Copyright: What You Need to Know

Copyright is an issue regularly encountered by students and faculty at academic institutions, whether they realize it or not. It is an important consideration for libraries, especially in the areas of Interlibrary Loan/Document Delivery, Electronic Reserves, and Preservation, including Digitization efforts. Indeed, many library users face copyright issues when they make photocopies of library material. The purpose of this guide is to cover aspects of copyright as it  applies to educational and scholarly activities.

Copyright...

Protects "original works of authorship, including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works fixed in any tangible means of expression, now known or later developed, from which they can be perceived, reproduced or otherwise communicated directly or with the aid of a machine or device."

Excerpt from U.S. Copyright Act, U.S. Code, Title 17, Chapter 1, Sect. 102