What Exactly is Copyright?
Copyright law states that the owner of any tangible creative work has the sole right to reproduce, distribute, perform, display, transmit, or transform that work. The unauthorized copying of others' work, while seeming like an easy and immediate solution, frequently violates the rights of the author or publisher of a work. In addition, this practice is in direct opposition to the goals and mission of Bridgewater State University, which strive to teach respect for ideas and products of individuals. Use this MaxGuide to learn more about protecting your rights as the creator of content and of using copyright-protected materials in your coursework and teaching.
U.S. Copyright Office: Website Updates
The Lumen Database
Lumen is a research project that is focused on the removal of online content for various reasons. One of the reasons is for copyright law issues.
Quick Resources
- Copyright Basics VideoSix minute video from the Copyright Clearance Center
- Fair Use FundamentalsConcise visualization of Fair Use, from fairuseweek.org.
- ALA Fair Use EvaluatorDetermine the "fairness" of a use under the U.S. Copyright Code
- ALA Digital Copyright SliderDetermine if works are protected by copyright
- Section 108 SpinnerFrom ALA: Determine whether or not a particular reproduction is covered by Section 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law (allowing libraries and archives, under certain circumstances, to make reproductions of copyrighted materials without permission of the copyright holder).
- Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United StatesPeter Hirtle/Cornell University, 2010: Chart to help determine whether a work is in the public domain
- Exceptions for Instructors Copyright eToolFrom the ALA Office of Information Technology Policy: Guides you through the education exceptions in U.S. Copyright law
- The Copyright GenieWalk through the steps to determine if a work is in copyright
Guidelines / Best Practices
- Code for Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy EducationFrom the Center for Social Media, School of Communication, American University
- Code for Best Practices in Fair Use for Online VideoFrom the Center for Social Media, School of Communication, American University
- Code for Best Practices in Fair Use for OpenCoursewareFrom the Center for Social Media, School of Communication, American University
- Code for Best Practices in Fair Use for Scholarly Research in CommunicationFrom the Center for Social Media, School of Communication, American University
- Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for the Visual ArtsFrom the College Art Association
- Documentary Filmmakers’ Statement of Best Practices in Fair UseFrom the Center for Social Media, School of Communication, American University
- ISSUE BRIEF: Streaming of Films for Educational PurposesPrepared for the Library Copyright Alliance (February 2010)
- Orphan Works: Statement of Best PracticesSociety of American Archivists, 2009
- Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use of Dance-Related MaterialsFrom the Dance Heritage Coalition, 2009
Tutorials
- Copyright with CyberBeeInteractive copyright questions and answers
- Taking the Mystery Out of CopyrightFrom the Library of Congress
- Introduction to Copyright LawPart of MIT's OpenCourseWare, this course is an introduction to copyright law and American law in general. Topics covered include: structure of federal law; basics of legal research; legal citations; how to use LexisNexis; the 1976 Copyright Act; copyright as applied to music, computers, broadcasting, and education; fair use; Peer-to-Peer file-sharing; Library Access to Music Project; The 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act; DVDs and encryption; software licensing; and more.