The Podcast Pedant

You probably already know about this because you read Podcasting News,¹ but in case you haven’t: the Creative Commons foundation has put out the first iteration of a “Podcasting Legal Guide,” summarizing in thirty pages everything you need to know to probably not get sued. It’s intended as an extension of the EFF’s Legal Guide for Bloggers:

When creating your own podcast, it is important to make sure all necessary rights and permissions are secured for the material included in your podcasts. This is relatively easy if you create all of the material that is included in your podcast but can become progressively more complex the more you include material created by other people. If you do not obtain the necessary rights and permissions, you may get into legal trouble for incorporating third party material into your podcast and for also authorizing others to use that material as part of your podcast. The main legal issues that you will likely face that are unique to podcasters are related to copyright, publicity rights and trademark issues.

There’s an online version of the document and a PDF version. I’ve just finished reading it, and disregarding a few typos and grammar flubs, I was impressed. The most complex section is about music, of course. It points in the same general direction everyone else does (to keep things simple, stay podsafe or get permission) but if you do happen to be insane enough to want to play major-label music, it tells you exactly what licenses you need and why.

There’s also a handy section about implied and express licensing, and misconceptions about fair use, and… Well, just read the thing.

And when you’re done, consider putting a Creative Commons blurb at the end of your own podcast. It takes all of ten seconds² and letting your audience know that they’re allowed to copy your podcast and share it with their friends may inspire them to do it.

1. At least twice now I’ve thought seriously about putting together a site or feed specifically to cover news and current events related to podcasting. Then I keep going back to Podcasting News and realizing that I couldn’t do half the job those guys do, so why try? The niche for commentary and sarcasm is far more open. ↩
2. Five if you’re good at tongue twisters. ↩