Rights and licensing of what you publish #

This page is for producers who publish episodes and want to be clear about who owns what, what listeners may do with it, and what was cleared. It explains what Exponential records and what you add. It is not legal advice; for contracts and disputes, ask a lawyer.

Contents #

1. Your content is yours
2. Where rights information goes
3. Music, clips and sound effects
4. Guests and contributors
5. Images and artwork
6. Embedded players
7. When a rights problem appears

Your content is yours #

Exponential is free software under the GNU General Public License, version 2 or later. That license covers the software, not what you publish with it: your episodes, notes and artwork are yours, under the terms you choose (Licenses explained for reporters). This help is under the GNU FDL 1.3 (Free documentation); that, too, says nothing about your show.

Where rights information goes #

Exponential has no dedicated license field. What exists:

Suggested episode fields: License (selection), Music credits (text block), Rights notes (an internal text block your design does not show). See Building an episode class.

An internal field is still stored in the database and visible to everyone who may edit or read the item in the administration. Keep contracts and releases in your own records, not in public content.

Music, clips and sound effects #

• Use only material you may publish: your own, licensed for podcasts and the web, or under a license that allows it.
• Note the license terms: some licenses forbid commercial use or require attribution in a set form.
• Credit in the show notes and, where the license asks, in the audio.
• Keep a record of what was used in which episode, with the license and its date; you need it when a claim comes years later. The press section's Third-party music, fonts and assets gives a pattern.

Guests and contributors #

• Agree in advance where the recording will be published (site, feed, directories, clips), for how long, and whether it may be edited.
• Agree how the guest is named and which photo and links are used (Guests and credits).
• Contributors who are not employees (freelance editors, composers) should have the same clarity in writing.

Images and artwork #

• The show artwork and episode images need the same clearance as audio.
• Photos of guests: use photos the guest supplied or that you took with their consent, and credit the photographer.
• Image items in the media library have a caption or description where your classes have one; put the credit there.

Embedded players #

A video embedded from a service remains the service's and the uploader's content. Embed only videos whose owner allows embedding; the service usually enforces this itself. Embedding does not give you the right to download and re-upload the video (Embedding a video or a stream).

When a rights problem appears #

1. Act quickly on the site: hide the episode, which takes it off the site and out of the feed at the next cache refresh (Hiding and retiring episodes).
2. Check every place it appears: other pages, embeds, layouts, the newsletter, partner feeds.
3. Decide: edit (replace the music, cut a segment) and republish the same item so its guid stays, or remove it.
4. Record what happened and what you did.

Copies already downloaded by listeners' apps are outside your control.

Related pages #

• Third-party music, fonts and assets
• Guests and credits
• Members-only episodes
• Free documentation: this page is free to copy, translate and improve under the GNU FDL 1.3.