as in a manner that conflicts with trademark laws or is libelous. (See Trademark discussion)
- The material was created by a U.S. government employee in the scope of his or her employment and does not contain notification regarding restrictions on use.
- The author of the material has expressly made the work available for unrestricted copying or distribution (pay particular attention to terms of use/rights restriction sections, including on sites such as Flickr, YouTube, and vimeo).
- The material consists entirely of information that is common property and contains no original authorship (e.g., height and weight charts, tape measures and rules, lists of tables taken from public documents or other common sources).
- The content does not contain a person’s voice or image in a manner that invokes privacy or publicity rights. (See Privacy/Publicity discussion)
If the third-party material you wish to use does not qualify for any of these or the preceding exceptions, or if privacy or publicity rights are involved, you will need to obtain permission from the pertinent rights holders.