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Copyright & Fair Use

Information contained on this website is educational in nature and is not to be construed as legal advice.

Using copyrighted works in your classroom

Copyright and Teaching: Using Copyrighted Works in the Classroom

You may have questions about what can be used in the classroom. If you are unsure, there are four factors to consider when you try to determine whether you are using copyrighted works appropriately.

Fair Use is addressed in US Copyright: 17 U.S. Code 107 - Limitations on Exclusive Rights: Fair Use

There are many tools available to help you as you decide whether or not  to  use specific materials in your face-to-face class or online using a tool such as ScholarRX or Canvas.

All four factors need to be addressed when making a decision, you cannot pick and choose which one to use:

  1. The purpose and character of the used, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
  2. The nature of the copyrighted work;
  3. The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
  4. The effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

f a resource is under copyright law, then you should check to see how it is licensed. When something is licensed, we are contracted to use (not own) it, whether through a Creative Commons license or through library subscriptions. If you accessed the resource through the library, you can check with our librarian to make sure you understand the licensing terms.

If there are no licensing terms but it is under copyright protections, you can also check to see if your use of the work falls under fair use. We recommend that you use the ALA Fair Use Checklist tool.

If you don't think your use is fair, then you might need to ask permission. But please note that linking is legal in the United States, and you don't need to ask permission! 

Finally...   

Don't panic! You should know that copyright law supports education, and the library is here to support you. There are, in fact, not just one, not two, but three pieces of legislation that educators depend on to do things like show videos in a class, hand out copies of articles to students, and use screenshots of websites in order to teach a point.

Please refer to the tabs to the left for more information about Creative Commons and Tools You Can Use to help navigate copyright.