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Copyright, a form of intellectual property law, protects original works of authorship including literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, such as poetry, novels, movies, songs, computer software, and architecture. Copyright does not protect facts, ideas, systems, or methods of operation, although it may protect the way these things are expressed. See Circular 1, Copyright Basics, section "What Works Are Protected."

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What does copyright protect?
Copyright, a form of intellectual property law, protects original works of authorship including literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, such as poetry, novels, movies, songs, computer software, and architecture. Copyright does not protect facts, ideas, systems, or methods of operation, although it may protect the way these things are expressed. See Circular 1, Copyright Basics, section " What Works Are Protected."

Can I copyright my website?
The original authorship appearing on a website may be protected by copyright. This includes writings, artwork, photographs, and other forms of authorship protected by copyright. Procedures for registering the contents of a website may be found in Circular 66, Copyright Registration of Websites and Website Content.

Can I copyright my domain name?
Copyright law does not protect domain names. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a nonprofit organization that has assumed the responsibility for domain name system management, administers the assigning of domain names through accredited registers.

How do I protect my recipe?
A mere listing of ingredients is not protected under copyright law. However, where a recipe or formula is accompanied by substantial literary expression in the form of an explanation or directions, or when there is a collection of recipes as in a cookbook, there may be a basis for copyright protection. Note that if you have secret ingredients to a recipe that you do not wish to be revealed, you should not submit your recipe for registration, because applications and deposit copies are public records. See Circular 33, Works Not Protected by Copyright.

Can I copyright the name of my band?
No. Names are not protected by copyright law. Some names may be protected under trademark law. Contact the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, [email protected] or see Circular 33 " Copyright Protection Not Available for Names, Titles, or Short Phrases".

How do I copyright a name, title, slogan, or logo?
Copyright does not protect names, titles, slogans, or short phrases. In some cases, these things may be protected as trademarks. Contact the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, [email protected] or see Circular 33, for further information. However, copyright protection may be available for logo artwork that contains sufficient authorship. In some circumstances, an artistic logo may also be protected as a trademark.

Copyright does not protect ideas, concepts, systems, or methods of doing something. You may express your ideas in writing or drawings and claim copyright in your description, but be aware that copyright will not protect the idea itself as revealed in your written or artistic work.

Does my work have to be published to be protected?
Publication is not necessary for copyright protection.

"Publication" is the distribution of copies or phonorecords of a work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending. The offering to distribute copies or phonorecords to a group of persons for purposes of further distribution, public performance, or public display, constitutes publication. A public performance or display of a work does not of itself constitute publication.

Can I register a diary I found in my grandmother's attic?
You can register copyright in the diary within a certain duration only if you own the rights to the work, for example, by will or by inheritance. Copyright is the right of the author of the work or the author's heirs or assignees, not of the one who only owns or possesses the physical work itself. See Circular 1, Copyright Basics, section " Who Can Claim Copyright."

How do I protect my sighting of Elvis?
Copyright law does not protect sightings. However, copyright law will protect your photo (or other depiction) of your sighting of Elvis. File your claim to copyright online by means of the electronic Copyright Office (eCO). Pay the fee online and attach a copy of your photo. For more information on registering a copyright, see SL-35. No one can lawfully use your photo of your sighting, although someone else may file his own photo of his sighting. Copyright law protects the original photograph, not the subject of the photograph.

Does copyright protect architecture?
Yes. Architectural works became subject to copyright protection on December 1, 1990. The copyright law defines "architectural work" as "the design of a building embodied in any tangible medium of expression, including a building, architectural plans, or drawings." Copyright protection extends to any architectural work created on or after December 1, 1990. Also, any architectural works that were unconstructed and embodied in unpublished plans or drawings on that date and were constructed by December 31, 2002, are eligible for protection. Architectural designs embodied in buildings constructed prior to December 1, 1990, are not eligible for copyright protection. See Circular 41, Copyright Claims in Architectural Works

Can I get a star named after me and claim copyright to it?
No. There is a lot of misunderstanding about this. Names are not protected by copyright. Publishers of works such as a star registry may register a claim to copyright in the text of the volume [or book] containing the names the registry has assigned to stars, and perhaps the compilation of data; but such a registration would not extend protection to any of the individual star names appearing therein. Copyright registration of such a volume of star names does not confer any official or governmental status on any of the star names included in the volume. For further information on copyright protection and names, see Circular 33, Works Not Protected by Copyright

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What does copyright protect? Copyright, a form of intellectual property law, protects original works of authorship including literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, such as poetry, novels, movies, songs, computer software, and architecture. Copyright does not protect facts, ideas, systems, or methods of operation, although it may protect the way these things are expressed.

