Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States (title 17, U.S. Code) for “original works of authorship,” including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. These protections give authors exclusive rights to copy, prepare derivative works, distribute, perform, and publicly display their works.
Teachers seek ways to legally and ethically share writings, artwork, videos, images, and music that are created by others. It can be confusing to determine how instructors may use others’ works responsibly.
Suggestions to keep it simple:
Provide links to content in your library’s subscription resources whenever possible
Seek freely available content in the public domain, open access, Creative Commons or other legitimate Web resources
Provide citations for copyright-protected materials or a URL for online materials
Comply with Fair Use guidelines
Guidelines for using works in your teaching may be found at the Association of Research Libraries’ Know your Copy Rights page.
The TEACH Act applies to transmitting protected works in nonprofit educational settings. Classes using learning management systems such as Canvas are an example.