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Authorship and Plagiarism
Copyright and Fair Use
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Copyright and Fair Use

Intellectual property laws grant an author or publisher certain exclusive rights over the use of a work. All copyrights are held by the author or publisher until the author specifically transfers them. Persons who wish to make use of copyrighted material must follow guidelines set up in U.S. law.

Copyright law is federal law. The duration of copyright varies depending on the date when the work was created. It does not matter that a work is out of print. It is still protected by copyright.

• For works created on or after January 1, 1978: copyright is for the duration of the author’s life plus 70 years
• For works created before January 1, 1978: copyright is for 28 years from the date copyright was secured and the copyright may be renewed for another 47 years. This means that works published before January 1, 1978 have the potential of being under copyright for 75 years.

Fair Use

The role of the fair use doctrine has been described as a mechanism to ensure that copyright does not become an obstacle that impedes learning.

The "fair use" doctrine allows limited reproduction of copyrighted works for educational and research purposes. The copyright statue provides that the use of a copyrighted work, including photocopying is permitted "for purposes such as criticism, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research." (17 U.S.C.)

This means that you are allowed under the "fair use" exemption of copyright law to make a single copy of a periodical article or select portions of a book for personal study or research use. It does not mean that you can copy an entire book or issue of a periodical. The same applies for materials from the World Wide Web and copyrighted material in any other format (like CDs or videos). You may not copy an article for your own study and research, and then make a copy of that copy.

"Fair use" does not give a person the right to use copyrighted work in anyway they see fit. It does attempt to balance the intellectual and economic control of the copyright owner with the legitimate need of the public for open access to information and knowledge. The fair use exemption to copyright law attempts to walk a middle ground.

If you would like more detailed information on how to apply fair use guidelines in an educational setting look at the Copyright Bay Web site. This site provides information in tutorial format and is easy and fun to use.