This LibGuide is designed to provide basic copyright and fair use information about using audio, images, and videos in the classroom. We'll also point you to resources available in the library and on the web for properly using audio, images, and video in an academic setting. Nothing in this guide should be considered legal advice.
We encourage faculty to consider completing the Copyright and Information Ethics Canvas Course to learn more about your rights and responsibilities when using media in the classroom.
Copyright Law for Librarians and Educators by
Copyright law never sleeps, making it imperative to keep abreast of the latest developments. Declared "an exemplary text that seals the standards for such books" (Managing Information), this newly revised and updated edition by respected copyright authority Crews offers timely insights and succinct guidance for LIS students, librarians, and educators alike. Readers will learn basic copyright definitions and key exceptions for education and library services; find information quickly with "key points" sidebars, legislative citations, and cross-references; get up to speed on fresh developments, such as how the recently signed Marrakesh Treaty expands access for people with disabilities and why the latest ruling in the Georgia State University case makes developing a fair use policy so important; understand the concept of fair use, with fresh interpretations of its many gray areas that will aid decision making; learn the current state of affairs regarding mass digitization, Creative Commons, classroom use and distance education, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and other important topics; receive guidance on setting up on a copyright service at a library, college, or university; and find many helpful checklists for navigating copyright in various situations. This straightforward, easy-to-use guide provides the tools librarians and educators need to take control of their rights and responsibilities as copyright owners and users.
Copyright is a set of rights provided by the laws of the United States (Title 17, U. S. Code) to the authors of “original works of authorship.”
This protection is available to both published and unpublished works that are fixed in a tangible medium. Copyright does not protect ideas; it protects the expression of ideas.
The law gives the owner of copyright the following exclusive rights:
• To reproduce the work (i.e. to make copies);
• To prepare derivative works (i.e. to make a movie from a book or to translate a work into another language);
• To distribute copies publicly;
• To perform the work publicly (i.e. a play or movie);
• To display the work publicly; and
• In the case of sound recordings, to perform the work publicly by means of
a digital audio transmission.
Subject to some exceptions described in this guide (including fair use), if a person exercises any of these rights in another’s work without permission, the person may be liable for copyright infringement.
This libguide is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unportedlicense.
Portions of this guide have been borrowed from Boston College University Libraries Copyright and Scholarship Guide.