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Entrepreneurship

A Note About Copyright

Along with trademarks, patents, and trade secrets, copyright is an example of intellectual property (IP). It is a form of protection by the laws of the United States to the authors of the "original works of authorship" from the time the works are created in a fixed form.

Copyright - Investopedia
Kenton, W. (2024, August 11). Copyright: Definition, types, and how it works. Investopedia. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/copyright.asp

What works are protected?

  • Literary works
  • Musical works, including any accompanying words
  • Dramatic works, including any accompanying music
  • Pantomimes and choreographic works
  • Pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works
  • Motion pictures and other audiovisual works
  • Sound recordings, which are works that result in from the fixation of a series of musical, spoken, or other sounds
  • Architectural works

From Copyright Basics, Circular 1 from the U.S. Copyright Office. Available here: http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ01.pdf

NOTE: When finding images to use in a project here at CSB+SJU, check with your instructor to see what their expectations are for individual assignments. If you plan to share your work with an audience beyond your classroom you should follow the legal and ethical guidelines carefully! That might include:

For additional information on finding and using images ethically online, visit Fine Arts Librarian Bonnie's guide.

"What is Copyright?" from the U.S. Copyright Office

Fair Use

The Doctrine of Fair Use

Fair use generally applies to nonprofit, educational purposes that do not affect the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work. When an information source is copyrighted, you should cite it if you quote or paraphrase it in your paper or speech.

Fair Use allows use of copyrighted materials without permission under certain circumstances, such as:

  • Research & Scholarship
  • Non-profit education
  • Parody & Satire
  • News reporting
  • Criticism & commentary

There are four factors of Fair Use:

  1. Purpose of the use (Is it for non-profit or commercial use?)
  2. Nature of the copyrighted material (Does it encourage creative expression?)
  3. Amount used (How much are you using?)
  4. Effect on the market of the original  (Does your  use impact the copyright owner's original work, both existing and future?

Fair use is:

  • A right (not just a privilege) according to an “equitable rule of reason.”
  • Not an infringement of copyright
  • A social bargain that offers exclusive rights in copyrighted works to encourage artists to produce culture

Is your use of a work TRANSFORMATIVE?
Transformative work does not have to be a literal transformation of the work – You can put the work in a NEW CONTEXT where it performs a NEW FUNCTION

  • Use public domain reference material whenever possible or obtain permission from the owner if copyrighted
  • Try to avoid using the reference material in its entirety – use pieces
  • Use the reference material to guide you someplace original – don't just cut and paste
  • Make sure your use of the reference is sufficiently transformative
     

Open Licenses

Open licenses enable creators to proactively grant certain rights in advance, while still retaining copyright

Creative Commons (CC) is an example of open licenses.
CC provides a set of copyright licenses and tools that can be adapted on varying levels set by the creator

What are Creative Commons Licenses? Video (1:57)
CC currently has 6 levels that define:

  • Attribution
  • Derivative work
  • Licensing share terms 
  • Non-commercial or commercial use
  • https://creativecommons.org/about/cclicenses/ 

CC license use
CC = Creative Commons
BY = creator (who it is BY)
SA = Share Alike license terms
NC = Non-Commercial only
ND = No Derivatives

Open Access allows free access of published material through digital repositories. The rights vary between sources.

Copyright Resources