According to the U.S. Copyright Office, copyright is: "a form of protection grounded in the U.S. Constitution and granted by law for original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression. Copyright covers both published and unpublished works."
The three requirements for copyright:
Under 17 USCS Section 102 the following is protected:
Copyright is format agnostic. It applies to to both print and digital content. i.e., "a fixed and tangible medium".
Derived from the Rebecca P. Butler's 2014 Copyright for Academic Librarians and Professionals
Depending on when a work was created, it may or may not be protected by copyright. Consult the American Library Association's Digital Copyright Slider to see if what you want to use is in the public domain or if it is still covered by copyright.
The public domain refers to works that are not copyright protected and can be used freely, without seeking permission. It is important to always check carefully to determine if a particular work is really in the public domain before assuming you may use it without permission.
The following are examples of public domain works:
The first sale doctrine allows people who legally purchase copyrighted works to sell or dispose of them as they see fit, with some exceptions. For example, the doctrine lets you loan a legally purchased book or CD to a friend. Libraries have long relied on the first sale doctrine to lend materials to their patrons.
The first sale doctrine was enacted during a time when most copyrighted works were produced in physical formats that made such works difficult to reproduce on a large scale. Many protected works including books are now produced digitally, however, copyright owners have lobbied Congress for new laws that some feel may undermine the "first sale" doctrine.
The first sale doctrine was created when copyrighted works were mostly physical objects that were hard to copy. Today, many protected works, such as books, are digital, and copyright holders have asked Congress for new laws that could weaken the first sale doctrine.
First sale issues are intertwined with licensing and Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) issues. To learn more about the DMCA, please see the DCMA tab or visit the American Library Association's Introduction to the DMCA.
Passed in 1998, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) was intended to address the added complications that the growing world of digital content creation, access, and distribution brought to the question of copyright. While copyright laws and decisions had represented a fairly balanced position between content creator/owner and content user up unto this point, the DMCA ultimately shifted favor closer to the creators and owners of digital content in response to the ease with which digital materials could be shared and transmitted.
Key elements of the DMCA and updates since 1998 include:
A major takeaway of the DMCA in an academic setting is that the liability for legal action resides with the individual who posts, shares, or transmits copyrighted materials without permission. Institutions, including ISPs, are protected from liability posed by their users as long as they take steps to address any digital copyright infringement that they are made aware of by copyright holders.
17 USCS Section 110 of the U.S. Copyright Law has multiple parts that are relevant to copyright compliance in academic settings. The first part of Section 110 provides specific exemptions for certain performances and displays of copyrighted works.
Key points from Section 110(1) include:
The Technology, Education, and Copyright Harmonization (TEACH) Act is the second part of 17 USCS Section 110. This section of US copyright law was created to facilitate the use of copyrighted materials in digital and distance education.
Key points to the TEACH Act (Section 110(2)) include:
Definition
A sound recording is a fixed work of musical, spoken, or other sounds. Examples include a track on an album or a podcast episode.
Dual Copyrights
For sound recordings, there are actually two separate copyrights that must be considered:
The dual copyright element means that duration of copyright for the recording and the composition will be different. The copyright date of the underlying composition begins the date it is first published, while the date of copyright for a recording is the date the recording was made. And the duration of both are different as well. See the Public Domain page for more information.
The Rights of Sound Recording Copyright
The copyright holder of a sound recording has the exclusive right to:
Consider these two examples:
Example A: A faculty member records their lecture notes. They hold copyright over both the underlying composition (their script or written notes) and each recording they make. They can:
Example B: A faculty member assigns students to record a piece of public domain sheet music (see UASC's Wildin Collection). Since the copyright for the sheet music has expired, no permission is needed to use it. Once students record their versions, they hold the copyright on their recordings (their specific performances) and can control how these recordings are used, either retaining their rights or allowing them to be used, remixed, and distributed by others.
Portions of this guide were derived from the Copyright Guide at Butler University Libraries.