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Public Domain refers to work that is open for the public's use. The public domain is not supported by Copyright laws.

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The term "public domain" refers to creative materials that are not protected by intellectual property laws such as copyright, trademark, or patent laws. The public owns these works, not an individual author or artist. Anyone can use a public domain work without obtaining permission, but no one can ever own it.

An important wrinkle to understand about public domain material is that, while each work belongs to the public, collections of public domain works may be protected by copyright. If, for example, someone has collected public domain images in a book or on a website, the collection as a whole may be protectable even though individual images are not. You are free to copy and use individual images but copying and distributing the complete collection may infringe what is known as the "collective works" copyright. Collections of public domain material will be protected if the person who created it has used creativity in the choices and organization of the public domain material. This usually involves some unique selection process, for example, a poetry scholar compiling a book- The Greatest Poems of e.e. cummings.

There are four common ways that works arrive in the public domain:

the copyright has expired

the copyright owner failed to follow copyright renewal rules

the copyright owner deliberately places it in the public domain, known as "dedication," or

copyright law does not protect this type of work.

The following section looks at each of these routes into the public domain more closely.

As of 2019, copyright has expired for all works published in the United States before 1924. In other words, if the work was published in the U.S. before January 1, 1924, you are free to use it in the U.S. without permission. These rules and dates apply regardless of whether the work was created by an individual author, a group of authors, or an employee (a work made for hire).
Because of legislation passed in 1998, no new works fell into the public domain between 1998 and 2018 due to expiration. In 2019, works published in 1923 expired. In 2020, works published in 1924 will expire, and so on.
For works published after 1977, if the work was written by a single author, the copyright will not expire until 70 years after the author's death. If a work was written by several authors and published after 1977, it will not expire until 70 years after the last surviving author dies.

Copyright protection always expires at the end of the calendar year of the year it's set to expire. In other words, the last day of copyright protection for any work is December 31. For example, if an author of a work died on June 1, 2000, protection of the works would continue through December 31, 2070.

The Renewal Trapdoor

Thousands of works published in the United States before 1964 fell into the public domain because the copyright was not renewed in time under the law in effect then. If a work was first published before 1964, the owner had to file a renewal with the Copyright Office during the 28th year after publication. No renewal meant a loss of copyright.

If you plan on using a work that was published before 1964, you should research the records of the Copyright Office to determine if a renewal was filed.

Dedicated Works

If, upon viewing a work, you see words such as, "This work is dedicated to the public domain," then it is free for you to use. Sometimes an author deliberately chooses not to protect a work and dedicates the work to the public. This type of dedication is rare, and unless there is express authorization placing the work in the public domain, do not assume that the work is free to use.

An additional concern is whether the person making the dedication has the right to do so. Only the copyright owner can dedicate a work to the public domain. Sometimes, the creator of the work is not the copyright owner and does not have authority. If in doubt, contact the copyright owner to verify the dedication.

Clip Art Compilations

Generally clip art is sold in books, digital bundles, or from websites, and is often offered as "copyright-free." The term "copyright-free" is usually a misnomer that actually refers to either royalty-free artwork or work in the public domain. Keep in mind that much of the artwork advertised as copyright-free is actually royalty-free artwork, which is protected by copyright. Your rights and limitations to use such artwork are expressed in the artwork packaging or in the shrink-wrap agreement or license that accompanies the artwork.

If the artwork is in the public domain, you are free to copy items without restriction. However, even if the artwork is in the public domain, the complete collection may not be reproduced and sold as a clip art collection because that may infringe the unique manner in which the art is collected (known as a compilation or collective work copyright).

