Professors and students regularly make decisions related to copyrighted works. Can a student show a video as part of a class presentation? Can a professor copy an article from a journal and distribute it to a class via Blackboard? How much text from an article can a student quote before it becomes copyright infringement? This guide was created as a starting place for those who want to learn more about copyright.
United States Copyright Office: "Copyright is a form of protection provided 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".
Missouri State University has a copyright policy in the Policy Library and on the Provost's web page. This subject guide provides links to practical tools that can help you decide how to use materials in your setting.
"Fair use" allows copyrighted materials to be used under certain circumstances. You can try to determine whether your use of materials is fair use by using the following four factors, as set forth by Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act.
Sadly, about the only way to know for sure that your use is fair use is to convince someone to sue you, and then get the court to rule in your favor. That said, there are ways to minimize the risk when using copyrighted material. See the links to the left of this page for practical resources that can help you determine whether your use falls under fair us.