Your Institution's Policy

When You Need Permission

The Basics

Where to Ask

Your Rights As an Author

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Your Institution's Policy: Know your own institution's copyright policies.

Most institutions have adopted a variety of policies, regulations, or guidelines that address "copyright" in some fashion. For the most part, these policies fall into one of the following catgories:

• Policies that address ownership of faculty-authored or university supported materials. Ownership issues, while of great interest to authors, is not the same issue as use of other’s materials.
• Institution-level policies regarding the use of third party materials for teaching and research.
  Unfortunately, many of these are just a reiteration of the old classroom guidelines or guidelines promulgated from outside entities such as the Copyright Clearance Center. Often these serve the outside entity’s particular agenda and do not necessarily embody your institution’s needs and principles. If there were no room for differing but legitimate interpretations of copyright law, there wouldn’t be so much case law.

When You Need Permission: Know when you can use someone else's material - and when you need permission.

For faculty members wishing to use someone else's copyrighted materials in their teaching and research, there are three general categories to consider:

1. The work is in the public domain;
2. The proposed use falls within an exemption granted in the copyright law:

• Section 107: Fair Use
• Section 110: The Performance and Display Exemptions

3. You already have permission or need to obtain it:

• The material is already licensed by the university (usually through the library) for your proposed use
• There are terms and conditions attached to the work or the Web site where you found it permitting your use
• None of the above apply and you need to request permission.

The Basics: Know enough copyright basics to know when you may have a copyright issue.

Here are some helpful resources:

• Copyright Fact Series: Gives you the basic facts about copyright--enough to start you off with a good foundation.

• Copyright Tutorials

• Baruch College Interactive Guide to Using Multimedia in Your Courses
• North Carolina State University Office of the Provost Copyright Administration Tutorials
• University of Texas System Copyright Crash Course Online Tutorial
• Brigham Young University Copyright Licensing Office Copyright Tutorial
• Kansas State University Intellectual Property Information Center Copyright Basics Online Tutorial

• Copyright Primers

• University of North Carolina Primer on Copyright Use

• Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections Copyright Primer

• Decision Trees

• Cornell University Copyright Decision Tree

• University of Minnesota Libraries Copyright Decision Map

• University of Colorado Fair Use Decision Tree

Where to Ask: Know how to get answers to your copyright questions.

• Get to know where there are pockets of copyright expertise on your campus. A good place to start is the general counsel’s office and the library.

• See the brochure and the companion FAQ developed especially for faculty and teaching assistants by the Association of Research Libraries.

• Know Your Copy Rights: What You Can Do

• Using Copyrighted Works in Your Teaching: Frequently Asked Questions That Should Be Asked by Faculty and Teaching Assistants

Your Rights As an Author

Know how and why to manage your own copyrights. See the Authors' Rights Web site maintained by SPARC.

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