There are some things that copyright law does not protect. Copyright law does not protect the titles of books or movies, nor does it protect short phrases such as, "Make my day." Copyright protection also doesn't cover facts, ideas, or theories. These things are free for all to use without authorization.

Short Phrases

Phrases such as, "Show me the money" or, "Beam me up" are not protected under copyright law. Short phrases, names, titles, or small groups of words are considered common idioms of the English language and are free for anyone to use. However, a short phrase used as an advertising slogan is protectable under trademark law. In that case, you could not use a similar phrase for the purpose of selling products or services.

Facts and Theories

A fact or a theory-for example, the fact that a comet will pass by the Earth in 2027-is not protected by copyright. If a scientist discovered this fact, anyone would be free to use it without asking for permission from the scientist. Similarly, if someone creates a theory that the comet can be destroyed by a nuclear device, anyone could use that theory to create a book or movie. However, the unique manner in which a fact is expressed may be protected. Therefore, if a filmmaker created a movie about destroying a comet with a nuclear device, the specific way he presented the ideas in the movie would be protected by copyright.

Neil Young wrote a song, "Ohio," about the shooting of four college students during the Vietnam War. You are free to use the facts surrounding the shooting, but you may not copy Mr. Young's unique expression of these facts without his permission.

In some cases, you are not free to copy a collection of facts because the collection of facts may be protectable as a compilation.

Dear Rich: Dear Rich: I wrote a nonfiction book and it turns out that one of the chapters has the same title as a book on a similar subject. The person who wrote that book also has seminars and a DVD using the same title. I seem to remember that there's no copyright on titles-but don't know how to make sure. Am I infringing?

Are Local Laws in the Public Domain?

Under copyright laws that were in effect before 1978, a work that was published without copyright notice fell into the public domain. If the work did not include the word "Copyright" or a © (a "c" in a circle) and the name of the copyright owner, the work would enter the public domain. This rule was repealed; copyright notice is not required for works first published after March 1, 1989 (although works first published prior to that date must still include notice). Just because you find a copy of a book without a copyright notice doesn't mean that the work is in the public domain. It's possible that the copy you are viewing is unauthorized or that the notice has only been removed from a very small number of copies, both of which are excusable. It is also possible that the author followed a copyright law procedure for correcting the error. And, if you're using text from a journal, anthology, newsletter, or magazine published before March 1, 1989, check to see if there is a copyright notice either for the individual article or for the whole publication. Either type of notice will prevent the work from falling into the public domain.

For decades, publishers of model codes-sample laws that a city or state could adopt-have claimed copyright. State and local laws and ordinances based on such codes often contain copyright notices in the publisher's name or some other indication the publisher claims the copyright. In a significant victory for public domain proponents, a federal appellate court found that model codes enter the public domain when they are enacted into law by local governments.

The case came about when Peter Veeck posted the local building codes of Anna and Savoy, two small towns in north Texas, on his website. Both towns had adopted a model building code published by Southern Building Code Congress International, Inc. (SBCCI). Veeck made a few attempts to inspect several towns' copies of the Building Code, but he was not able to locate them easily.

Eventually, Veeck purchased the model building codes directly from SBCCI; he paid $72 and received a copy of the codes on disc. Although the software licensing agreement and copyright notice indicated that the codes could not be copied and distributed, Veeck cut and pasted their text onto his website. Veeck's website identified the codes, correctly, as the building codes of Anna and Savoy, Texas.

SBCCI sued Veeck for copyright infringement. Veeck lost in the trial court, but ultimately won on appeal. The court held that:

The law is always in the public domain, whether it consists of government statutes, ordinances, regulations, or judicial decisions.

When a model code is enacted into law, it becomes a fact-the law of a particular local government. Indeed, the particular wording of a law is itself a fact, and that wording cannot be expressed in any other way. A fact itself is not copyrightable, nor is the way that the fact is expressed if there is only one way to express it. Since the legal code of a local government cannot be expressed in any way but as it is actually written, the fact and expression merge, and the law is uncopyrightable.

