Copyright Information: FAQ
For copyright news, check out the latest news and updates from the Copyright Office.
General
1. Are images
protected under copyright law?
Yes. The U.S. Copyright Office states that "Copyright protects 'original works of authorship' that are fixed in a tangible form of expression. The fixation need not be directly perceptible so long as it may be communicated with the aid of a machine or device." (Circular 1: Copyright Basics). "Original works of authorship" include "pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works," which would cover any and all images in any format, including digital images.
2. If I don't make money from using someone else's work, there's no harm done, right?
Wrong. If you are using a significant portion of someone else's work without their permission, you are infringing on their rights under copyright law and you may be affecting the potential market value of the original work. For example, if a professor makes copies of a book for each member of his/her class, that means that many fewer copies of the book will be sold. So even though the professor did not make any money, he/she still deprived the copyright holder of the work from receiving the royalties for those lost sales.
3. What about works that I have written or produced? Can I use them any way I want to? What about publishing them on my Web site?
This depends on whether or not you actually own the copyright to your work. In some cases your work may be considered a "work made for hire" or you may have assigned or transferred your copyright to a publisher or other organization. If a publisher or university owns the copyright, you will need permission to use the work even if you are the author.
4. What is a work made for hire?
Section 101 of the copyright law defines
a work made for hire as:
(1) a work prepared by an employee within the scope of his or her employment; or
(2) a work specially ordered or commissioned for use as a contribution to a collective work, as a part of a motion picture or other audiovisual work, as a translation, as a supplementary work, as a compilation, as an instructional text, as a test, as answer material for a test, or as an atlas, if the parties expressly agree in a written instrument signed by them that the work shall be considered a work made for hire .
Generally, if one creates a work under the direction or authority of an employer, the employer is entitled to the copyright instead of the author. See University of Pittsburgh Policy 11-02-02 for information about how this is handled at this university.
5. What can
I do to protect my work under copyright law?
Once a work has been fixed in a tangible medium of expression, it is automatically protected under copyright law. See "How to Secure a Copyright" in Circular 1: Copyright Basics from the U.S. Copyright Office for more information including the advantages of registering your work with the U.S. Copyright Office.
6. How do I
get the copyright symbol to appear on my works? Is there a certain format
I have to use?
See the "Notice of Copyright" section on Circular 1 from the U.S. Copyright Office for information and guidelines about copyright notices. It is important to note that a copyright notice is no longer required in order for a work to be protected by copyright law. However, if you do include such notice on your works (including web pages and digital images) it prevents others from claiming "innocent infringement" when unlawfully copying your work.
The © symbol can be produced on a Web page using HTML by typing © or ©. In Microsoft Word, the © symbol is produced by typing ALT+CTRL+C.
7. How do I
know if a work is copyrighted or if it is in the public domain?
This was changed significantly on October 29, 1998 with the passage into law of the Sonny Bono Term Extension Act, also known as P.L. 105-298. Basically, this law extended the duration of copyright by twenty years for all works which were under copyright protection as of October 29, 1998.
Works created on or after January 1,
1978
Section 302 of Title 17 states that "Copyright
in a work created on or after January 1, 1978, subsists from its creation
and, except as provided by the following subsections, endures for a term
consisting of the life of the author and fifty [now seventy] years after
the author's death." (Note: registration is no longer required for copyright
protection since the Berne Convention took effect in 1989.)
Works created before January 1, 1978
Before this time, information was required
to be registered with the U.S. Copyright Office in order to be protected
under copyright laws for a 28 year term. Renewal for an additional term
of 47 years was then possible. Almost everything published in the
U.S. before 1923 is considered to be in the public domain (as of 1998)
because it was published more than 75 years ago (until P.L. 105-298, the
longest possible term of copyright). It is not simple, however to determine
copyright status for materials created during this time period.
