Copyright and Fair Use in an Academic Environment: Start Here

Information for this guide was compiled and edited by librarians at the Sidney Silverman Library with help and guidance from College & Research Libraries News Nov. 2011 vol.7 no.10

Copyright is a protection provided by the laws of the United States (title 17, U. S. Code) to the authors of “original works of authorship,” including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. Protection is available to both published and unpublished works.

U.S. copyright law grants copyright holders, such as publishers, writers and other types of creators, the exclusive right to reproduce, perform, distribute, translate and publicly display their original works. Unless your situation meets an exception outlined in the Copyright Act, you must get explicit permission from the copyright holder before you can lawfully re-use the work in any of the following ways:

• Reproduce the work in copies or recordings;
• Prepare derivative works based upon the work;
• Distribute copies or recordings of the work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending;
• Perform the work publicly, such as literary, musical, dramatic works, motion pictures and other audiovisual works;
• Display the work publicly, in the case of literary, musical, and dramatic works, and pictorial, graphic, or sculptural art works, including the individual frames of a motion picture or other audiovisual work; and
• In the case of sound recordings,* to perform the work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission (including P2P filesharing)

 Circular 21: Reproduction of Copyrighted Works by Educators and Librarians (United States Copyright Office)