( Veeck v. Southern Building Code Congress International, Inc., 293 F.3d 791 (5th Cir. 2002).)

The Veeck decision's reasoning has the effect of placing every model code that has been adopted by a government entity in the public domain. Any person may reproduce such a code, as adopted, for any purpose, including placing it on a website. However, model codes that have not been adopted by any government body are protected by copyright.

The short answer is "No." Copyright law won't protect the book title. Trademark law (with rare exceptions) only protects book titles when used on a series of books. (The author could federally register the title for her seminars but she hasn't done so, yet.) Even if the author could prove trademark rights, she would have to show a likelihood that purchasers would be confused or misled. Proving likelihood of confusion seems difficult since most consumers won't see your chapter heading until after they have purchased your book. All that said, the author or publisher may still fire off a C&D letter should they learn of your chapter title (and may even dredge up claims of unfair competition). If you're concerned about getting hassled, the Dear Rich Staff suggests that in the short term, avoid using the chapter heading in promotional materials for your book; and in the long term-assuming you do a second printing of your book-change the heading.

Copyright law does not protect ideas; it only protects the particular way an idea is expressed. What's the difference between an idea and its expression? In the case of a story or movie, the idea is really the plot in its most basic form. For example, the "idea" of the movie Contact is that a determined scientist, seeking to improve humankind, communicates with alien life forms. The same idea has been used in many motion pictures, books, and television shows including The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Abyss, and Star Trek. Many paintings, photographs, and songs contain similar ideas. You can always use the underlying idea or theme-such as communicating with aliens for the improvement of the world-but you cannot copy the unique manner in which the author expresses the idea. This unique expression may include literary devices such as dialog, characters, and subplots.

In a 2003 case, the producers of the television show Survivor claimed that their show was a "new genre" of television show with a unique format combining the elements of "voyeur verité, hostile environment in the deserted island sense, building of social alliances, challenges arising from the game show element, and serial elimination." They sued to prevent a similar reality-competition show called Celebrity.

The court found that this genre of television show was an unprotectable idea, as is any genre. In other words, anyone could produce a show based on the basic idea of contestants in a "reality" situation eliminating each other. Celebrity would infringe on Survivor only if it copied a substantial amount of the specific details of Survivor, which it did not do. There were many differences between the two shows-for example, the way the contestants were eliminated-and Celebrity had an audience participation element and a comedic tone, unlike the serious Survivor. ( CBS Broadcasting, Inc. v. ABC, Inc., 2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20258 (S.D. N.Y. 2003).)

Dear Rich: Dear Rich: I was going to write a book that partially borrows the plot of another book. My book will give credit to the original author and will refer to characters in the original book by name. Is this okay or forbidden?

Let's start with a question: Forgetting about copyright for a moment if you were the author of a book and someone "borrowed" your plot and characters in another book, how would you feel? And not only that, what if the person who copied your stuff credits you-as if you endorsed the whole thing. If you're like most authors, you'd probably be mad. You'd probably talk to a lawyer (or write to the Dear Rich Staff). The lawyer would tell you that it's probably an infringement, but no one can predict with certainty whether it is or isn't (or whether it's fair use). Our guess is that you would be so mad that you would file a lawsuit.

Who will publish your book? Okay, so let's assume that the author files a lawsuit. Your publisher-assuming you were lucky enough to find one in these troublesome days of publishing-(or your publisher's insurer) would likely ask you to pay the costs of the lawsuit based on the indemnity provision in your contract. So even if you win the lawsuit-or you settle-you probably will have given up most of your royalties to pay the attorneys. And if you lose the lawsuit then you pay the attorneys, and your book goes unpublished.

Can you win the lawsuit? Okay, now for the fine print. Is it legally permissible to borrow? Maybe. Some plots-boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl-and some characters-good cop, bad cop-are so stock, that they are considered merely "ideas," not original expressions. In other cases, the author may create something transformative that qualifies as fair use. (Keep in mind these are issues raised at trial, so the attorney is billing as you prove your point.) There are many cases on the subject of borrowing plot and characters, and you may want to peruse a copyright treatise before penning your opus. And of course, as always, disregard all of the legal blather, above, if the book or character you are copying-for example, Sherlock Holmes-is in the public domain.

