Pond 5 Starting New Public Domain Media Project

The online media market, Pond5 today announced a public domain project it's sponsoring and curating on-site. Self-described as the "Marketplace for Creativity," Pond5 lets artists sell their media to creative customers looking for video, audio, photos and 3D models. Many of Pond5's products are for sell in a wide range of prices. But the company's new public domain project lets you download and use any of the 9,770 examples of film footage, 2757 audio files, 64,639 images, and even a few 3D models for free when you set up an account. Media that exists within the public domain is not subject to copyright laws and can be used for commercial purposes. There are guidelines, however, to using even free public domain media. For example, one is that you have to consider the reputation of any recognizable person within a video, film, audio recording or other instance. Famous people, for example, have certain publicity and privacy rights to their image, even if it's within the public domain. Therefore, even though President Obama's image may be in the public domain, you can't just Photoshop him advertising your product to boost sales. The new Pond5 project could be a great source for documentary B-roll, creating interesting commercials, or just perusing for fun.