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Singapore Student Learning Space (SLS) Info-Site

(C1,i) Copyright Resources

Find answers to common questions about copyright and SLS resources.

Last updated 24 July 2026

(C1,i) Copyright Resources

Useful Resource Sites

Before using third-party materials obtained from websites, it is important to check whether:

  1. You can abide by the terms of use for these works.

    • If you are not sure whether your proposed use of the resources complies to the terms of use, it is best to contact the website for clarification e.g. If you edit a photo with a Creative Commons Share-Alike licence, the licence requires you to share this edited version freely.

  2. The website itself is credible.

    • If the website looks dubious, the materials uploaded onto that site may not be “free” as claimed. Using or disseminating materials found on these websites may result in infringement.

  3. The content (article, photo, video, music, etc.) itself is provided legitimately.

    • While the website may be legitimate, the content available for use may not be. For example, there are many infringing videos on YouTube. Sharing such videos may constitute copyright infringement.

    • This is a list of websites with no / minimal requirements for use of third-party materials, as most of these are either public domain materials or licensed under Creative Commons:

      • Videos/ Audios/ Photos

        • http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page (opens in new tab)

        • Wikimedia commons has a vast source of photos, video and audio files made available to the public. Difference licences (e.g. Creative Commons) may govern these materials and before using any of them, officers should make sure to check whether these materials are in public domain, and if they are not, the terms of the licence.

      • Photos

      • Videos/ Audios

        • http://freemusicarchive.org/ (opens in new tab)

        • The Free Music Archive offers free downloads of audio and video materials under Creative Commons (CC) and other licences. Before selecting the song/video for download, you would have to check which kind of licence the song/video has, and ensure that the terms and conditions of the licence can be adhered to. Please refer to the licence guide.

        • http://dig.ccmixter.org/ (opens in new tab)

        • This website, by ArtisTech Media, is a website with various audio materials. All of the materials are licensed under the CC licences. You would have to comply with the terms set out by the Creative Commons licence. Please refer to their license overview.

      • Ebooks

        • https://www.gutenberg.org (opens in new tab)

        • These books are free in the USA because their copyright has expired. They may not be free of copyright in other countries – and users must check whether copyright to these books has also expired in Singapore.

        • The site also has a number of copyrighted titles, for which the copyright holder has given permission for unlimited non-commercial worldwide use.

        • Please refer to the terms of use.

Copyright FAQs

Click here to read the Copyright FAQs (opens in new tab)

Email Template for Copyright Clearance

Dear Sir/Madam

(Name of School) is looking for suitable materials to use in our lesson package. We have found the following image/text/etc on your website useful and would like to know whether (Copyright Owner Name) is the copyright owner. If so, we would like to seek your permission to reproduce/ download/ modify the material.

A summary of the licence we are seeking is indicated below

Licence summary details for copyright clearance request

Link to the material

Format of use

Modification request (if applicable)

Authorised User rights

-

Digital

-

To reproduce / download / modify

The lesson package will be uploaded onto an MOE learning portal, which is password-protected and accessible by employees/staff of MOE, teachers and students, as well as any other MOE authorised persons (collectively MOE’s Authorised Users). These Authorised Users may access the portal outside of Singapore.

Please advise us on the terms and conditions for such use, as well as any preference in our acknowledgement of the materials used. We would also appreciate if you are able to send us a high-res/high quality copy of the image/video/audio, preferably at least resolution/bit rate/kbps after we have agreed on the terms of the licence. If you do not hold the rights to the image/text/etc, or if permission from other copyright owners are required before we can reproduce it, we would be grateful if you could provide us with the contact details of the copyright owner.

We look forward to receiving your favourable reply. Thank you.

Name and Designation

Note: Delete or amend where necessary.