Library Homepage: Faculty Resources: Copyright & Fair Use

What is Copyright?

Copyright law balances the creator's rights with the access of users under the fair use provision of the Copyright Law of the United States.

All content used in courses must adhere to the Copyright Law of the United States

Some creators choose to license their content through Creative Commons (CC)

A Creative Commons (CC) license is administered through a non-profit group, giving creators free access to various licenses depending on how they wish to share and have others access their work
Attribution requirements (e.g. citations) and permissions to use are also covered under CC licensing.

What is Fair Use?

Fair use is part of Copyright Law

Fair use limits the creator's exclusive rights to allow for certain kinds of use of copyrighted works by students, libraries and other identified entities and users.

The Copyright Law has a specific section about the fair use of content by libraries and archives.

Section 108: Copyright exceptions for Libraries and Archives
Fair use allows for licensed (paid-for) content in libraries to be shared with library members without requiring further clearance through the creator of that content.
In other words, licensed library content found in the subscription databases at United States University can be used in courses and shared within the USU community using a range of methods e.g. through links.

Fair use is NOT about any use being fair and copyright being too restrictive.

Both the creator of the content and the user of the content are served through the balancing act of copyright clearance: a process that provides for fair compensation, while ensuring that access is provided to the content in a fair manner.

U.S. Copyright Law - Section 108

What is Copyright Clearance?

Copyright clearance means the licensed user (in this case, United States University) can 'copy' or reuse the subscribed to content.

United States University copyright clearance for licensed databases extends to community members (CURRENT students, faculty and staff).

This clearance allows the copying or use of the content in coursework, research, and for personal interest. Users may use database-generated permalinks to share with other community members or link to discussion posts, projects or courses.

Copyright Clearance does NOT include using licensed library content or vendor logos for commercial purposes or to post it on external websites. ANY commercial use (e.g. college marketing, business applications, linking, etc.) violates the licensing agreement with the vendor and the copyright of the content owner/creator. Linking and reuse outside of fair use violates the licensing agreement and may result in legal action against the institution

Even with copyright clearance, the user MUST correctly attribute the item's ownership - a common way to accomplish this attribution is through citations (e.g. APA Style)

Library vendors sometimes include Open Access content in the licensed databases that the content creators have cleared for distribution under fair use.

Open access content doesn’t belong to the site that distributes it (e.g. a library vendor) but to the creator
Only the creator can provide copyright clearance beyond fair use (e.g. citing and linking into courses). The website will often provide further information on copyright clearance for that content beyond fair use.

Open Access content accessed online (outside the licensed library collections) is NOT copyright-cleared for sharing or linking into courses.

Typically, users can quote from and properly cite content they access on the internet
ALL content must be copyright cleared with the creator before it can be legally linked into courses at a for-profit institution such as United States University.

From: https://www.theedublogger.com/copyright-fair-use-and-creative-commons/

Image Copyright

It is necessary to consider the copyright of any image you plan to use.

Images in the Library

In the library collections, ALL images are cleared for copyright use through the subscribing institution
Students may use images for their student projects, and faculty may link library images into courses.
If you have access to databases through another institution, be sure you are considered a member of that community, e.g. another college or a public library, before using for other than fair use activities, e.g. student use.

Images found outside the licensed library collections

Images found online are NOT cleared through the library for any use.
Images outside the library are NOT cleared for institutional linking into courses, as that would be considered commercial use. If you plan to use any images commercially, check that this usage is acceptable by contacting the creator.
There are many excellent sources of images on the internet, but the onus is on the user to ensure they are copyright-cleared for other than fair use as a student.
For images with a Creative Commons license, you must be sure that the type of license fits the use you intend for it.

Faculty Resources

Contact the Librarians

Government Documents

What is a U.S. Government Work?

Using Government Works