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Scholarly Communication

OU Libraries guides scholars in matters relating to scholarly communication, which we define as the formal and informal ways research and scholarly works are created, evaluated, disseminated, preserved, used, and transformed.

Is this Work Protected by Copyright?

How do you determine if the work is protected by copyright?

  • Does the work fall into one of the categories listed above for protected works?
  • Is it still protected by copyright or is it in the public domain?

Works created on or after January 1, 1978, are protected for a term of the life of the author plus 70 years. Works created and published prior to 1978 may be protected for different lengths of time.

This differs if the work was created by a corporate author which uses a different formula.

For more information regarding the length of a copyright, please see the copyright duration chart.

The website www.copyright.gov is a source to check the copyright status of works. Renewed works will be registered here, but not all renewal records are available electronically.

Yes, the work I want to use is protected by copyright.
If a work is covered by copyright you still may be able to use the work by evaluating your use and taking into account the fair use exception. This is a section of the law that provides for limited use of copyrighted works for educational and research purposes without obtaining permission from the work’s owner for the purpose of criticism, comment, news, reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research. It is a set of broad guidelines rather than explicit rules

Learn more about Fair Use. 

No, the work is not protected.
If the work is NOT covered by copyright or has an alternative license applied,such as a Creative Commons license, then you may use it but would still want to cite the work properly.

It's unclear.
Many works fall into the unknown category or are an "orphaned work" - A work in which copyright exists, but where the copyright owner is either unknown or cannot be located. Fair use can still be applied to these works but any use of the material outside the bounds of fair use is a bit more complicated. Seek copyright guidance.

 

Requesting Permission

If you plan to use copyrighted work in a publication you may need/ or wish to request permission from the copyright owner.

The Copyright Clearance Center is the global rights broker for books, journals, blogs, movies and more.  Search for and obtain permission to use and share content.