The Merger Doctrine

There is an exception to the principle that you cannot copy the unique expression of a fact or idea. If there are a limited number of ways to express the fact or idea, you are permitted to copy the expression. This is known as the "merger doctrine"-meaning the idea and the expression are merged or inseparable. For example, in the case of a map, there may be very few ways to express the symbol for an airport other than by using a small image of an airplane. In that case, you are free to use the airport symbol. Similarly, there may be a limited way of expressing a rule about the public domain, for example, the statement, "Works published in the U.S. before 1923 are in the public domain." The fact and the expression are inseparable so you are free to copy the expression. As you can imagine, this is a heavily litigated area, and many companies have butted heads to determine the boundaries of the merger doctrine. For example, Microsoft and Apple litigated over the right to use the trash pail icon as a symbol for deleting computer materials. A federal court of appeals ruled that design constraints made the trash can an unprotectable element of the graphics interface and that Apple could not claim infringement solely based on another company's use of a similar icon. ( Apple Computer, Inc. v. Microsoft Corp., 35 F.3d 1435 (9th Cir. 1994).)

U.S. Government Works

In the U.S., any work created by a federal government employee or officer is in the public domain, provided that the work was created in that person's official capacity. For example, during the 1980s, a songwriter used words from a speech by then‑President Ronald Reagan as the basis for song lyrics. The words from the speech were in the public domain so the songwriter did not need permission from Ronald Reagan. Keep in mind that this rule applies only to works created by federal employees and not to works created by state or local government employees. However, state and local laws and court decisions are in the public domain. (See " Are Local Laws in the Public Domain? " above.)

Some federal publications (or portions of them) are protected under copyright law, which is usually indicated on the title page or in the copyright notice. For example, the IRS may acquire permission to use a copyrighted chart in a federal tax booklet. The document may indicate that a certain chart is "Copyright Dr. Matt Polazzo." In that case, you could not copy the chart without permission from Dr. Polazzo.

Publishing Legal Cases and Pagination

As noted above, federal, state, and local laws and court decisions are in the public domain. (See "Are Local Laws in the Public Domain?" above.) However, legal publishers have attempted to get around the public domain status by claiming that unique page numbering systems are copyrightable. These publishers argued that you can copy and distribute a court decision, but you cannot copy the page numbering, which is crucial to the official citation system used by the courts. For many years, Lexis and other computerized legal research systems could not cite to the official page numbering system used by West publications. In a 1994 case, West Publishing Company sued when a legal publisher, Matthew Bender, incorporated West's page numbering system on a CD-ROM product. A court of appeals ruled that the use of West's pagination was not protectable and in any case, the page citation copying was permitted as fair use. As a result of this ruling, you are free to copy a publisher's reproduction of court decisions and page numbering. ( Matthew Bender & Co. v. West Publishing Co., 158 F.3d 693 (2d Cir. 1998). But see also West Publishing Company v. Mead Data, 799 F.2d 1219 (1986).)

The table below may help you determine public domain status.

Table for Determining Public Domain Status

Works published in the U.S. before 1924

In the public domain

Works published in the U.S. after 1923 but before 1964

Initial term of 28 years. If not renewed during the 28th year, the work falls into the public domain.

Works published in the U.S. after 1923 but before March 1, 1989

Generally, if a work was published without copyright notice under the authorization of the copyright owner and the law does not provide an exception for the omission, the work is in the public domain

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Welcome to the Public Domain - Copyright Overview by Rich Stim - Stanford Copyright and Fair Use Center

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The term "public domain" refers to creative materials that are not protected by intellectual property laws such as copyright, trademark, or patent laws. The public owns these works, not an ...

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What can I use and what can I not use?

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(OLD VERSION) Copyright and Fair Use Animation

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A derivative work is transformative if it uses a source work in completely new or unexpected ways.
A work is considered transformative if you use the original work to create a new and original idea.

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Understanding Fair Use

Unless otherwise noted, all content on the Copyright Information section of this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License.

