Disclaimer
These pages were created to provide basic copyright information and are not a substitute for legal advice.
Creative Commons licenses are free copyright licenses that creators can use to indicate how they'd like their work to be used. Creators can choose from a set of licenses with varying permissions, from the most open license (CC0) to the least open license (CC BY-NC-ND). The license most commonly used by educators tends to be the CC BY license (can distribute, remix, and adapt so long as you give credit).
See list and image below for the range of licenses. Click on each license name for a complete description of the terms & uses of each CC license.
For more information about this subject Click Here
Terms of use: Content created by Creative Commons, originally published at http://creativecommons.org/examples, under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
This short animation video explains the CC licenses.
Creative Commons Kiwi by Creative Commons Aotearoa New Zealand is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 New Zealand (CC BY) license.
Legal use of copyrighted materials is a very important consideration for educators. Whether you want to share an article with your students, provide a "course pack" of assorted materials as a textbook replacement, use an Open "OER" Textbook, or need quality images for a PowerPoint presentation, the question of what's acceptable use can be confusing. See the table below to help you determine how to integrate various materials into your course.
Is the work in the Public Domain? |
|
Is the work open licensed? |
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Is the work online? |
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Does your intended use of the work fall under "fair use"? |
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Asking for permission |
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Paying copyright holder for use |
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Adapted from: "Open Textbooks, OER & Other Open or Free Resources for Faculty: Copyright & Fair Use." Kirkwood Community College.
A provision of the U.S. Copyright law, Section 107, that provides for the limited use or reproduction of copyrighted content without seeking permission from the rights holder.
Fair use is appropriate for teaching, research, scholarship, criticism or commentary, but it may also be used when creating a news reports, blogs, mashups, presentations, art, and music.
However, fair use is not a blatant exception, i.e., all educational purposes might not be deemed fair use, and there are some commercial projects where it can be applied.
When determining whether or a use of copyrighted content is fair, it is important to weigh the following four factors:
1. The purpose and character of the use
2. The nature of the copyrighted work
3. Amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the entire work
4. Effect of the use upon the potential market value
Fair use is a section of the U.S. Copyright Act, but people are sometimes unsure of how to apply the four factors. The Columbia University Copyright Advisory Office provides a comprehensive explanation of fair use and how to apply the four factors.
Favoring Fair Use | Opposing Fair Use |
Teaching, Research, Scholarship |
Commercial activity |
Criticism, Comment, News Reporting |
Profiting from the use |
Transformative or productive use
(changes the work for new utility)
|
Entertainment |
Restricted access
(to students or other appropriate group)
|
Bad Faith Behavior |
Parody |
Denying credit to original author |
Favoring Fair Use | Opposing Fair Use |
Published work |
Unpublished work |
Factual or nonfiction based |
Highly creative work (art, music, novels, films, plays) |
Important to meet favored educational objectives |
Fiction |
Favoring Fair Use | Opposing Fair Use |
Small Quantity |
Unpublished Work |
Portion use is not central or significant |
Portion used is central or “heart” of the work, .i.e.,
the best or most recognizable part
|
Amount is appropriate for favored educational purpose |
Favoring Fair Use | Opposing Fair Use |
User owns lawfully purchased or acquired copy of original work |
Could replace sale of copyrighted work, i.e., numerous copies made |
One or few copies made |
Significantly impairs market or potential market for copyrighted work or derivative |
No significant effect on the market or potential market for copyrighted work |
Reasonable available licensing mechanism for use of the copyrighted work |
No similar product marketed by the copyright holder |
Affordable permission available for using work |
Lack of licensing mechanism, i.e., there is no platform available to license
or provide access to the content
|
Made accessible via Web or public forum |
To qualify for this exemption, you must:
The Classroom Use Exemption does not apply apply online and it doesn't apply to interactions that are not in-person. The Teach Act does for Distance Education what the Classroom Use Exemption does for in person – but it is not something UIC can use as U of I does not have a policy on the use of copyrighted materials.
Fair Use Resources
This Initiative is responsible for the management, policy development and Implementation for the following special projects:
Zero Textbook Cost Degree