Copyright Information

Copying, modifying, displaying, performing or distributing another's work may be fair use but far from clear.  Hopefully, the following Web sites will give you a better understanding and provide effective guidance for the use of others' works today.

Public Domain Works

A public domain work is a creative work that is not protected by copyright and which may be freely used by everyone. Works enter the public domain in several ways:

• When the copyright expires
• If a person has placed it in the public domain
• If it does not qualify for copyright protection

Works in the public domain may be copied, republished, or otherwise used without worrying about copyright infringement.  Here are two very useful charts showing "when materials pass into the public domain". Lolly Gasaway of the University of North Carolina did one.  The other one is provided courtesy of Peter B. Hirtle from the Cornell Copyright Information Center.

The following Web sites give information about getting permission and using copyrighted works of others.

Copyright Clearance Center

Getting Permission

Guidelines for Instructional Use of Copyrighted Electronic and Multimedia Materials