To help in the process of determing copyright status, an excellent table titled "When Works Pass into the Public Domain" by Laura Gasaway is available on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Web site. Also consult Chapter 3: Duration of Copyright from Title 17 (and perhaps legal counsel) in order to determine the intricacies of copyright status for these works.
To be absolutely sure about the copyright status of any work, it is necessary to do a search with the U.S. Copyright Office or have an outside agency such as the Copyright Clearance Center investigate the status of a work. See also Circular 22: How to Investigate the Copyright Status of a Work from the U.S. Copyright Office.
8. Are
all government publications in the public domain?
Generally, U.S. government publications are considered in the public domain, meaning they can be copied, transmitted and otherwise used without restrictions. There are exceptions, however, such as U.S. Postal Service stamps. Some restrictions may apply if the government publication contains copyrighted information within it or was created by an outside government contractor. See Section 105 of the U.S. Copyright Statute for more details on this issue. If a publisher reprints government information, any enhancements or additions to the orignial work fall under copyright.
State government publications may or may not be copyrighted. It is necessary to determine whether or not this is the case before using these materials.
Foreign government publications are usually considered to be under copyright in accordance with several international copyright treaties.
9. If a book is
out of print, do I have to worry about copyright?
Yes. If the book is not in the public domain, the copyright is still in effect and should be respected. Permission would be required for copying large portions of the book. (See brevity question)
One possible exception is in the case of replacing lost, stolen, or damaged materials. This is mentioned in University of Pittsburgh Policy 10-04-01 :
It is not permissible to copy an entire issue, volume or complete work. However a copy may be made for replacement purposes if the item has been lost, stolen, or damaged, and
It
has been determined that a copy is not available
through normal trade sources at a fair
price.
Note that this is for replacement purposes only and would not be applicable for distribution purposes. Normal trade sources would include the out-of-print market in this case.
10. To what
extent am I personally liable as a faculty member, student or employee
of the University of Pittsburgh for violating copyright law?
Both the University and the individual may be liable in a civil suit for willful infringement of copyright law for damages of up to $100,000. The copyright law in Section 504 (c)(2) states that damages may be remitted (i.e. not enforced) under the following conditions:
The court shall remit statutory damages in any case where an infringer believed and had reasonable grounds for believing that his or her use of the copyrighted work was a fair use under section 107, if the infringer was: (i) an employee or agent of a nonprofit educational institution, library, or archives acting within the scope of his or her employment who, or such institution, library, or archives itself, which infringed by reproducing the work in copies or phonorecords; ...
This would require the infringer to prove in court that he or she reasonably thought the use in question fell under fair use, however, and would not necessarily prevent the filing of a lawsuit or subsequent attorney and court fees.
Willful copyright infringement for commercial advantage or private financial gain carries criminal penalties.
11. How much
information can I use from a copyrighted work without getting permission?
Definitions of brevity (the amount of a work one can copy without permission under fair use) is included in the University of Pittsburgh Procedure 10-04-01 which states the following limitations for prose and illustrations, among other types of works:
Prose:
A complete article, story or essay of less than 2,500 words OR
An excerpt from any prose work of not more than 1,000 words or 10% of the work, whichever is less, and not less than 500 words
Illustration:
One chart, graph, diagram, drawing, cartoon or picture per book or per periodical issue.
These definitions of brevity are adapted from those in the Agreement on Guidelines for Classroom Copying in Not-For-Profit Educational Institutions With Respect to Books and Periodicals which is included in the Report of the House Committee on the Judiciary (H.R. 94-1476) and have generally been agreed on by the educational and publishing communities.
Educational Use
1. Can I scan course readings and put them up on my Web site for my students to read?
Not without permission. Materials posted on the Web would be widely accessible by people all over the world. In effect you would be distributing the information broadly, thus affecting the market for that work (fair use factor #4). An exception is that works in the public domain could be reproduced on a Web site without penalty. It would also be acceptable to provide citations and links to other websites and/or articles from electronic journals or full text databases.
