Using Sources and Licences

One-sentence summary

Whenever a project uses someone else's code, image, music or text, it is our responsibility to check we are allowed to use it, name the source and respect the work behind it.

Why it matters

When we build a project, we rarely make everything from scratch. We download an icon, add music to a promo video, or adapt a code snippet from a tutorial. All of this is normal; engineers and designers use ready-made parts too.

But these parts have an owner. The fact that someone shared an image does not mean we can use it however we like. Every piece of content can have rules explaining how we may use it. These rules are called a licence: a permission note that tells us under which conditions we may use a work.

Using sources correctly is not only a rule; it is also about honesty. Presenting someone else's work as our own is misleading. Naming the source makes a project more trustworthy, because anyone looking at it can see what is ours and what belongs to someone else.

Short definition: A licence is the set of permission rules in which the owner of a work says, "you may use this under these conditions."

Licences and permission: "Am I allowed?"

Not everything that is shared is free to use

Being able to see something on the internet does not mean we are allowed to use it. Usually the person who made a work has rights over it, which is called copyright. So putting someone else's photo, drawing, song or text into our project without permission is not right.

Before using any content, we can ask ourselves three questions:

1. Who owns this content?
2. Is there a licence that lets me use it?
3. What does the licence ask me to do (for example, name the author)?

Types of permission

• Open permission (a licence): The content is marked "free to use under these conditions."
• Personal permission: We ask a friend or an adult directly and get a clear "yes." Keep that message.
• No permission: If there is no sign at all, the safe choice is not to use it.

Example: For the promo card of our automatic night light project, we want a moon-and-star icon. The first one we find has no licence written under it. So we do not use it; instead we look for an icon marked "free to use," or draw one ourselves.

Open and free licences (the idea)

Happily, many people deliberately release their work so others can use it. This content is usually shared under an open licence: an organised way of saying, "you may use this for free, with certain rules."

You do not need to memorise the full legal text of every licence, but recognising a few common ideas helps:

• Attribution requested: "Use it, but name who made it." Very common.
• No commercial use: "Use it, but not to make money." Usually fine for a school project.
• Share alike: "Use it, but share what you make with the same freedom."
• Public domain: Open to everyone; often no permission is even needed, but naming the source is still kind.

Example: We want background music for our line-following robot presentation. On a free-music site we find a track that requests attribution. We use it and, on the final slide, write the track title and its author. That way we follow the rule and respect the work.

Where to find safe sources

• Image and sound sites that clearly say "free to use" or "open licence."
• Trusted learning resources suggested by an adult or a teacher.
• Photos we take, drawings we make, sounds we record. The safest source is always the one we create.

Attribution: naming the source correctly

Attribution means stating who a piece of content belongs to and where we got it. A good attribution includes four facts: the name of the work, who made it, where it came from, and the licence. Use the template below in a "Sources" section at the end of your project:

Work title: <name of the content>
Made by: <person or organisation>
Source: <site name or link>
Licence: <licence type / permission status>
Used for: <where it appears in the project>

A filled-in example:

Work title: Night Sky Icon
Made by: A. Yilmaz
Source: example-icon-site
Licence: Open licence, attribution requested
Used for: Logo on the promo card

When you use more than one source, collecting them in a single list is tidiest:

This table keeps you within the rules and clearly shows an adult or teacher what is yours and what belongs to someone else.

The ethics of copying: adapting versus copying

Taking a snippet of code from a tutorial and adapting it to your own project is a natural part of learning. What matters is doing it honestly.

• Good: Learning the logic from an example, changing it to fit your project, and naming the source.
• Good: Using an image under a licence that allows it, and naming the author.
• Wrong: Taking someone's work as-is and saying "I made this."
• Wrong: Passing off a friend's project as your own by changing the name.

In short: using may be allowed, but claiming ownership is not honest. When you name the source, nobody calls you a copycat; they trust you because you worked honestly.

Mini task

Run a small "source check" for your automatic night light project.

1. List three outside items you use, or plan to use (for example, an icon, some music, a code snippet).
2. For each one, ask: Who owns it? What is its licence? Do I have permission?
3. For anything whose permission is unclear, find a "free to use" alternative or make it yourself.
4. Fill in the attribution table above.
5. Add the table to the end of your project under a "Sources" heading.

When you are done, every outside item should have one row. An empty row points to content whose permission is not yet settled.

Common mistakes

Thinking "I found it online, so it is free"

Being able to see something does not mean you can use it. Without a licence or permission, the default answer is "do not use it."

Using something without reading its licence

Some licences say "name the author" or "no earning money." If we use content without reading the rule, we can break the licence by accident.

Leaving sources to the end and forgetting them

If we gather all sources at the very end, we may not remember where each item came from. Add a row to the attribution table the moment you add an item.

Pasting only a link

A bare link can stop working over time. If our attribution also lists the work's name, author and licence, the information stays useful.

Safety note

Part of using sources responsibly is protecting other people's information.

• If an image shows another person's face, do not use it without that person's permission (and their family's, if they are a minor).
• Be careful with your own content too: do not put personal details such as a home address, full name, school name or phone number into the source list or the project.
• Download files only from trusted sites. Before downloading from a site you do not know, ask an adult.
• For any permission question you are unsure about, do not go with "maybe"; choose the safe "no," or ask an adult.

Lesson summary

• Being able to see a work does not mean you may use it; by default, a work has an owner.
• A licence is the set of permission rules that tells you under which conditions content may be used.
• Open and free licences release content for use, but most of the time they ask for attribution.
• Attribution names the work, its author, the source and the licence, and can be gathered in a table.
• Adapting is honest, but claiming someone else's work is not; protecting other people's personal information is also our responsibility.

Review questions

1. Does seeing an image online mean we can use it in our project? Why?
2. What is a licence and what is it for?
3. What must we do when we use music under an "attribution requested" licence?
4. What four facts should a good attribution include?
5. If content has no clear licence or permission, what is the safest choice?

Answers

1. No. Seeing is not the same as using; a work has an owner and copyright by default. Using it without permission or an open licence is not right.
2. A licence is the set of permission rules in which the owner says "you may use this under these conditions." It defines what we may use and how.
3. We can use the music, but we must name the track and its author in the project (for example, on the final slide or in the source list).
4. The name of the work, who made it, the source it came from, and the licence type.
5. The safest choice is not to use it; instead, find an alternative clearly released for use, or make it ourselves. If unsure, ask an adult.

Source and verification note

For “Using Sources and Licences”, verification focuses on whether the relationship between Licences and permission: "Am I allowed?" and Types of permission remains consistent across examples. A project page should make a result claim only when it is supported by a real prototype, test record or observation. Numbers such as cost, duration and success rate must be labelled clearly when they are estimates.

Next lesson

Post-Project Review: Once the project is finished, we plan how to note what worked, what we would change next time, and what we learned.