Copyright, Fair Use, and Ownership (07/18/2012)

• “Who owns the work I create?”
• “How do I know if a work is copyrighted?”
• “What is fair use and how can I tell when it applies?”
• “Can I use someone else’s work to make a new work of my own?”

These are some of the questions that come up when students, faculty, and staff create text, video, or images for instruction or research.  Copyright questions come up in all disciplines, from the humanities to the sciences to the arts, and in all media.   Shannon Baird, Rights Management Specialist with the Copyright Resources Center in the University Libraries, presented answers to these questions and more in a Digital Union workshop on Wednesday.  You can view Shannon’s resources for the workshop below.

• Copyright Basics and Fair Use presentation (PDF)
• Fair Use Checklist

On the Copyright Resources  Center website (go.osu.edu/copyright), there is a tab titled Resources, where you can find information about using materials in online and face-to-face courses.  Under the Educational Copyright heading, you’ll find the TEACH Act toolkit and a tool from the ALA which will be particularly helpful for instructors who are creating online courses.