400 W. 14th Street
Rolla, MO 65409
Contact Us
The text contained in the guide is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 United States License.
The Gold Men Images used in this guide are licensed for use from shutterstock and are protected by U.S. Copyright. They may not be used or downloaded with out permission.
The photo of the guide author is protected by U.S. Copyright and may not be used or downloaded without permission.
Disclaimer
Nothing on this guide is to be construed as legal advice. These pages are intended to provide information and guidance in the application of copyright law and to expand on the University of Missouri System Collected Rules and Regulations.
GUIDE TO COPYRIGHT
"To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries." (Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 of the United States Constitution)
Copyright law in the United States is rooted in the desire to capture and leverage expressions of new ideas. At the same time, copyright law recognizes that the impetus to create is based on the ability to access already existing expressions of intellectual creativity and use them as platforms upon which we create anew. In addition, copyright law also provides mechanisms that allow us to use existing expressions of ideas to voice opinion, criticism, and dissent.
The academic scholarship and educational endeavors of our institution are based upon the capacity to create and distribute ideas. Most often these ideas have been captured and recorded, whether as literary works in traditional formats, or with the advent of technologies, in multiple electronic formats, and even as re-contextualized content that is examined from a scholarly perspective or used to educate. How do faculty and students keep abreast of the application of copyright law in their writing, research, instruction and education?
This purpose of this guide is to provide our faculty, students, staff and others in our community an understanding of copyright law and it's proper application in an academic environment. A better understanding and application of copyright law both avoids potential legal issues and makes us all better stewards of the intellectual property of others.
Where to Begin
If you have material you wish to use but are unsure of what to do about copyright. Here are some simple steps to help you determine what to do.
1. Determine if you are dealing with a copyrighted work.
Is the work in the public domain? Works in the public domain are no longer protected by copyright. Generally works created prior to 1923 are in the public domain. See the public domain tab to learn how to identify these works.
2. If the work is copyrighted, then you need to pursue these paths.
- Is the work licensed by the University, in which case the copyright is covered for you?
- Check the University Library's collection of databases and electronic resources.
- Check to see if the copyrighted resources you wish to use are licensed by your department.
If licensed and your use is permitted by that license, proceed as the license permits.
- If the work is not in the public domain or licensed for use, check to see ff there a legal exemption to copyright law that would allow you to use the work.
- Section 110 (1) covering classroom performance and display
- The TEACH Act (Section 110(2)) covering digital transmissions for performance and display
- The DMCA exemptions
- Section 107 covering fair use
3. If none of the above allows you to use a copyrighted work, then you must permission to use the work.
This guide provides detailed information and guidance on everything discussed above. Also available are tutorials, tools and additional resources.
Online Tutorials
- Copyright 101 TutorialThis tutorial will cover the basics of copyright law and issues involved in using a wide variety of materials protected by copyright.
- Copyright 101 - Test Your KnowledgeThis online quiz will help you evaluate your basic understanding of copyright.
- Fair Use TutorialThis tutorial will cover the "fair use" exemption to the Copyright Act which allows the limited copying of materials without seeking permission.
- Fair Use - Test Your KnowledgeThis online quiz will help you evaluate your understanding of the Fair Use Exception to Copyright.
- Fair Use ScenariosThis is a collection of scenarios that are intended to help faculty and students evaluate fair use.
- Graduate Student Boot Camp - Copyright ReviewThis tutorial/presentation covers copyright and fair use as they relate to the graduate student preparing their thesis or dissertation. The publication option, holds and submitting you thesis or dissertation to the institutional repository are also discussed.
Tools
This tool by the American Library Association will help you find out if a work is covered by U.S. copyright, calculate its terms of protection, and collect and publish the results (as a PDF) to save for your records or further vet with a copyright specialist.