The information on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice.

Copyright (U.S. Code Title 17) is one form of intellectual property rights guaranteed by the United States government. It applies to the creators of certain literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and other intellectual works. Once an eligible work has been expressed in a tangible form, its creator automatically holds exclusive rights to:

• create copies and derivative works,
• distribute copies of the work, and
• display or perform the work publicly.

For detail on these rights and what kinds of works are (and aren’t) eligible for copyright protection, check out the U.S. Copyright Office’s Copyright Basics (PDF). Students and employees must comply with these copyright laws, as well as with the VSC Copyright Policy (416).

U.S. copyright law also provides exceptions to those exclusive rights for certain uses. Two that address educational contexts are fair use (U.S. Code Title 17, Section 107) and the TEACH Act (U.S. Code Title 17, Section 110).

The TEACH Act details specific exceptions for online teaching situations with clear conditions and limitations. Fair use doctrine offers broader possibilities, but is more complicated to apply. Since only a court can make a ruling on whether a use is fair, we can't know for sure what will count. See the panels below for more details on these exceptions and analyzing a possible fair use case.

Photo attribution: Doctrine of fair use by Nick Youngson is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Best Practices

In general, there are some approaches you can use to help avoid risking a copyright violation:

• Link rather than upload
  • If the copyrighted material is already available online, post a link in Canvas for your students to go directly to the source. Linking out bypasses copyright issues because you aren’t creating a copy of the material.
• Use library- or open-licensed content
  • Materials in library databases are licensed already, so consult those licenses (or ask a librarian) for more information on reusing licensed content in Canvas.
  • Open licenses, like Creative Commons, allow for much more flexible use rights. Ask a librarian where to look for open access resources in your discipline.
• Get permission
  • Copyright holders can grant others permission to use their work under any terms they choose, so you can always reach out to an author or publisher about your intended use. This is especially important if you are using a resource for more than one semester.

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