The Nikkei Album was created – consistent with the mission of Discover Nikkei – to help people around the world discover and share resources related to the Nikkei. Specifically, it was created as a virtual space to which people could easily contribute texts and images, and then use the Nikkei Album tools to give shape to those materials by telling stories and exploring dimensions of the Nikkei experience.
Our hope is that everyone who participates in the Nikkei Album shares our belief that the Album represents a community resource, built by many for the common good of all. We recognize, however, that a wide range of individuals and institutions must coexist comfortably within the shared "information space" of Nikkei Album. We want everyone who contributes resources – whether their own original creations, or materials in their custodial care – to feel confident that their contributions are respected, and that their copyrights in those materials are protected.
We have therefore adopted the Creative Commons licensing framework for use with all materials contributed to the Nikkei Album. The Creative Commons seeks to balance the rights of creators and users by filling in the gap between full copyright, in which no use is allowed without permission, and public domain, where permission is not required at all.
The Creative Commons framework lets Nikkei Album contributors decide how others may exercise their copyright rights – such as the right of others to copy a Nikkei Album contribution, make derivative works or adaptations of it, or to distribute and/or make money from it. Creative Commons licenses do not give anyone the ability to restrict anything that is otherwise permitted by exceptions or limitations to copyright – including, importantly, fair use or fair dealing – nor do they give anyone the ability to control anything that is not protected by copyright law, such as facts and ideas.
Among the licenses available under the Creative Commons framework, we recommend the "Attribution - NonCommercial - ShareAlike 3.0 Unported" (What does this mean?) license for contributions to Nikkei Album. This license offers users the flexibility to copy and adapt works, while affording contributors the basic protections they expect. Contributors are free to select a different license – one that is more or less restrictive – when they submit an item or create a collection.
Contributors to Nikkei Album should be aware that Creative Commons licenses are non-revocable. This means that contributors cannot stop someone, who has obtained their work under a Creative Commons license, from using the work according to that license. At any time, contributors can change the license under which a work distributed, or stop distributing a work under a Creative Commons license altogether. Doing so, however, does not withdraw from circulation any copies of that work that already exist under the original Creative Commons license.
Before you contribute any materials to the Nikkei Album, we encourage you to learn more about the Creative Commons.