If you’re planning to use somebody else’s work in your course build or facilitation, you’ve come to the right place. This page outlines some basic information you should know and provides you with links to additional resources so that you can use other people’s work legally and responsibly.
Examples of Copyrighted Works
In the US and other countries, copyright protects the rights of content creators to determine how their works are copied, shared, and adapted. Here are some common examples of things you might use that are copyrighted:
- Books, articles, newspapers, journals, and other text.
- Images such as photographs, illustrations, paintings, maps, architectural drawings, and typefaces.
- Videos, film, and other moving images.
- Audio recordings, music scores, and song lyrics.
- Some databases and certain kinds of data.
- Software and decompiled code.
- Sculptures.
Common Uses of Copyrighted Works
Here are some common ways you might use copyrighted material in online building and instruction:
- Including a cartoon or meme in your slides to lighten the mood.
- Using a word problem or made-up data from a textbook.
- Using a database of images to train a machine learning algorithm.
- Downloading a video from YouTube and using clips in your video lecture.
- Sharing a PDF with your students.
- Sharing an example of a student project from last year.
Example of an image created by a Mines employee.
Credit: Colorado School of Mines
Times When You Might Not Need Permission
In most cases, you’ll need permission before you use somebody else’s copyrighted work in a Mines Online course. However, there are a few cases where you might not need permission:
- The work was created by a Mines employee as part of their job responsibilities at Mines.
- Linking to an external site.
- Using a deeplink to a Library resource that requires Mines authentication.
- Referring to or merely mentioning something.
- Having students use their own copy to follow along with.
- If something is in the Public Domain.
Example of a public domain image created by an employee of the US Federal Government.
Credit: NASA, 1951.
Public Domain Status
Public Domain status is legally defined and refers to things that can’t be copyrighted. According to current law, something becomes public domain if it:
- Is factual information that can’t be copyrighted (Copyright Basics from US Copyright Office).
- Is too old or the copyright expired.
- The age at which things expires has changed over time. Works registered after 1976 expire 70 years after the death of the author, or 120 years after publication if the owner is a company.
- The Copyright Slider Tool is a helpful way to quickly tell if age is a relevant factor.
- Was created by an employee of the US Federal Government as part of their work.
- Note: this does not apply to contractors, works shared with/licensed to the Federal Government, or works created by employees outside of their job.
- This also doesn’t apply to other governments. For more information about state governments and Public Domain, try the State Copyright Resource Center.
- Was registered incorrectly.
- This is extremely rare, but a famous example is the movie Night of the Living Dead (Plagiarism Today article).
- It was dedicated to the Public Domain.
- Sometimes, people are really generous with their work.
- Creative Commons offers a license framework for Public Domain dedication, CC0.
Example of a photo we have permission to use through a stock license.
Credit: Shutterstock.
Attributions
Finally, don’t forget to credit the authors and owners of the works you used. Typically, authors/owners will include attribution or credit requirements in the terms, and it’s important to follow those terms to the letter. Failing to properly attribute someone could lead to legal challenges.
If the work is Public Domain, you’ll typically have more flexibility in how you write the attribution – but you should still include one that at least identifies the author of the work and a link back to the original source.
When All Else Fails…
If you’re having trouble getting permission consider talking to your OLED, the Mines Online copyright specialist, or a scholarly communications librarian. We can help you to brainstorm other ideas, work through licensing questions, or even help you with creating a resource in-house (when applicable).
Example of a Public Domain Image.
Credit: Nathan Sherman, Works Progress Administration, 1936.
Documenting Your Permissions
You should always maintain documentation about your copyright research and permissions. At Mines Online, we have a form available for instructors to use during building and teaching to make it easy to track. Please talk to your OLED or the Mines Online copyright specialist if you need help or have questions about documentation.
Third-Party Documentation Form – best for documenting one or two uses.
Bulk Version (authentication required) – for use if you’d like to submit all your documetation at once, or if you’re using multiple works from a single author/source.
Help and Additional Questions
Copyright is a complicated topic, and it’s natural to have questions. If you have questions about Mines Online, specifically, please reach out to your OLED or the copyright specialist.
Resources and Recommended Readings
US Code 17 (Copyright Law)
All of current US copyright law is found in US Code 17.
Mines IP Policy
Mines IP Policy primarily clarifies ownership of works developed at Mines.
Mines Infringement Policy
Mines Infringement Policy outlines Mines’ plans to comply with Federal law around copyright infringement and illegal file sharing. This links to guidelines and procedures such as for takedown notices.
Copyright Effort Estimator
Not sure whether using a third-party material is worth the effort of research, licensing, and following terms? Try using the effort estimator (Mines Credentials required) to get a sense of your potential time-committment to using something from an outside source.
Copyright Office
Official website of the Copyright Office, part of the Library of Congress. Includes resources and access to records.
Creative Commons
Website of Creative Commons. Includes information on licensing for content creators and users as well as a searchable library of items licensed through ‘the Commons.’
Is it Protected by Copyright? Slider Tool
If you’re unsure whether something is protected by copyright, this slider tool can be a good place to start.
Permissions Resources (rights holder contact information)
This list for finding and/or obtaining permission from rights holders from the University of Virginia Library helps with finding the contact information of artists, publishers, and rights management companies, mostly in the arts and humanities.
State Copyright Resource Center
Harvard’s State Copyright Resource Center provides information and resources for further research into individual state policies on public domain statuses of works created by State employees.
Stanford Copyright Renewal Database
If you’re looking for copyright renewal records from 1926-1963, Stanford’s Copyright Renewal Database is a great place to look.
Fans said the future of ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ was at risk. So they went to battle
When the publishers of Dungeons & Dragons updated their license terms, it set off a copyright fight with fans.
History of Copyright (video)
Video from the Copyright Office on the history of copyright.
I just got a bill for a Creative Commons photo we used. What gives?
Student Press Law Center explores how some people try to take advantage of Creative Commons and copyright law.
Is AI the Death of IP?
This provocative New Yorker article explores some of the copyright concerns raised by recent developments in artificial intelligence.
Phantom Artists Stole Their Songs. Now They Can’t get Them Back.
Two lawyers in a band upload their new album to Spotify, but things don’t go the way they planned when their music is automatically flagged for copyright infringement.
Photographer Wins Copyright Lawsuit After Website Used His Creative Commons Image
This recent court case highlights the risk of depending on Fair Use defenses and the danger of failing to correctly attribute the owner/creator of a copyrighted work.
Vanilla Ice Got Sued by Queen & David Bowie for Sampling ‘Under Pressure’ So He Bought It
Video interview with musical artist Vanilla Ice and his perspective on how the industry has changed.
We Asked OpenAI to Create the Joker. It Generated a Copyrighted Image.
New York Times article on generative AI and copyright infringement.
Wiley Guide to Copyright and Plagiarism
An overview of copyright and plagiarism geared towards instructors from one of the world’s largest publishers.