Open Educational Resources (OER): Creative Commons License

What is Creative Commons?

"Creative Commons is a nonprofit organization that works to increase the amount of creativity (cultural, educational, and scientific content) available on "the commons" -the body of work that is available to the public for free and legal sharing, use, reporposing , and remixing." Adapted from Creative Commons handout.

What is copyright?

For more resources on copyright, check our copyright research guide

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 Copyright covers both published and unpublished works.

• Copyright calculator: "Want to know if a specific work is in the public domain? (Or, if it's not, when it will be?) Give the copyright term calculator a spin. You'll need to provide some information about the work — for example, whether it's published or unpublished. But the calculator keeps track of which US copyright act applies to the work in question, so you don't have to."
• Exception for instructor in U.S Copyright Law: " The U.S. Copyright Code provides for the educational use of copyrighted material without the permission of the copyright holder under certain conditions. To find out if your intended use meets the requirements set out in the law, use this free online tool."

Fair use:

"Broadly speaking, fair use is the the copying of copyrighted material done for a limited and "transformative" purposes, such as to critic, comment, or parody and can be done without the permission of the copyright owner, therefore it protects the Fair Use user from copyright infringement." Adapted from Standard University Libraries

• Fair use (Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright code) provides parameters for the legal use of copyrighted material without the permission of the copyright holder.
• The law mandates that four factors be considered in determining whether or not a use is fair. These are: [link to law]
  1. The purpose and character of the use, including whether the use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
  2. The nature of the copyrighted work;
  3. The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the work as a whole; and
  4. The effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

Fair Use Evaluator: This tool "helps you better understand how to determine the "fairness" of a use under the U.S. Copyright Code."

Otherwise stated, terms adapted from: http://librarycopyright.net/resources/fairuse/toc.php

More Fair Use Resources: 

• Columbia University Libraries/ Information Services: Copyright and Advisory Office https://copyright.columbia.edu/
• Fair Use and TEACH ACT checklist http://www.kcc.edu/FacultyStaff/copyright/Documents/copyrightchecklist.pdf
• Know your copyright from Association of Research Libraries http://www.knowyourcopyrights.org/
• Stanford Copyright and Fair Use-Summary of Fair use cases https://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/fair-use/cases
• The  Fair Use Network http://fairusenetwork.com
• UCCopyright: A resource for the University of California Community College http://copyright.universityofcalifornia.edu/usingcopyrightedworks.
• Visual Resources Association-Intellectual Property Rights Resources http://vraweb.org/resources/ipr-and-copyright/

Public Domain:

 "The public domain refers to works (i) no longer protected by copyright (that is, where the copyright has expired), and (ii) belonging to categories of works not protected by copyright law." Copyright Clearance Center 

Public Domain Slider:  This tool lets you know which works are in the public domain by selecting the dates. 

Copyright tools:

• Exception for instructor in U.S Copyright Law: " The U.S. Copyright Code provides for the educational use of copyrighted material without the permission of the copyright holder under certain conditions. To find out if your intended use meets the requirements set out in the law, use this free online tool."

• Copyright calculator: "Want to know if a specific work is in the public domain? (Or, if it's not, when it will be?) Give the copyright term calculator a spin. You'll need to provide some information about the work — for example, whether it's published or unpublished. But the calculator keeps track of which US copyright act applies to the work in question, so you don't have to."
• Public Domain Slider:  This tool lets you know which works are in the public domain by selecting the dates. 
• Section 108 Spinner: Check what your library can reproduce under copyright.
• Fair Use Evaluator: This tool "helps you better understand how to determine the "fairness" of a use under the U.S. Copyright Code"