Carol Hernandez, Senior Instructional Designer
The pandemic forced many, if not all instructors, to move their courses online or to a hybrid format. In that shift, questions of copyright have come up. In order to help instructors navigate through these questions, the SBU Librarians have created a newly updated Copyright Guide, a comprehensive resource that includes information specific to online teaching and learning.
Start with the copyright basics page to get a foundational understanding of U.S. copyright law, what is protected, and how. Copyright is a form of intellectual property law that protects original works of literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works such as poetry, novels, movies, songs, computer software, and architecture (U.S. Copyright Office, n.d.). Copyright protects both published and unpublished works. One or more authors or creators of the work hold the copyright except in cases where there is a “work-for-hire” agreement or a “collective work” where the authorship is transferred.
Instructors may want to know more about how and when they may legally and ethically use copyrighted works as part of their course materials without obtaining permission from the copyright holder. There are circumstances when this can be done under Fair Use. These include teaching, research, criticism, commentary, and news reporting. However, it is important to do a self-check to assess whether your intended use of the material falls under Fair Use. Consider these four factors:
- What is the purpose and character of the use?
- What is the nature of the original work?
- What is the amount of the work you plan to use as compared to the work as a whole?
- What is the effect of using the work or part of the work when on the protected work’s market or value?
What if you must ask for permission to use a copyrighted work? This guide walks you through the process. Keep in mind that you might not need to ask for permission if:
- You are providing a permalink to the licensed content through the Stony Brook University Libraries’ databases.
- The material you are using is licensed under Creative Commons for that specific use.
- The material is in the public domain.
- The specific use is covered by the fair use doctrine of the U.S. Copyright Law.
If you are teaching online, you may want to become familiar with the “Technology, Education and Copyright Harmonization Act” (the TEACH Act) of 2002. TEACH is significant because it explicitly addresses the terms and conditions by which accredited, nonprofit educational institutions in the United States are able to use copyright protected materials for distance education, which includes websites and digital forms, without needing permission from the copyright owner or the payment of royalties.
What if you are already following copyright laws for your in-person course? Do you need to do something different for your online course? Fortunately, there is not too much difference in the way that copyright guidelines are applied. So as long as an instructor was following copyright laws for their face-to-face course materials, they will likely be in good shape for online course materials as well.
What is not covered by copyright law that I may be using online? Copyright does not protect names, titles, slogans, logos, ideas, concepts, systems or methods of doing something. For those items, you may want to look at trademark law, which is also a form of intellectual property law (Prakash, 2020).
The SBU Libraries will continue to update the copyright research guide, so it is a good idea to bookmark the site and visit it often. If you have any questions, you can send them to: library_copyright@stonybrook.edu
References
Prakash, P. (2020). What’s the difference between copyright and trademark? Copyright vs. trademark–learn the difference between these two types of property protection and what they cover. Retrieved from https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/small-business/trademark-vs-copyright
U.S. Copyright Office. (n.d.). What does copyright protect? Retrieved from https://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-protect.html