This web site presents information about copyright law. The University Libraries make every effort to assure the accuracy of this information but do not offer it as counsel or legal advice. Consult an attorney for advice concerning your specific situation.

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Unless otherwise noted, all content on the Copyright Information section of this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License. This web site presents information about copyright law. The University Libraries make every effort to assure the accuracy of this information but do not offer it as counsel or legal advice.

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Lesson 3: Copyright and Fair Use

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Copyright and fair use

In our Avoiding Plagiarism lesson, we gave you tips for citing, quoting, and incorporating various sources into your writing projects. However, depending on what types of sources you use, you may also have to consider copyright and fair use laws. For example, if you want to use someone else's photo or song in one of your own projects, you'll need to make sure you have the legal right to do so.

In this tutorial, you'll learn about the copyright protections that apply to work posted online, including images, text, videos, and more. You'll also learn about the rules that determine which of these resources you can use, and how you can use them.

Watch the video below to learn about copyright, public domain, and fair use.

What is copyright?

Copyright is the legal concept that works-art, writing, images, music, and more-belong to the people who create them. According to copyright law, any original content you create and record in a lasting form is your own intellectual property. This means other people can't legally copy your work and pretend it's their own. They can't make money from the things you create either.

You can still cite and refer to other sources (including copyrighted materials) in your work. But to use, copy, or change a copyrighted work, you need permission from the person who holds the copyright. This permission is called a license.

Although everyone has the right to require that others respect their copyright and ask permission to use their work, some people and organizations choose to license their content more freely. They do this by giving their work a Creative Commons license, or by placing their work in the public domain.

Obtaining free content

If everything on the Internet belongs to someone, how do you obtain images, music, and other materials you can use in your projects for free? The answer is through public domain and Creative Commons-licensed content. To learn more, review the tips below.

Tip #1: Use public domain content

For help finding public domain content, visit these resources:

Tip #2: Use Creative Commons content

Although Creative Commons content won't cost you any money to obtain, it's not totally free: To use it, you must follow certain rules. People who choose to make their content Creative Commons can choose one or more of these licenses to apply to their work:

Attribution: You must credit the creator in order to use, copy, or share the content.

Non-Commercial: You can't make a profit from the content.

No Derivative Works: You can't change the content.

Share Alike: You can change the content, but you have to let other people use your new work with the same license as the original. You can't treat any Share Alike work that you adapt as your own copyright, even if you radically change it.

For help finding Creative Commons content, try these resources:

How to tell if content is Creative Commons

To tell if a piece of content is Creative Commons, look for the Creative Commons symbol, as well as symbols that indicate exactly which licenses apply to it.

For instance, the symbols in the example below indicate that the photo has three licenses: Attribution, Non Commercial, and No Derivative Works. This means you can use this photo if you credit the person who created it, don't make money from it, and don't change it.

Finding content with Google

Google allows you to filter your search results to only show Creative Commons and public domain works. When conducting an advanced search, you can choose which usage rights you want Google to search for. For example, if you're searching for an image to use in your blog, you can change the usage rights to free to use or share.

For more information on conducting an advanced search, review the Advanced Search Strategies portion of our Google Search Tips lesson.

Using copyrighted material

You can't just grab a copyrighted photo and use it on your blog because you think it's pretty. However, it probably would be considered fair use if you included the photo in a blog post that commented on and analyzed the photographer's work.

Guidelines for fair use:

A majority of the content you create must be your own.
To return to the example above, it's probably fair use to include a few relevant photos to support your ideas in a blog post, presentation, or research paper. However, using these same photos in a project with only a few lines of commentary might not be fair use. As another example, let's imagine you found a useful tutorial you wanted to feature on your blog. Including one tip from the tutorial would be fair use. Simply republishing the entire tutorial would not be fair use, even if you linked to the original source.

Give credit to the copyright holder.
In order for something to be fair use, you must give full credit to the person who created it. This includes the creator's name, as well as other information that will help people find the original work or source. For example, if you adapt a recipe that was originally published on a cooking website, you should include a link to the original page. For more help citing your sources, review Avoiding Plagiarism.

