Disclaimer
Students or employees of Weatherford College who willfully disregard the copyright policy are in violation and do so at their own risk and assume all liability.
Disclaimer
Disclaimer: we're librarians and educators, not lawyers, and this LibGuide is not intended to provide legal advice. Please direct your questions about copyright to your institution's librarians or general counsel.
Share This Work
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Attribution
Portions of this guide are reused and adapted with permission from:
- Community College of Aurora
- CSU, Long Beach: Copyright and Fair Use for Faculty
- CCCOnline: Copyright Resources
- University of Wisconsin Libraries: Open Images & Videos
Welcome to the WC Library Copyright for Educators research guide! Weatherford College expects all students and employees to comply with applicable federal, state, and local laws governing copyrighted materials which grant authors, publishers, and creators control over the copying, distribution, transmission, and performance of their original works.
Weatherford College recognizes the importance of the Fair Use doctrine (section 107 of the U.S. Code Title 17 on Copyright) and its responsibility to provide information and guidance in support of teaching and learning. If the reproduction of the copyrighted material does not meet the fair-use guidelines, written authorization must be obtained.
Copyright Basics
Most works are protected by copyright
Almost all creative and intellectual work is protected by copyright. Remember that facts are not subject to copyright.
Copyright is automatic
Works do not have to have copyright notice posted or be registered in any way in order to be protected by copyright. This means that everything from a novel to a napkin doodle has full and automatic copyright protections.
Copyright lasts a long time...
Works are protected for the life of the author, plus seventy years. If a work was “made for hire” it is protected for 95 years from publication or 120 years from the creation of the work (whichever is less). The rules are different for works made before 1978 and incredibly complicated. Visit the Copyright Advisory Network for resources on understanding and learning about copyright.
...but not forever
Works with expired copyright pass into the public domain and are available to be used in whatever way you’d like. Also not protected by copyright are works created by the US government (and some states), facts, ideas, and methods.
-
Copyright Law of the United States This link opens in a new windowThis publication contains the text of title 17 of the United States Code, including all amendments enacted by Congress through June 30, 2016. It includes the Copyright Act of 1976 and all subsequent amendments to copyright law; the Semiconductor Chip Protection Act of 1984, as amended; and the Vessel Hull Design Protection Act, as amended. The Copyright Office is responsible for registering intellectual property claims under all three.
Eligible for Copyright Protection
The following types of content are eligible for copyright protection, whether published or unpublished, provided that the content is recorded in a "tangible medium of expression" (U.S. Copyright Office).
- Literary or written works
- Musical works and accompanying lyrics
- Dramatic works and accompanying music
- Dance and choreographic works
- Pictorial, graphic, and scultural works
- Motion pictures and other audiovisual works
- Sound recordings
- Architectural works
Not Eligible for Copyright Protection
Examples of materials not eligible for copyright protection include intangible content, content protected by other laws, or content in the public domain.
- Works not fixed in tangible format, such as interpretive dance
- Titles and slogans (which may instead be protected by a Patent or Trademark)
- Published directory listings
- Lists of ingredients or contents
- Natural laws, such as the Periodical Table of Elements
- Works in the Public Domain, such as works published by the U.S. Government