Copyright Basics

Having a basic understanding of how the copyright law works is helpful as you consider using the copyrighted works of others. Keep in mind the perspective of both the owner and use of copyrighted material, the golden rule of copyright, “if you were the copyright owner, would you see the proposed use as acceptable use and not expect to be asked for permission?”

Merely owning a book, CD, DVD, VHS, poster, painting, or other product does not give you the right to make copies, distribute copies, make derivatives or publicly perform or display that material. You have only purchased the right to own your personal physical copy. Making a copy to sell, for a friend, or for further distribution or for various other uses may not be within your rights.

Key Copyright Principles

Public Domain

When copyright protection expires, the work enters the public domain. This means anyone can freely use it without seeking permission or paying a fee.

Copyright Term and Public Domain in the United States

Fair Use

The law permits some uses of materials protected by copyright when a reasoned analysis concludes the use qualifies for Fair Use. Use the Fair Use Pyramid Chart to help determine if portions of the copyrighted work can be used without permission.

Name and Likeness Guidelines

Due to the many legal nuances in privacy laws, it is usually advisable to obtain a Talent Release from any individual who would be recognized in a photograph, recording, or publication.

More Copyright Guidelines

For more information on issues surrounding copyright, visit the BYU Copyright Licensing Office's knowledgebase.

Copyright Knowledgebase

COPYRIGHT FAQ

Copyright is protection provided by law ( 17 U.S.C. §102 ) to the authors/creators of “original works of authorship,” expressed in a tangible medium. This protection is available for original works from the moment they are created in a tangible medium, and it applies whether they are published, unpublished, or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office.

Copyright protection is available for an author/creator if three requirements are met:

1. Fixation—the work exists in a medium from which the author’s expression can be read, seen, or heard, either directly or by the aid of a machine.

2. Originality—the work owes its origin and independent creation to an author.

3. Minimal creativity—the work is the product of at least a minimal level of creativity.
Most original works are protected by copyright. The U.S. Copyright law places copyrightable works in the following categories:

  • 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
  • Architectural works
You should view these categories broadly. For example, computer programs and most compilations may be categorized and registered as literary works; maps and architectural plans may be categorized and registered as pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works.
Section 106 of the U.S. Copyright Law gives the owner of a copyright the exclusive rights to do and to authorize others to do the following:

  • Reproduce the work
  • Prepare derivative works based upon the work
  • Distribute copies of the work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental lease, or lending
  • Perform the work publicly
  • Display the copyrighted work publicly
  • Perform the work publicly by means of digital audio transmission, in the case of sound recordings
  • Certain rights of attribution and integrity, in the case of works of visual art
The rights of the copyright owner are, in some instances, limited as several sections of the U.S. Copyright Law have established limitations on these rights. However, unless one or more of the limitations (exceptions) apply, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner before using copyrighted works in any of the listed ways.

The copyright owner is the person or entity who owns the exclusive rights mentioned above. The copyright owner could be the author, the publisher, or another person or entity having legal ownership of one or more of the exclusive rights described above.
Consult the Copyright Genie , a series of questions and answers, developed by Michael Brewer, ALA Office for Information Technology Policy.

Unprotected Materials

Copyright protection does not extend to the following, therefore permission is not required for you to use them:

  1. Works for which the copyright has expired.
  2. Works federal government employees produced within the scope of their employment.
  3. Works clearly and explicitly donated to the public domain.
  4. Works that have not been fixed in a tangible form of expression (for example, choreographic works that have not been notated or recorded, or spontaneous speeches or performances that have not been written or recorded).
  5. Titles, names, short phrases, and slogans; familiar symbols or designs; mere variations of typographic ornamentation, lettering, or coloring; mere listings of ingredients or contents.
  6. Ideas, procedures, methods, systems, processes, concepts, principles, discoveries, or devices, as distinguished from a description, explanation, or illustration.
  7. Works consisting entirely of information that is common property and contains no original authorship (for example, standard calendars, height and weight charts, tape measures and rulers, and lists or tables taken from public documents or other common sources).
Teaching and Copyright: THE TEACH ACT
Instructors and students may perform or display a copyrighted work, without seeking permission of the copyright owner, in the course of face-to-face teaching activities at a nonprofit educational institution, in a classroom or similar place devoted to instruction.

Section 110 (2) was revised by enactment of The Technology, Education, and Copyright Harmonization Act (TEACH) which was signed into law on November 2, 2002. TEACH allows the digital transmission of performances and displays of copyrighted works, without having to obtain prior permission from the copyright owner, as part of synchronous or asynchronous distance education applications if the following requirements are met:

WHO

  1. Accredited, nonprofit educational institution
  2. Controlled by or under the actual supervision of the instructor

WHAT

  1. Performances of nondramatic literary works or musical works
  2. Performances of reasonable portions of any other work, or
  3. Display of any other work in an amount comparable to that typically displayed in a live classroom setting

WHEN

  1. As an integral part of a class session, and
  2. As part of systematic mediated instructional activities, and
  3. Directly related and of material assistance to the teaching content

HOW

Transmission made solely for and reception limited to (as technologically feasible) students enrolled in the course, and technological measures that reasonably prevent:

  1. Retention in accessible form for a class session and
  2. Unauthorized further dissemination in accessible form, and
  3. No interference with copyright holder’s technological measures that prevent such retention and dissemination

BUT NOT

  1. Digital education works (Works produced or marketed primarily for performance/display as part of mediated instructional activities transmitted via digital networks) or
  2. Unlawful copies (copies you know or reasonably should know were not lawfully made or acquired)
Converting analog to digital is permissible when:

  1. No digital version is available to the institution, or
  2. The available digital version is technologically protected to prevent TEACH uses

  1. Disseminate copyright policies
  2. Provide accurate information about copyright
  3. Promote copyright compliance
  4. Provide notice to students that course materials may be protected by copyright
Instructors who want to incorporate works into digital transmissions for instructional purposes applying TEACH should:

  1. Avoid use of commercial works that are sold or licensed for purposes of delivery of digital content for distance education purposes.
  2. Avoid use of pirated works, or works where you otherwise have reason to know the copy was not lawfully made.
  3. Generally, limit use of works to an amount and duration comparable to what would be displayed or performed in a physical classroom setting. In other words, TEACH does not authorize the digital transmission of textbooks or coursepacks to students.
  4. Supervise the digital performance or display, make it an integral part of a class session, or make it part of a systematic mediated instructional activity. In other words, the faculty should interactively use the copyrighted work as part of a class assignment in the distance education course. It should not be an entertainment add-on or passive background/optional reading.
  5. Use tools provided by the college to limit access to the works to students enrolled in the course, to prevent downstream copying by those students, and to prevent the students from retaining the works for longer than a “class session.”
  6. Notify the students that the works may be subject to copyright protection and that they may not violate the legal rights of the copyright holder.

Know the Rules

Review the Ensign College copyright and intellectual property policies here.

Copyright Policy Intellectual Property Policy Infringement Policy