Section 8 · Sourcing & Image Ethics

Copyright — The Default

Definition

The automatic legal protection granted to a creative work at the moment it is fixed in tangible form. No registration, notice, or symbol is required.

Why it matters

The default assumption for any found image is that it is protected and not free to use. “It was on the internet” and “there was no copyright notice” are not permissions.

Example

A photograph posted publicly to a personal blog is fully protected even with no stated terms.

Teaching note

Stating the default explicitly matters more than any individual license. Most student misuse follows from assuming the opposite default.