I am not interested in doing it for profit. I am only interested in
sharing information with friends. I do not advertise my website. An
acceptable answer will include at least one authoritative reference.

Hello wurzelma~

With pictures, you violate copyright law if you did not take the
photograph, or did not create the artwork--UNLESS the picture is
copyright free. Many clip art sources allow for free use of art, for
example, and some pictures have fallen into the "public domain" and
may be used freely.

With music, it is similar. You violate copyright law unless the music
is in the public domain or is otherwise copyright free.

In all cases, you may write to the copyright holder and request
permission to use their work on your website. They may reject your
proposal, accept it and allow you to use the material for free, or
charge you to use the material.

Please note that it does not matter whether or not you're making a
profit off of the copyrighted work. The law is the same, whether
you're making a great deal off the material, or nothing at all. In
addition, do not assume that because a picture or piece of music
doesn't contain an obvious copyright symbol that the work is
copyright-free.

For the basics on "fair use" of copyrighted materials, check out the
U.S. Copyright Office website:
http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-fairuse.html  For more
information about when pictures or music go into public domain, check
out their information on the term of copyrights:
http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-duration.html

Regards,
Kriswrite

Thanks very much.

It should be noted that copyright law does allow the use of short
excerpts of a work (eg, sound clips, quotations, etc.. not the work in
its entirety) for purposed of reporting, educating, criticizing, or
scholarly research.