Legalities

1. The main legal issues for us podcasters are related to copyright, publicity rights and trademark issues. Always assume that something is protected by copyright, we should always get permission from the copyright owner unless an exception or exclusion applies.

2. Publicity rights allow individuals to control how any version of their likeness is used for commercial purposes in public. You may need consent from the individual before using their likeness. I’m not sure if what we’re are doing is considered commercial purposes in the public forum but we should still be cautious.

3. Trademark law protects consumers from being deceived as to the source of goods and services, or the endorsement, sponsorship or affiliation of one good or service with another. Be sure not to claim that your service is affiliated with an entity that is trademarked. Basically don’t lie about any affiliation and you should avoid any concerns relating trademark law’s.

4. When is Permission not required:
You Are Using; A Fact, An Idea, A Theory Or Slogan, Title Or Short Phrase or works That Are In The Public Domain. Also any US Government Work or anything that has a Creative Commons-License or is “Podsafe” Content.
Creative Commons' licensed content is usaully “podsafe”.

**Making “Fair Use.**
You may make a “fair use” of a copyrighted text without obtaining permission of the copyright owner. A “fair use” is copying any protected material (texts, sounds, images, etc.) for a limited and “transformative” purpose, like criticizing, commenting, parodying, news reporting, teaching the copyrighted work. You are not violating any copyright laws if you are using something within the criteria of “fair use”, transformative is a bit wishy-washy so I would recommend getting more information on "fair use" offered in the article.

5. Two Misconceptions About Fair Use.
(i) Acknowledgement Is Not Enough.
(ii) Disclaimers Are Not Enough Either.
If your use of some material falls outside of the criteria for fair use it may not be enough to simply acknowledge that fact, you may need to get consent.

I think the best option for our class is to use material that has a Creative Commons license since that material is pre-cleared and is almost always safe to use. For any material that is not Creative Commons it would be best to at least contact the owner of the rights of said material.