.GIF Copyright

There is still debate about the use of Gif's and copyright law. There have been no legal decisions made to date that have determined whether generating and using a Gif from copyrighted material is copyright infringement.

For now, Gifs are under the umbrella of "Fair Use" but you should still use discretion when choosing which images to use, and how you use them.

While copyright compliance is not currently an issue, it's important to be aware of copyright laws and fair use, as the laws in the future could change how Gifs are created and used in education.

According to an article by Jillean Kearney on scribblelive.com,

"When creating a GIF from copyrighted materials, it's important to be able to defend:

• The purpose of your use of the material, and how it has been remixed into an educational or satirical (for examples) tool
• The amount of material being repurposed in relation to the copyrighted work as an entire piece (the smaller the fraction of work being repurposed, the better)
• The impact, or lack thereof, that your GIF will have on the copyright holder's ability to profit from their own material

And it's always a good idea to link to the original material to give credit where it's due"

To read this article, please visit:

The When, Where & How of Using Gifs in Content Marketing

For more information on this topic, check out the following articles:

1. Is that even legal? Animated GIFs and copyright law
2. The Copyright Law Behind a $600M Startup and Millennials' Favorite Form of Expression
3. Animated GIFs and Fair Use: What Is and Isn't Legal, According To Copyright Law