According to U.S. Copyright Law, copyright protects works of "original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression." This includes broad categories of (1) literary works, (2) musical works (including any accompany words), (3) dramatic works (including any accompanying music), (4) pantomimes and choreographic works, (5) pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works, (6) motion pictures and other audiovisual works, (7) sound recordings, and (8) architectural works.
Copyright gives the author the following exclusive rights to:
What Works are Protected?Examples of copyrightable works include:
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What Works are Not Protected?Copyright does not protect:
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Fair use is a legal doctrine that promotes freedom of expression by permitting the unlicensed use of copyright-protected works in certain circumstances (Copyright Act Section 107). Fair use states that the reproduction or copy of materials for purposes such as "criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research" may be allowed under copyright law. In other words, you may be able to use parts of a copyrighted work if it falls under fair use guidelines.
To learn about fair use in relation to teaching, please visit the Classroom Copyright page.
Using the Four Factors is the major way to determine if a work falls under fair use or not. According to Section 107, determining fair use must be done by the user who intends to use a copyrighted work, done on a case-by-case basis, and consider the following four factors:
In addition, "the fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors."
Source: Columbia University Libraries' Copyright Advisory Services department: Fair Use, licensed by a Creative Commons Attribution License with attribution to its author Dr. Kenneth D. Crews (formerly of Columbia University).
Columbia University Libraries' Copyright Advisory Services department has developed a Fair Use Checklist to help users determine whether or not their usage of work falls under fair use. Note: This checklist is a tool that can be used as a roadmap to guide your decision-making; U.S. Copyright Law must be carefully considered when making a decision.
The Checklist is licensed by a Creative Commons Attribution License with attribution to the original creators of the checklist Kenneth D. Crews (formerly of Columbia University) and Dwayne K. Buttler (University of Louisville).
Due to specific exceptions in U.S. Copyright Law to promote educational activities, students, faculty and staff may be allowed to clip, scan, quote, copy, show, and display copyrighted works for educational purposes. It is important to understand what these exceptions are, as well as the differences between in-person and online classes, in order to be compliant with the law.
Educational Uses by the U.S. Copyright Office via YouTube
According to 17 U.S. Code § 110, there are several exceptions that allow for the use of copyrighted materials in a face-to-face classroom. 17 U.S. Code § 110:
The term public domain encompasses works that are no longer under the protection of copyright. Works in the public domain may be used freely without the permission of the former copyright owner. There are four common ways materials enter the public domain:
What Is Public Domain? by U.S. Copyright Office via YouTube
The following resources can help you explore materials in the public domain:
Project Gutenberg is an online library of free eBooks. Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks.
Images from the collection of the Smithsonian Institution that are in the public domain.
Images from the New York Times that are in the public domain.
Flickr maintains an ongoing archive of hidden treasures from the world's public photography archives.
Wikipedia maintains a list of films in the public domain in the United States.
University of Montana maintains a list of sources to access works in the public domain.
Creative Commons licenses provide a standardized way to grant permission for others to use a creative work under copyright law. Many scholars and artists choose Creative Commons licensing as an easy and safe option to share their work with the world in a free and open way.
There are many advantages to utilizing a Creative Commons license:
Please use the following infographic to learn about the Creative Commons and its different license options:
Infographic by Martin Missfeldt, licensed under a CC-BY-SA Creative Commons license. For a text version explaining the licenses, please visit the About Creative Commons Licenses page.
A Creative Commons license can help you safely and effectively manage the rights to your research while sharing your work freely and openly with the world. Along with the advantages of CC licenses mentioned above, there are additional, specific benefits as an instructor or researcher:
Remember: Utilizing a Creative Commons license to your work doesn't take away your copyrights.
Citation: A (Very) Brief Introduction. This video provides a short introduction to how and when to use citations. Created by NCSU Libraries under a Creative Commons 3.0 BY-NC-SA US license via YouTube.
Citations provide credit to the author, editor, and/or publisher who created a source. It is vital to properly cite your sources to avoid plagiarism, which means intentionally or inadvertently taking credit for someone else's work. Citing sources also allows others to retrieve the same information. The resources on this page can help to create accurate citations for your sources.
The Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) offers an excellent guide to citing resources in MLA style. OWL will show you how to properly cite everything from journal articles and books to websites, films, and social media.
MLA Works Cited: Electronic Sources (Web Publications)
MLA Works Cited: Other Common Sources
MLA Tables, Figures, and Examples
The free version of Citation Machine allows you create citations in a variety of citation styles. Citation Machine also offers guides on creating citations, as well as various writing guides. Always double check the citations created with a citation generator with a resource such as OWL.
