Copyright & Fair Use

What is Copyright? Why do I need to bother with it?

Copyright is the exclusive right to copy. It is a form of intellectual property law which provides protection by the laws of the United States (title 17, U.S. Code) to the authors of "original works of authorship," including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. Someone who is the owner of a copyrighted work has the right to exclude any other person from reproducing, preparing derivative works, distributing, performing, displaying, or using the copyrighted work. Copyright does not protect facts, ideas, systems, or methods of operation, although it may protect the way these things are expressed. When you use someone else’s work in your own paper, you must cite that source. If you don’t attribute the information properly, you are plagiarizing the material.

The United States Copyright Office web site which includes definitions, frequently asked questions, and basic information about copyright.

Fair use is a copyright principle based on the belief that the public is entitled to freely use portions of copyrighted materials for purposes of commentary and criticism. There are no legal guidelines listing a specific number of words, a certain number of musical notes, or a percentage of a work. Whether a particular use qualifies as fair use depends on several circumstances, including the following factors:

• the purpose and character of your use
• the nature of the copyrighted work
• the amount and substantiality of the portion taken, and
• the effect of the use upon the potential market.

You can find an explanation of fair use at the United States Copyright Office and at Stanford University Libraries′ website.