Copyright Resources

Using Copyrighted Materials

• UNC Libraries and Copyright
• • Reserves: Undergraduate Library, Health Sciences Library
    These pages outline the basic copyright considerations for putting materials on reserve at both the Undergraduate Library and the Health Sciences Library.
  • Photocopying
    The guidelines on photocopying copyrighted materials are from the UNC System policy manual. They are designed to help faculty and staff understand the legal issues involved with photocopying material.
  • Scanning (at Davis Library)
    This is the copyright notification provided to those people interested in scanning items at Davis Library.
• Fair Use:
• • UNC System Primer on Copyright Use
    This primer was created to expand on the UNC System Copyright Use and Ownership Policy. It also provides examples to help users apply copyright policy and to find more information.
  • UNC System Fair Use Worksheet
    This worksheet has been designed to help faculty in the UNC System make fair use decisions. This page also links to the UNC System Primer on Copyright Use (see above) for more information.
• Getting Permission:
  The University's policy on copyright states that the University is "committed to complying with all applicable laws regarding copyrights. As an institution devoted to the creation, discovery and dissemination of knowledge, the University supports the responsible, good faith exercise of full fair use rights..." The University also provides some resources for complying with fair use rights, such as the Library's e-reserves service. However, should members of the University community need assistance in securing copyright permissions, some resources are:
• • Copyright Clearance Center (CCC)
    Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) is a company that acts as an intermediary between copyright owners and potential users, providing licensing and other ways of compliance for businesses and institutions. CCC represents more than 9,600 publishers and manages the rights to over 1.75 million works. (from CCC's Corporate Overview)
  • • Academic Permissions Service
      CCC's Academic Permissions Service is designed for people looking to use photocopied materials for educational purposes.
• Music and Multimedia at UNC
• • UNC-Chapel Hill Data Network Acceptable Use Policy
    Enacted in April of 1998, this policy clearly outlines what is considered "acceptable use" of the networks and systems at UNC-Chapel Hill. Included in this document are warnings against using any system for commercial gain, mass emails ("spam") and other harassing and illegal behavior.
  • Copyright and Acceptable Use on the University Network: A Primer
    This document outlines, in further detail, more information regarding appropriate and legal use of UNC-Chapel Hill's data systems and networks. Included in the listed information is an acceptable use of MP3 files along with potential consequences for abuse and mistreatment of the system.
  • University Procedure on Dealing with Possible Infringement of Intellectual Property Rights
    This website outlines possible consequences for copyright infringement when it happens within the University systems. Contact information is provided at the bottom if questions or concerns remain.
• Distance Education and the TEACH (Technology, Education, and Copyright Harmonization) Act
• • The TEACH Toolkit - From NCSU
    This website is designed to help people understand the TEACH act, and what it means for copyright issues and distance education. The Toolkit includes the text of the TEACH act, as well as some resources to help users implement the TEACH act.
  • The TEACH Act - A Chart comparing old section 110(2) to new section 110(2)
    This chart, designed by Laura Gasaway, outlines the changes between the original section 110(2) of the United States Code and the revised section 110(2) (now the TEACH act), which was amended in November, 2002.
• Commercialization at UNC
• • Patents, Technology and Inventions
    [From the website]: The Office of Technology Development (OTD), in support of the university's mission to encourage innovation and disseminate knowledge, serves the university and the public by licensing discoveries developed by faculty, students and staff. OTD also assists faculty in obtaining research support from corporate sponsors.
  • Trademark and Licensing
    This website offers information about how to trademark images, logos and verbiage. This organization offers many varieties of this information specifically tailored to the user (for students groups, departments, individuals, etc.).

Plagiarism

• UNC-CH Honor Code
  This is the section of the Honor Code directly related to plagiarism, but the whole Honor Code is available at: http://instrument.unc.edu/
• UNC Library Tutorial on Information Ethics
  This tutorial is designed to introduce students and other library patrons to some of the issues surrounding copyright, plagiarism, and fair use.
• UNC Library Tutorial on Citing Information
  This tutorial is mostly focused on showing students how to properly cite information, but it also contains some explanation as to why citation is an important part of scholarship, so that you do not plagiarize.
• The Writing Center's handout on plagiarism
  This handout is designed to give students some basic information about plagiarism, and how to avoid it.
• How to check your students papers (plagiarismchecker.com - a free service)
  This is a website that allows you to enter a line or two of text and see if it has been taken from another source. It is a free service, geared toward teachers. There are also paid services available for checking for plagiarism: Turnitin; My Drop Box; SurfWax
• Plagiarism.org
  This is an online resource for people interested in learning more about plagiarism and the internet. It also advertises Turnitin, which is a paid plagiarism checking service that incorporates the technologies discussed and created by Plagiarism.org.
• NC State Law on "Assisting, etc., in obtaining academic credit by fraudulent means"
  This is the text of NC State Statute §14-118.2, which outlines the scholarly activities, including plagiarism, that are against the law in North Carolina.
• Is plagiarism copyright infringement?
  • Plagiarism & the Honor Code: Objectives
    This is the part of the Information Ethics Tutorial (see above) that is specifically concerned with plagiarism.
  • "Defenses to Copyright Infringement" by Laura Gasaway
    This webpage is an outline of possible defenses to an accusation of copyright infringement.