Don't make money off of the copyrighted work.
In general, it's much easier to claim fair use when you're using the copyrighted material for noncommercial purposes. While posting images of your favorite TV shows and adding funny captions and commentary might be considered fair use, selling these images on T-shirts would not.

Misusing copyrighted material

The concept of fair use can be tricky, especially when it comes to creating work you don't intend to post or publish. For example, if you download a series of graphics from a designer's website and use them to create a PowerPoint template for you and your coworkers (without permission), you could argue that it was never meant for the public and that you didn't mean any harm.

In situations like this, it's important to put yourself in the copyright holder's shoes. It's true that he or she will probably never find out about the template. It's also a relatively minor violation because you're just using the graphics around the office.

But how would you feel if you were a graphic designer and learned that people were using your work (your livelihood) in a way you didn't intend? And you're not getting paid or credited for it!

In short, it's better to do what's right than to risk violating copyright and fair use laws. Even if you think what you're doing is not a big deal, the copyright holder may disagree. If someone requests that you remove his or her materials from your work, you should do so immediately. Otherwise, you can suffer serious consequences, including:

Having your website shut down if your work is published online-like on a blog-after the copyright holder complains to your hosting service

Getting sued by the copyright holder

Licensing copyrighted content

If you want to use copyrighted content in a way that doesn't fall under fair use, you'll have to license it in order to get permission to post it. If you're interested in purchasing the rights to use images, video, and other media in your work, you may want to visit the following stock photo sites:

Sharing copyrighted videos

Video-sharing sites like YouTube and Vimeo offer the option to share videos by embedding them. When you embed a video, it automatically creates a link back to the place where it was originally posted. Because the original creator or poster is automatically credited, you don't have to worry about going through any extra steps to give credit.

Protecting your intellectual property

Copyright protects the things you create too. You own the original content you post on your blog, share on your website, or write in your research paper. If people copy or steal your intellectual property, you have the right to try and stop them.

Guarding your content online

The best way to protect your content is to keep an eye out for it elsewhere. These tips can help you determine if someone else has published your work online, like on a website or blog.

Use plagiarism search services.
If you choose to publish your work online, these services will analyze your blog or site, then search for sites with identical content. Copyscape.com is a reputable site with a free plagiarism search.

Set up Google Alerts for excerpts of your work.
Google Alerts is a service you can use to automatically email you when sites post new information about a person, thing, or event. You can create alerts for things you've written by entering a few sentences from your work in the Search Query field. (Make sure to use quotation marks.) If that text shows up elsewhere on the Web, you'll receive an email.

Add watermarks to your images.
A watermark is something you add to an image to identify yourself as its creator-usually a symbol or some text. If you choose to share your images online, watermarks make it easy for you and other people to recognize images you created. They also can have the effect of discouraging others from taking your images in the first place. You can easily create watermarks in image-editing programs like Picasa and Photoshop.

What to do if you find your content on another site

There are two things you can do if you find your images, text, or other media on someone else's website or blog. First, you can contact the person who runs the blog or site that took your content. Most blogs list a contact email address, but if you can't find one you can always leave a comment on the offending post. Ask firmly but politely to remove your content (or give you credit if you don't mind sharing it). This can work, especially in cases when the other person didn't realize any wrongdoing had occurred.

To learn more about filing a DMCA complaint, read How to Send a DMCA Takedown Notice by Carolyn E. Wright from the blog Black Star Rising.

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Use Information Correctly: Copyright and Fair Use

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Learn about copyright and fair use issues facing writers today in this free lesson. It's especially important in the age of digital technology.

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Students explore the right and wrongs of using Copyright laws

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Thought starters

1. Why is it important to consider both the legal and ethical ramifications of using other people's work?

2. How does the advertising activity change the way students think about using creative works?

3. What would you do next to further your students' understanding of copyright?

School Details

Burke High School
12200 Burke Blvd
Omaha NE 68154

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Teachers

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High school students in Nichole Niebur's class explore the legal and ethical implications of respecting creative work. Nichole begins by preteaching vocabulary having to do with copyright. Students then participate in an advertising activity, working in pairs to decide which pictures to use in a fictional ad campaign.

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This symbol represents that the work is not supported by Copyright laws.