Definition: Copyright Act
The United States Copyright Act protects original works from being used without permission from its owner. The protections applies automatically, at the moment of the work's creation.
Copyright law protects literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works, including poetry, novels, movies, songs, computer software and architecture.
Copyright does not protect facts, ideas, systems or methods of operation, although it may protect the way these concepts are expressed.
Legal penalties for copyright infringement may include financial consequences (from $200 to $150,000 for each individual act of infringement) and jail time.
Alternatives to Infringement
Alternatives to copyright infringement include:
- Obtaining permissions from the copyright owner (which may include royalty payments and various terms and conditions).
- Utilizing work not protected by copyright law (i.e., public domain works).
- Linking to LIU Library's licensed resources including electronic databases and e-books.
- Evaluating the usage according to fair use principles.
- Utilizing work that is within the terms of a license agreement, including royalty free works or the "some rights reserved" approach to copyright offered by Creative Commons
Copyright Resources
- Reproduction of Copyrighted Works by Educators and LibrariansPublished by the US Copyright Office.
- Georgia State and Fair Use: Copyright on AppealUsed under a Creative Commons BY-ND license from Kenneth D. Crews.
- Summary of the Report on Copyright and Digital Distance EducationPublished by the American Library Association
- Report on Copyright and Digital Distance EducationPublished by the USGOV Copyright Office. (1999) "The report gives an overview of the nature of distance education today; describes current licensing practices in digital distance education, including problems and future trends; describes the status of the technologies available or in development relating to the delivery of distance education courses and the protection of their content; and discusses prior initiatives to address the copyright issues involved."
- Copyright and Fair Use CenterA respected and comprehensive resource from the Stanford University Libraries.
- Copyright, Fair Use, and EducationA comprehensive copyright resource from Columbia University Libraries/Information Services Copyright Advisory Office. Includes video tutorials.
- Legal Sources of Online ContentEducause site lists legitimate online services that are approved by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) or the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA)
Copyright Flowchart
http://langwitches.org/blog/2014/06/10/copyright-flowchart-can-i-use-it-yes-no-if-this-then/