If you are affiliated with the University of Pittsburgh and want to provide electronic access to articles and other information on a Web site, you may direct them to electronic journals and/or full-text library databases available on the University Library System Web site at http://www.library.pitt.edu. In these cases, use by University of Pittsburgh students and employees is covered by licensing agreements. Consult with a librarian if you need assistance in determining the availability of full-text electronic resources.
2. What if
I use a system like CourseInfo which uses passwords to restrict access
to students in a particular class? Wouldn't that fall under fair use?
This is an area that is not perfectly clear and may not be fully understood until it is litigated. Certainly, limiting access to students in a particular class makes a better case for fair use, but even under these circumstances one would have to consider the four fair use factors and the guidelines for brevity and spontaneity. For example, the information could be posted for one semester only and could not be re-used without getting permission. Basically, if it would not be permissible to distribute copies of articles, images, or other copyrighted materials in paper format, then it would not be permissible to distribute them in electronic format. If you do request permission from the copyright holder to mount the work on the Web, they may require that you use a password or some method of encryption to protect against unauthorized access or illegal copying.
3. If a work is copyrighted and I want to use it in my class, what do I have to do?
Under University Library System policy, which is based on the fair use guidelines, you may place as many as five copies (depending on the size of the class) on reserve in the library without obtaining permission. If you want to distribute multiple copies directly to students, you probably need permission. You can get permission directly from the copyright holder.
4. What do I have to know about putting course readings on reserve in a University Library System library?
This information is posted on the ULS Web site at http://www.library.pitt.edu/services/reserves/. Scroll down to the section titled "Guidelines for Placing Materials on Reserve."
5. What about course packets?
The Copyright Clearance and Custom Course
Packet Service is handled by The Book Center in the Textbook Department
- Lower Level (this service was previously located in the Copy Cat).
Guidelines for ordering course packets are provided by The Book Center.
Contact the Custom Course Materials Manager with questions.
phone:(412) 624-1468
e-mail:shausman@bc.pitt.edu
6. What about copying a worksheet or a test for students?
Unless you create the work, and retain the copyright, this practice is prohibited by copyright law and University of Pittsburgh Policy 10-04-01. These items and other "consumable" items require permission before copying and distributing to students because such use affects the potential market for sale of such materials.
7. What am I permitted to do if I am involved in a Distance Education project?
See: The TEACH Act.
8. Fair use means that if I'm using it for educational purposes, I can do whatever I want with a copyrighted work, right?
Wrong. Fair use is a complicated concept and the general answer to any question about fair use is "maybe." There are some very definite restrictions to using copyrighted materials even under fair use guidelines. In general, one should consider the four fair use factors from Section 107 of the Copyright Law:
- the purpose and character of use;
- the nature of the copyrighted work;
- the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole;
- the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work
An excellent brief discussion of fair use including guidelines for determining whether or not your use falls under these guidelines can be found on p. 118 of Mary Brandt Jensen's Does Your Project Have a Copyright Problem? A more extensive treatment is found in William Patry's book, The Fair Use Privilege in Copyright Law.Copyright and Fair Use, a Web site published at Stanford University is the best starting point for learning about fair use on the Web.
9. Can I show films in the classroom?
Yes, according to the U.S. Copyright Act [17 U.S.C. § 110(1)], performance of or showing films in the classroom (or a similar venue) as part of “face-to-face” teaching at non-profit educational institutions (such as Pitt) is covered under the fair use exception. Showing films in analogous fashion as part of distance education or hybrid courses also qualifies as fair use under the TEACH Act [17 U.S.C. § 110 (2)].
There are noteworthy exceptions pertaining to remote locations and unlawfully acquired copies of audiovisual materials. See the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) “Performance of or Showing Films in the Classroom” for further advice and examples.Faculty may also wish to consult the Exceptions for Instructors in U.S. Copyright Law eTool for guidance on determining whether a performance or showing qualifies as fair use.
