This guide is designed to share information on copyright and fair use in an educational setting and provide guidance on finding and using materials in online, hybrid, and in-person courses. It is not intended to provide legal advice.
When in doubt, please contact the library for further clarification or assistance.
Copyright is a form of intellectual property law (Title 17 of the US code) that protects original works of authorship including literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic work, such as poetry, novels, movies, songs, computer software, and architecture. Copyright is grounded in the U.S. Constitution and granted by law for original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression. Protection is given to both published and unpublished works, print or electronic.
Copyright does not protect facts, ideas, systems, or methods of operation, although it may protect the way these things are expressed. An owner of a copyrighted work has the right to control the use of their work, including authorizing others to reproduce it--however, there are exceptions, notably, fair use. The 1976 Copyright Act provides important exceptions to copyright including a provision that codified the doctrine of "fair use" (Fair-use Statute Section 107). If a person uses copyrighted material, where exceptions do not apply and without permission from the author, the user could be held liable for copyright infringement.
So what does this mean?
Copyright provides a set of rights to the authors of "original works", which can include literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, audiovisual, and other works like software. These rights are given to works regardless of publishing status, so published and unpublished works are granted these rights, upon creation. It does not, however, protect ideas; it protects the expression of ideas.
Copyright grants these exclusive rights:
Some of the content on this page has been modified from Butler University Libraries, CC-BY 4.0
