What is copyright?

Note: The collections of Davidson College Library are purchased primarily for the use of Davidson College students, faculty, and staff.

Why does copyright matter?

• Copyright infringement is against the law.
• The creator wouldn't get paid for the sale of his/her work if it were copied instead of purchased.
• Violating copyright is unethical, very much like stealing.  For instance, if you, as a musician, recorded a CD and 20 of your friends copied it into their iTunes® Libraries, you would have lost 20 sales.

What types of works are copyrighted?

• Literary works
• Musical works, including accompanying lyrics
• Dramatic works, including any accompanying music
• Pantomime and choreography
• Pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works
• Motion pictures and other audiovisual works
• Sound recordings
• Architectural works
• Web pages

You are not infringing upon copyright if:

• You are the copyright owner.
• You have express permission from the copyright owner.
• You have an implied license.
• The work you are using is in the public domain.
• What you are doing is considered "fair use."
• The work you are using is an idea, fact, or data.

A few things you'll want to remember about copyright and intellectual property:

• It is not safe to assume that you are free to use any material without a copyright notice.  Creators are no longer required to place a notice on a work for it to be copyrighted.
• It is fine to show films during class, either for presentations or teaching purposes.  One must obtain public performance rights to show them at activities unrelated to specific classes for which students are registered.  The Davidson College Library does, however, have quite a few films which were purchased with public performance rights.  Labels indicating “Public Performance Rights” are on the containers.
• Using hyperlinks from one Web site to another is legal.  Crediting the source isn’t a must but a common courtesy to the creator.
• "Crediting the source is not a defense to copyright infringement.  Not crediting the source is plagiarism." -- Steven J. McDonald, General Counsel, Rhode Island School of Design

What is Fair Use?

Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976 addresses the concept of “fair use” which recognizes the needs of scholars and students to use copyrighted materials for educational purposes.  The four factors of Fair Use are:

1. the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
2. the nature of the copyrighted work;
3. the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
4. the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work. The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.

You may learn more about these four factors by clicking the following hyperlinks:

• Stanford University Copyright and Fair Use           
• Columbia University Libraries/Information Services Fair Use Checklist
• A Fair(y) Use Tale: A Short Film by Eric Faden

Works in the public domain are not restricted by copyright and do not require a license or fee to use.  They may enter the public domain automatically as they are not copyrightable, are designated as such by the creator, or the copyright term may expire and the work becomes part of the public domain.

• Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States
• Bound By Law?  Tales from the Public Domain: by day a filmmaker, by night she fought for fair use!

• University of Texas System Copyright Crash Course
• Search copyright information
  Works registered and documents recorded by the U.S. Copyright Office since January 1, 1978
• How To Not Get Sued for File Sharing (And Other Ideas To Avoid Being Treated Like a Criminal)
• Know Your Copy Rights: Using Copyrighted Works in Academic Settings
• Tool for interpreting Section 108 of the Copyright Act / Section 108 of the U.S. Copyright Code: Reproductions by Libraries or Archives for their Users, for Replacement, or for Preservation

Course Reserves

The purpose of the library reserve system is to provide limited access to course-related materials through time restricted loan periods. The electronic reserves system is an extension of the traditional course reserve model, for educational purposes only. The library complies with U.S. Copyright Law by considering and balancing the four Fair Use factors, for each item placed on reserve, if there is no license in place governing access to the material.  The seeking of copyright permission, if needed, is the responsibility of the faculty member.  The Davidson College Library reserves the right to refuse a request to place material on print or electronic reserve if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the request would violate copyright law.

Course Reserve Item Form

For more information on library reserves, contact Jean Coates, Assistant Director, Access and Acquisitions, at 704.894.2332.

Davidson College Copyright Statement - Compliance with Laws and Acts
       
Davidson College Intellectual Property Policy

Please note that library staff members cannot give legal advice. If you need legal advice, you should contact an intellectual property attorney.
For general information and guidance, you may contact Kelly Sink, Intellectual Property Librarian, at 704-894-2152.