Copyright Law

• US Copyright Office
  This is the official website of the US Copyright Office. Resources available here include the text of Title 17 and other legislation relating to copyright, information on registering your work, and news about changes and developments in copyright.
• Title 17 of the United States Code
  US Copyright Law is located within Title 17 of the United States Code. The Copyright Act of 1976 is contained here, as well as other provisions and supplements. The full text of the code is also available at: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode17/usc_sup_01_17_10_1.html
• Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)
  This PDF is a summary of the Act, created by the US Copyright Office. It provides an overview of each of the Act's five Titles. These Titles include: "WIPO Copyright and Performances and Phonograms Treaties Implementation Act of 1998" (Title I); "Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act" (Title II); "Computer Maintenance Competition Assurance Act" (Title III); "Vessel Hull Design Protection Act" (Title V); and six various provisions in Title IV.

What Copyright Protects

• What is protected
  Copyright protects an author's original work that is captured in a tangible medium of expression. Films, photographs, novels, plays, architectural drawings, software and original selections and arrangements of otherwise uncopyrighted materal (such as an anthology of public domain poetry) are examples of works protected by copyright.
• What isn't protected
  Some materials, such as general ideas, facts and federal government documents are not protected by copyright. Many other items are not protected by copyright because the term of protection has expired. Any work first published in the United States before 1923 is no longer protected by copyright and may be used freely as part of the public domain.
• ARL's "Campus Copyright Rights and Responsibilites: A Basic Guide to Policy Considerations"
  This guide was developed by the Association of American Universities, the Association of Research Libraries, the Assocation of American University Presses, and the Association of American Publishers. The document was designed to incorporate the concerns and interests of each of these groups and present a unified document about copyright in higher education institutions.
• Know Your Copy Rights
  This is a new website designed for librarians designing educational programs for users of copyrighted materials in academic institutions. It was designed by the Association of Research Libraries in conjunction with Peggy Hoon.

Public Domain and Copyright Duration

• When Works Pass Into the Public Domain by Laura Gasaway
  This website outlines the laws regarding information and materials that are considered "public domain." Materials in the public domain may be used freely by anyone; specifics about terms of copyright and copyright expiration can be found on this page.
• Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States by Peter B. Hirtle
  This website offers more information about the public domain and copyright terms, expirations and conditions.
• Stanford's Copyright Renewal Database
  Stanford has made this searchable database for copyright renewals received by the US Copyright Office between 1950 and 1993 for books published in the US between 1923 and 1963. This project has built on the work done by Project Gutenberg to identify the 1950-1977 renewals. This period is important because it deals with the books that are not automatically in the public domain (those published before 1923) or were not automatically renewed by the 1976 Copyright Act (those published after 1963). This database includes ONLY US Class A (book) renewals.
• Writers, Artists and Their Copyright Holders (WATCH)
  Writers, Artists and Their Copyright Holders (WATCH) is an online database containing the names and addresses of copyright holders or contact persons for authors and artists. This database was compiled by the University of Texas at Austin and Reading University (UK), with the objective of providing information to scholars and researchers about whom to contact for permission to publish text and images that have copyright protection.
• Firms Out of Business (FOB)
  Firms Out of Business (FOB) is an online database containing the names and addresses of copyright holders or contact persons for out-of-business printing and publishing firms, magazines, literary agencies, etc., whose archives are housed in North America and the United Kingdom. This database was also compiled by The University of Texas at Austin and Reading University (UK), as a companion to WATCH.

Other Outside Resources

• Open Access and Open Archives
  This is the Health Science Library's page on Open Access and Open Archives. It provides information about and links to a variety of Open Access resources, as well as some guidelines for publishing material in Open Access journals.
• Creative Commons
  [From the website]: Creative Commons provides free tools that let authors, scientists, artists, and educators easily mark their creative work with the freedoms they want it to carry. You can use CC to change your copyright terms from "All Rights Reserved" to "Some Rights Reserved." We're a nonprofit organization. Everything we do - including the software we create - is free.
• GNU General Public License
  This website offers information about free software licenses, specifically those found under the GNU General Public License. It is intended for software programmers and developers who may want their work to remain free to for all to use (including ancillary materials and documentation).
• Handbook on Copyright and Related Issues for Libraries
  This handbook, put out by eIFL.net (Electronic Information For Libraries), is a topical guide to the legal issues faced by libraries involving copyright. There is also information about the policy aspects that need to be considered by libraries. It is sponsored by the UNESCO Information for All Programme.
• Copying from Internet
  This page is geared toward students who are concerned about being caught plagiarizing. It provides information and resources. It was created by plagiarismchecker.com.
• Current Copyright Readings
  A bibliography/blog of current articles on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the TEACH act and other copyright issues. Maintained by M. Claire Stewart, Head, Digital Media Services, Northwestern University Library.
• Copyright Website
  Copyright Website is owned by Lexbid LLC. This site presents a lot of useful information on copyright and has been active since 1995. It is visually appealing and easy to navigate.
• Nolo.com's page on copyright
  Nolo.com is a company that specializes in providing legal information to the general public. Their page on Copyright Registration and Information provides a "plain english" version of the benefits of copyright registration and also links to other articles and useful materials on the topic.
• Copyright Advisory Network
  This is an ALA website designed to help librarians learn more about copyright. It has forums, a blog, and resources, to help librarians with their copyright problems. The blog is available at: http://www.librarycopyright.net/wordpress/index.php


• The Five Step Approach for Analyzing Copyright Use Questions
  NC State has created a list of five simple questions to ask before using a potentially copyrighted work. It is particularly intended for instructors using materials for face-to-face classroom teaching, but covers other scenarios as well. The webpage explains the five questions with examples.