Copyright and Fair Use

For a cute lesson about copyright and fair use, watch: A Fair(y) Use Tale.  (You can also view the transcript online.)  When we are working in most classes, we are covered under Fair Use laws, and as long as we use snippets of work from sources, or use shared work from Creative Commons or other free-use sites, we are "safe".  In game design though, I always say that you have to make your own artwork, that you can not actually use someone else's work, even if it is okay with them.  This is difficult for those of you who are not artistically inclined, though.  What are your options?  Tracing pictures in Flash or drawing with the pen tool is one option.  (We have some "experts" in our class who are really good at using Flash to trace and draw!)  Pictures can be scanned in class for tracing.  You can also take pictures of your own (with a camera) and use those pictures as backgrounds.  Today in class, we discovered how to use the Smart Board and online sites (like One Motion) to draw and import those drawings to Flash or Photoshop.  I also just got approval to order 2 drawing boards, and hopefully those will get here in time to be of use in your games this semester.  If there is some other way you can think of to get original art work into your game, let me know... we will try it!