Rules, copyright and rights in media
What you are allowed to use, what you own yourself, and what you need to be able to document
Unlike trades like electrician or plumber, digital media is not a trade where you need a legal permit to work. Instead the profession is surrounded by another set of rules that are just as important to understand: rules on copyright, usage rights and personal data. These are the rules that determine what you can use in a production and who owns what you create.
§Your final certificate
When you've completed the education and passed the final test you get proof you're skilled in your specialty. The proof documents you master the trade's methods and tools at a professional level — and that's what an employer can rely on when hiring you.
§Copyright – the most important set of rules in the trade
Copyright is the law that protects creative works: images, music, video, text, graphics and code. As a general rule, you may not use other people's material in your productions without permission. This applies even if something is freely available online – the fact that something can be downloaded does not mean it is free to use.
- 01Use only music, images and typefaces you have the right to use – e.g. licensed or released works.
- 02Keep track of licenses and sources so you can document where the material comes from.
- 03Get clarified who owns the rights to what you produce for a customer.
§Personal data and GDPR
When you make websites apps e-commerce or campaigns you easily come to work with personal information — names emails pictures of people user data. It's regulated by data protection rules (GDPR) setting requirements for how information can be collected stored and used. You need to know enough to ask the right questions when a solution processes data about people.
§Agreements on usage rights
When you produce for a customer it should be clear who owns the finished work and what it can be used for. Can the customer use a video on social media and in TV ads? Can they edit your work afterward? That's arranged beforehand — often in writing — so nobody is surprised later.
§Accessibility and good practice
Finally there are rules and standards for digital solutions to be usable by everyone including people with disabilities. Especially for public websites there are accessibility requirements. It is part of doing quality work — and something you might as well include from the start of a production.