10. How about outside the classroom?
Performance of or showing films in a similar venue (i.e., not necessarily a classroom) for face-to-face instruction is covered under the fair use exception. Showing films in analogous fashion as part of distance education or hybrid courses also qualifies as fair use under the TEACH Act [17 U.S.C. § 110 (2)]. In both cases, the display or performance must be limited to those enrolled in the course. The display or performance cannot be open to the public or freely available via the Internet.
11. What if I want to show a film that’s not part of a course?
The performance of or showing of films for public viewing (whether admission is charged or not) or even by University-affiliated clubs and organizations does not fall under the fair use exception. In these cases, you will need to seek permission from the copyright holder by acquiring a public performance rights (PPR) license in order to show the films.
Generally, there is a charge for a PPR license, one that can range from $50 to $1,000, depending on the film and the copyright holder.
12. How do I obtain public performance rights for a film?
Acquiring PPR can take time and may cost money. Some educational films, when purchased, may already have public performance rights; however, just because the film is educational in nature or produced by a non-profit organization does not guarantee PPR are included. Additionally, commercial films (e.g., Hollywood-produced movies) are not purchased with public performance rights; this permission must be acquired separately.
The section entitled “So how do I go about finding this PPR?” in this LibGuide created by a librarian at the University of Montana may provide you with some direction on searching for and acquiring a PPR license for a film you want to show in a non-classroom, non-instructional setting.
Web
1. Do the same copyright laws apply to electronic information as print information?
THE SAME LAWS APPLY. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE PERMISSION TO USE A COPYRIGHTED WORK IN PRINT, YOU DO NOT HAVE PERMISSION TO USE IT IN ELECTRONIC FORMAT.
In general, one should treat electronic information with the same consideration as print, audiovisual, or other information when it comes to copyright. However, there are some unique qualities about electronic information that stretch the boundaries of the 1976 copyright law which was designed more for the print environment. That is why Congress passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (PL 105-304), which updates the law to deal with several important issues in the digital environment. This was signed into law by the president on October 28, 1998.
2. What are some of the changes made by the new Digital Millennium Copyright Act?
For an overview of this new legislation, see the Digital Millennium Copyright Act Overview published by the UCLA Online Institute for Cyberspace Law and Policy.
The Association of Research Libraries Web site offers an in-depth analysis of the DMCA by Jonathan Band of Morrision and Foerster LLP.
3. How can I get a copy of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act?
It is available on Thomas, the Web site of the U.S. Congress. The Digital Millenium Copyright Act may be viewed in full here in PDF format.
4. What do I have to consider before placing an image on my web site?
Many people assume that if an image is on the Web, it is meant for public access and consumption, but being on the Web does not equal automatic permission to use an image even though it is very easy to copy images from one site to another. Actually, one should assume that an image is copyrighted if it is on the Web since copyright is automatically conferred upon creation of the work. One exception is in cases of scanned images of items in the public domain--e.g. illustrations from a work published before 1923.
There are several sources of "copyright free" or "public domain" images and icons on the Web, but there is often no way to guarantee that the provider is actually the copyright holder. If you are not reasonably sure that you have permission to use "copyright free" materials from the Web, it is best to ask permission. Scanning images from print resources is possible as long as you consider that all reproduction rights belong to the copyright holder and you may need permission to do so. Again, if the image is in the public domain, it is possible to scan it without infringing on the copyright. If you need to use images to develop a Web site, the best practice is to create your own images or to hire someone to create them for you.
5. Do I have to get permission to link to another site from my web page?
In general, you do not need permission to create a link to another Web site. You probably will need permission if you duplicate information (including images and icons) from another site on your own. For instance, it is perfectly acceptable to provide a link to the CNN Web site from your page, but you may not display their logo (a registered trademark) or reprint an article from the CNN site without appropriate permission. However, even though it is not required, it is considered polite to ask permission to create a link to someone else's information on the Web.
