June 18, 2014 Copyright and Digital Scholarship Session for the Emory Center for Digital Scholarship's HBCU Summer Institute for Digital Scholarship - https://scholarblogs.emory.edu/hbcuinstitute/

1. Copyright & Digital
Scholarship
Melanie T. Kowalski
Copyright & Scholarly Communications Librarian
June 18, 2014

2. Introductions!
• Who are you?
• In which department/discipline do you
study/work?
• What brings you here today?
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3. By the end of this session you should…
• Understand the basics of copyright, including the
fair use exemption
• Know the difference between copyright
permissions and archival “use” permissions
• Be able to seek copyright permission for
materials you’d like to use in your digital projects
• Know where to find rights-free and/or open
content to use in your digital projects
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4. Copyright – The Basics
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5. Copyright – Why bother?
“The Congress shall have power…To promote the
progress of science and useful arts, by securing
for limited times to authors and inventors the
exclusive right to their respective writings and
discoveries”
-U.S. Constitution, Article 1, Section 8
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6. What are the rights?
 The exclusive rights of the copyright owner are:
 To reproduce the work
 To prepare derivative works
 To distribute copies of the work
 To publicly perform the work
 To publicly display the work directly or by
telecommunication
 To publicly perform a sound recording by digital
means
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7. What does Copyright Protect?
• Original works of authorship fixed in a tangible
medium of expression
– Literary works & Dramatic works
– Musical works & Sound recordings
– Pictorial, graphic and sculptural works
– Motion pictures and other audiovisual works
– Pantomimes and other choreographic works
– Architectural works
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8. What isn’t Protected by Copyright?
• Works not protected by copyright include:
– Things too short, brief, or common to be original
– Things too factual to be original
– Things you can patent
– Works lacking a modicum of originality
– Works created by the U.S. Federal government
– Things that are “useful”
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9. Duration of Copyright
• Copyright law grants exclusive rights to
copyright owners and exemptions for users (ex.
Fair Use)
– Term of copyright is currently life of the author + 70
years
– Copyright notice ( © ) is not required
– When copyright expires, work enters the public
domain
• NOTE: Term of protection for items created
and/or published in the 20th century varies
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10. Isn’t Citing Enough?
• Scholarly uses of copyrighted works are not
exempt from copyright law
– Citation = Ethical Construct
• Accurate citations help you avoid plagiarism
• Upholds intellectual honesty
• Gives credit for another’s ideas
– Copyright = Legal Construct
• Concerned with control of the expression of idea
• Accurate citations are not a defense to copyright infringement
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11. Who actually owns the copyright?
• Protection begins @ moment of creation
• Ownership lies originally with the creator
• Ownership is often transferred to publishers, business partners,
heirs, or other entities
• Who owns?
– Archival materials?
– For faculty or student generated content?
– Your work reports?
– That video on YouTube?

12. Fair Use in Scholarly Publication
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13. “It’s educational, so it’s a fair use.”
Right??
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14. Copyright Exemption - Fair Use
 Balancing test, comprised of four factors:
 Purpose and Character
 Nature of the copyright work
 Amount of the use
 Effect on the market or potential market for the
copyrighted work
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15. The Permissions Process
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16. Types of Permission
• Copyright Permission
– Legal requirement to avoid infringement liability
• Archival “Use” or “Publication” Permissions
– Institutional requirement
– Outlines citation/attribution requirements
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17. Copyright Permission – The Bare Bones
Basics
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18. You typically need copyright permission for. .
.
• Long quotations
• Reproduced publications
• Unpublished materials
• Poetry and Music Lyrics
• Dialogue from a play, screenplay, broadcast, or novel
• Music
• Video
• Graphic or pictorial works (graphs, charts and images)
• Computer Software
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19. How to Obtain Permission
• Identify the copyright owner
• Contact the copyright owner and include:
– Exact material to be used
– Intended use of the material
– Form of publication – print, online, or both?
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20. How to Obtain Permission
• Retain a written response (if contacted by
telephone, follow up in writing by e-mail or letter)
• If you don’t get a response or permission is
denied:
– Consider using an alternative work
– Alter your planned use and re-evaluate for fair use
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21. Orphan Works
• Orphan Work : a copyrighted work for which the
copyright owner cannot be identified or
contacted
• Treat these works as if you were denied
permission from a rights holder
– Consider using an alternative work
– Alter your planned use and re-evaluate for fair use
• Note: No statutory protections exist for the use
of Orphan Works at this time
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22. When you don’t need permission…
• Work is in the public domain
– Government document
– Published in US prior to 1923 or in a foreign country
prior to 1909
– Peter Hirtle’s Chart -
http://copyright.cornell.edu/resources/publicdomain.cfm
• Creative Commons licenses
– Authors grant permission for certain uses by using a
CC logo (see www.creativecommons.org)
– CC Searching
• http://search.creativecommons.org/
• Google Image – advanced search settings allow CC search 22

23. Codes of Best Practices
• Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Academic and
Research Libraries
• Documentary Filmmakers’ Statement of Best
Practices in Fair Use
• Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media
Literacy Education
• Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Scholarly
Research in Communication
• Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Online Video
• Orphan Works: Statement of Best Practices
• Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Poetry 23

24. Resources for help
• Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for
U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums by Peter
Hirtle
• Permissions, A Survival Guide: Blunt Talk about Art
as Intellectual Property by Susan M. Bielstein
• Copyright Law for Librarians and Educators by
Kenneth D. Crews
• Is it in the Public Domain? : A Handbook for
Evaluating the Copyright Status of a Work Created
in the United States Between January 1, 1923 and
December 31, 1977 by the Berkeley Law
Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic
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