Copyright and Fair Use

How can you determine if information on a web page is copyrighted?

There may be a copyright mark, ©. The creator's name may be given at the top or bottom of the page. It may be dated, indicating that it should not be recreated. It does not matter whether a page is marked with copyright or not. You should assume that all print, image, and sound materials are published under intellectual property right protection laws; the creator owns his/her own creation and holds the copyright automatically from the time it hits paper or electronic media. (Sorry you cannot do whatever you want with published digital information, but this holds for your creations too!)

How long does copyright last?

In general, a copyright starts the moment intellectual property is published and ends 70 years after the death of the last author/creator. Copyright can be renewed by the publisher or estate of the author. When in doubt, a good "fair use" rule of thumb is to only quote ten percent of any media exactly and destroy any project after two years.

Common Misunderstandings

The web is a free access, use as you please resource.
I can do whatever I want with things I find on the Internet; no one can see me.

The web is free and you can do what you want with Internet resources...that is until you get caught! It is illegal to hack into private web sites, plagiarize other's work, pirate software, spread viruses, or steal research papers. If caught and convicted, you might be fined thousands of dollars and even thrown in jail. (To understand the nature of plagiarism see the IMSA Micro Module: Plagiarism.)

Many people incorrectly believe that only text can have a copyright. While an idea can't be copyrighted, original work based on that idea is intellectual property. Photographs, clip art, web design, graphs, data tables, audio tracks, music, and movie clips all have implicit copyright proctection...even if they don't display the © copyright symbol!

Downloading music is okay. Everyone does it .

Recording artists make a living by selling their music. Most consider unpaid downloading of music the ethical equivalent of shoplifting. The recording industry has begun suing thousands of individuals for violating copyright laws by file sharing compact disc music. Guilty parties may pay fines of $750-$150,000 for each song shared. Even if you did not put the music file on your computer, if it is there and you own the computer, you pay.

Why would you want to know about copyright?

Understanding copyright is a professional obligation. It is important to be able to explain the concept of intellectual property to both staff and students. Intellectual property rights are essential to those who work in knowledge fields. Copyright protects the original work of scientists, educators, philosophers, and mathematicians.

What information should I include when using copyrighted materials?

When using materials from the Internet, the minimum copyright credit should include the copyright symbol, ©; year the material was first published (1894); and the name of the copyright owner (Janice P. Cumquat, Ph.D.). This is in addition to any other citation information you provide for a reference you might use. (For more on how to create citations, see the IMSA Micro Module: Citation.)

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Authored by Lora K. Kaisler and Dennis O'Connor