6. Can I scan course readings and put them up on my Web site for my students to read?
Not without permission. Materials posted on the Web would be widely accessible by people all over the world. In effect you would be distributing the information broadly, thus affecting the market for that work (fair use factor #4). An exception is that works in the public domain could be reproduced on a Web site without penalty. It would also be acceptable to provide citations and links to other websites and/or articles from electronic journals or full text databases.
If you are affiliated with the University of Pittsburgh and want to provide electronic access to articles and other information on a Web site, you may direct them to electronic journals and/or full-text library databases available on the University Library System Web site at http://www.library.pitt.edu. In these cases, use by University of Pittsburgh students and employees is covered by licensing agreements. Consult with a librarian if you need assistance in determining the availability of full-text electronic resources.
7. What if I use a system like CourseInfo which uses passwords to restrict access to students in a particular class? Wouldn't that fall under fair use?
Certainly, limiting access to students in a particular class makes a better case for fair use,but even under these circumstances one would have to consider the four fair use factors and the guidelines for brevity and spontaneity. For example, the information could be posted for one semester only and could not be re-used without getting permission. Basically, if it would not be permissible to distribute copies of articles, images, or other copyrighted materials in paper format, then it would not be permissible to distribute them in electronic format. If you do request permission from the copyright holder to mount the work on the Web, they may require that you use a password or some method of encryption to protect against unauthorized access or illegal copying. For more information see: the TEACH Act.s
8. Putting something up on a Web site is not the same as publishing something, so do I have to worry about copyright?
There are many arguments about the differences between traditional and electronic publishing, but none affect the copyright law. As stated before, the United States Copyright Office advises that "Copyright protects original works of authorship that are fixed in a tangible form of expression. The fixation need not be directly perceptible so long as it may be communicated with the aid of a machine or device." (Circular 1: Copyright Basics) So once an image, article, book, or other work is created, it is protected under copyright whether or not it was published in a traditional manner. See Circular 1: Copyright Basics for more on this discussion.
9. What kinds of information am I allowed to post on my web pages?
Any information that has been created by you as an author is generally acceptable, including syllabi, class notes, biographical information, curriculum vitae, etc... Articles or papers that you have written may be posted without permission only if you are the copyright holder for the work. If it has been published elsewhere, you may not hold the copyright.
If you copy a work or a significant portion of another work (including images) for which you do not own copyright, you may be in violation of copyright law. If you are developing an official University of Pittsburgh web page, see "Guidelines for University Web Pages" by the The Provost's Committee on the University of Pittsburgh's Presentation on the World Wide Web. For other guidelines regarding web pages, see University of Pittsburgh Policy 10-02-05: Computer Access and Use.
10. I heard that the new copyright law might make it illegal even to download copyrighted web pages for viewing without permission. Is that true?
Whenever you view a webpage, it is downloaded from the server on which it resides and is temporarily stored in a cache on your computer. There has been some discussion about whether or not this constitutes making a copy of the work. Such viewing of web resources has so far generally been considered to be acceptable because of the temporary nature of caching and the necessity of doing so in order to view Web-based information. If you then print it or save it permanently to a disk, you are making a copy of the work and would have to consider copyright restrictions.
11. Can I print or download information from a Web site or library database without violating copyright?
In general, it is safe to print or download a single copy of a work from a database or Web site for personal non-profit research purposes. Information on websites is almost always protected under copyright law, however, and care should be taken not to violate the copyright by retransmitting or making multiple copies of the work, etc... In the case of databases, much of the information is covered by the database license. The users of databases usually have permission to use information on databases because the organization with which they are affiliated has paid license fees and agreed to certain restrictions on the use of the information. The database producer, in turn, pays copyright fees to the original copyright holder. Each database license agreement is different, but usage restrictions are generally as strict or more strict than those of the four fair use factors.
It is a violation of copyright and licensing agreements to copy an entire database or even significant portions of a database even for personal use.
12. What am I permitted to do if I am involved in a Distance Education project?
See: The TEACH Act.