The United States Copyright Act of 1976 (Title 17, U. S. Code) established protections for authors of "original works" to prevent their unauthorized use. Original works include literary works, research and reports, artwork, animations, movies and videos, musical works (including lyrics), computer programs, photographs and images, and architectural works. This protection is available to both published and unpublished works.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor elaborated on the purpose of Title 17 as follows: "The primary objective of copyright is not to reward the labor of authors, but '[t]o promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts.' To this end, copyright assures authors the right to their original expression, but encourages others to build freely upon the ideas and information conveyed by a work. This result is neither unfair nor unfortunate. It is the means by which copyright advances the progress of science and art."
—Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, Feist Publications Inc. v. Rural Telephone Service Co., 499 US 340, 349 (1991)
Copyright protection is automatically extended as soon as something is fixed in tangible form, whether the item is published or not.
Copyright is legally recognized for the life of the author plus 70 years. In the case of corporate authorship, the term is 95 years from the date of publication or 120 years from creation, whichever is less. During this time, the holder of the copyright retains the legal right to publish, reproduce, perform, display, and distribute the work.
Ideas, commonly known facts, names, short phrases, titles, URLs, and works in the public domain.
"Public domain" refers to materials that are not protected by copyright and can, therefore, be used freely. Material in this category includes:
As a rule of thumb, you should consider information on the Internet to be protected by copyright law and treat it accordingly. Just because something is publicly accessible does not mean that it is not protected by copyright.
Legal protections for copyright holders are not unlimited. Section 107 of the 1976 Copyright Act identified four criteria that determine whether the use of a work meets the legal provisions for "fair use." A fair use exempts the person using it from seeking permission from the copyright holder:
Fair use (Sec. 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act) inherently allows the use of a work without permission from the copyright holder. Tools such as the Fair Use Checklist are designed to assist you in making the determination of whether or not your use is fair; if you determine it is not fair and you still intend to use the work, you will need to seek permission from the copyright holder. Here is one example of a Copyright Permission Form; here is another one.
Fair use of copyrighted materials can only be determined on a case-by-case basis and the faculty member is the best judge of whether their use is "fair" within the provisions of the law. By using this tool to document your fair use analysis, you are demonstrating a good faith effort to assess whether the materials used in your classes meet the criteria of fair use and can be used without permission from the copyright holder.
Information in formats such as graphs, tables, and histology or pathology images tend to be factual in nature; you do not need to fill out the Fair Use Checklist to use them, but you DO need to reference the source on a slide or handout, and include a copyright notice, such as the following:
"This material is copyright-protected and is used in conformance with the fair use provisions of the U.S. Copyright Act. Distribution is intended for students officially registered for this class."
Note:Tables, charts, medical images, etc. from MDConsult, UpToDate, or other sources licensed through the Bastyr library may be used freely with attribution.
The videos that are posted on YouTube are protected by copyright, i.e. the creator of the individual video owns the copyright. If you wish to use a video in your presentation or web page, when possible limit the amount of the video shown to a short clip.
If you wish to show an entire video, it is better to link to the video instead of making and embedding a copy of it. Providing a link to a work does not entail making a copy of it and can, therefore, be done freely.
Another option, often easy and effective, is to contact the copyright owner and ask for permission to use the video. Here is one example of a Copyright Permission Form; here is another one.
Photos and artistic images found on the Web are protected by copyright in the same way as YouTube videos--the copyright is held by the individual posting the photo/image, not necessarily by the site on which it appears (especially true of Google Images, Flickr, Facebook, and other photo sharing sites). The number of slides taken from a particular collection is also a consideration.
As with YouTube videos, linking to a photo or artistic image is different from downloading (copying) or reprinting it; whenever possible, provide a link.
If you do use photos/images in a PPT presentation, limit the number to those absolutely necessary to accomplish your educational objectives, credit the source and include a copyright notice, such as the following:
"This material is copyright-protected and is used in conformance with the fair use provisions of the U.S. copyright law. Distribution is intended for students officially registered for this class."
You can also request permission from the copyright holder. Here is one example of a Copyright Permission Form; here is another one.
Note: faculty can freely use photos/images from sources licensed through the Bastyr library, for example ClinicalKey, Access Medicine and UpToDate.
According to the TEACH Act, if a digital copy of an item is available to the institution, that copy must be purchased to be used. If such a copy is not available, you may digitize only as much of an item as is allowed under fair use guidelines.
Unless the item has entered the public domain, yes, it is still protected. Just because something is out of print does not mean that it is no longer protected by copyright. Copyright currently extends until 70 years after the death of the creator of the work.
Creative Commons is a non-profit organization that promotes open access to and the sharing of creative work, including images, forms, etc. Creative Commons licensing allows the creator to retain some control over how their work will be used, but still make it widely available. For example, a license may simply require that the user credit the source and not sell or alter the work. More information can be found on their web site.
Disclaimer: The content on this site is for information purposes only and is not to be construed as legal advice.