• Copyright and Fair Use

    What is copyright? 

    According to , "copyright is a form of protection grounded in the U.S. Constitution and granted by law for original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression. Copyright covers both published and unpublished works."

    First, and most importantly, you must know that copyright applies to all works created in the United States regardless of whether or not the creator has applied for copyright protection. Created works include books, articles, movies, music, artwork, photographs, and other original works.

    No copyrighted material can be used without permission of the creator unless you strictly follow the guidelines for fair use, find works in the public domain, or use works covered by a Creative Commons license. is a great website for students to use to find photos licensed for use with all required attributions already included in the download.

     Watch the video from Common Sense media for an introducation to copyright and fair use.

  • Fair Use

    How can you decide if the source material you are using protected under fair use?

    Remember the four fair use factors!

    1. Purpose - What is your purpose? Is it transformative? Book reviews and parodies are examples of transformative uses.
    2. Nature - What is the nature of the work used? You will be able to use nonfiction works more freely than creative or fiction material. 
    3. Effect - What is the effect on the original work of your use? Are you depriving the original creator of income?
    4. Amount - How much are you using of the original work? The less you use the better your case, though the portion used is equally important.

     Check out these sites for more information on fair use:

    Copyright.gov - 

    Stanford University Libraries - 

  • Creative Commons

    According to the website, "through the use of CC licenses, millions of people around the world have made their photos, videos, writing, music, and other creative content available for any member of the public to use."

    Check out the Creative Commons website at  to find out how to share your own work under a Creative Commons license and to search for works shared by others.

    For an overview, take a look at the video from Creative Commons below:  

  • More Copyright Information:

    United States Copyright Office - University of Chicago, Copyright Information Center - University of Texas, Copyright Crash Course -