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Tag: copyright

Feb 18 2022

Fair Use Week (February 21-25)

Posted on February 18, 2022February 20, 2022 by Mahrya Burnett

Fair Use Week logo 

During the week of February 21, we celebrate Fair Dealing/Fair Use Week, which uplifts the Fair Use Doctrine and the educational and creative expression that it allows. Fair use of copyrighted information is a right that is guaranteed in the U.S. Code and allows us to use copyrighted material within the contexts of education, parody, accessibility, and reporting.

There are some misconceptions about fair use, however. Not every educational activity is covered under the doctrine, and some cases for fair use are stronger than others. There are four factors that must be considered when determining whether you are covered under fair use:

  • the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes
  • the nature of the copyrighted work. Is it more factual or more creative?
  • the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole
  • the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

In recent years, courts have determined that the four factors should not be weighted equally in all cases, and a “checklist” method of determining fair use cannot accurately be applied across different cases and different types of use. This means that each time you wish to use material under the Fair Use Doctrine, you should conduct a four-factor analysis and document your rationale. Below are some resources that can help you walk through the process of conducting an analysis for fair use.

  • Measuring Fair Use: The Four Factors: This guide from Stanford Libraries walks you through how to conduct a fair use analysis.
  • More Information on Fair Use: This page from the U.S. Copyright Office provides information on fair use and how to conduct a fair use analysis.
  • Fair Use Evaluator: Use this tool to document your fair use analysis.
  • UI Libraries Copyright Guide: Learn more about fair use, author rights, seeking permissions, open licensing, and other topics.

 

 

Posted in Main Library, Scholarly Communication, Scholarly ImpactTagged copyright, Fair Use
Jan 23 2022

What’s New in the Public Domain in 2022?

Posted on January 23, 2022January 23, 2022 by Anne Bassett
COURTESY: THE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF PUBLIC DOMAIN AT DUKE LAW SCHOOL

Now, you have even more works—and for the first time, sound recordings—available to be freely digitized, read, and used as the basis for new work.

On Jan. 1, 2022, debut novels by Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner, A.A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh, and about 400,000 sound recordings from before 1926 were among the many books, recordings, movies, and other creative works that entered the public domain.

So, why is the public domain important? Permission is no longer needed to copy or use the works, which is an essential opportunity to foster learning, innovation, and the creation of new works. 

Here are some places to check out the newly available creative works from 1926 available in the public domain:

  • Hathi Trust Digital Library – These materials from the Google Books Project have been digitized for years, but as of January 1, the full-text is now available to everyone.
  • Center for the Study of Public Domain – Duke’s Public Domain Day page has some great selected highlights.
  • The Public Domain Review – This journal specializes in mining the public domain.

Interested in finding out more about U.S. copyright law and how to determine a work’s copyright status? The Scholarly Impact Department helps faculty work through complex copyright issues, such as what can be used in the classroom, how to retain your rights as an author, and how to apply Creative Commons licensing. Feel free to send an email to mahrya-burnett@uiowa.edu to set up a consultation. You might also try these excellent copyright resources:

  • Cornell University Library Copyright Information Center – This handy reference chart is great for a quick check on copyright status.
  • Digital Copyright Slider – This Flash-based slider provides copyright status for works, depending on when they were published and whether copyright was renewed.
  • UI Libraries Copyright Guide – This guide provides the basics on copyright issues, such as Fair Use, seeking permissions, author rights, and licensing.
Posted in Did You Know, News, Scholarly Communication, Scholarly ImpactTagged copyright, public domain
Jan 03 2019

2019: The Year of Public Domain

Posted on January 3, 2019January 3, 2019 by Mahrya Burnett
Photo Credit: Center for the Study of the Public Domain

For the first time in 20 years, artistic works copyrighted in the U.S. will enter the public domain, opening up a trove of material published during 1923 to be freely digitized, read, and used as the basis for new works. But why is this happening now? After all, shouldn’t copyrights expire and works enter into the public domain every year? One would think so, but since the late 1970s, U.S. copyright law has been subject to a series of extensions and retroactive patches that have tied up and confused the status of copyrighted works produced during the mid-20th century. (Duke’s Center for the Study of the Public Domain has an excellent breakdown of recent copyright history here. The Atlantic also published a comprehensive article on this issue, which can be found here.) The result has been that nothing has entered the public domain since 1998. But January 1, 2019 marks a pause in the era of the shrinking public domain. If no legislative action is taken to the contrary, each year, we will now have a new set of books, recordings, movies, and other creative works to enjoy freely.

Here are some places to check out the creative works of 1923:

  • Hathi Trust Digital Library – These materials from the Google Books Project have been digitized for years, but as of January 1, the full-text is now available to everyone.
  • Center for the Study of Public Domain – Duke’s Public Domain Day page has some great selected highlights.
  • Public Domain Review – This journal specializes in mining the public domain. Here are their international picks for this year.

Interested in finding out more about U.S. copyright law and how to determine a work’s copyright status? As part of the library’s new Scholarly Impact Department, part of my job is to help faculty work through complex copyright issues, such as what can be used in the classroom, how to retain your rights as an author, and how to apply Creative Commons licensing.  Feel free to send me an email at mahrya-burnett@uiowa.edu to set up a consultation. You might also try these excellent copyright resources:

  • Cornell University Library Copyright Information Center – This handy reference chart is great for a quick check on copyright status.
  • Digital Copyright Slider – This Flash-based slider provides copyright status for works, depending on when they were published and whether copyright was renewed.
  • UI Libraries Copyright Guide – This guide provides the basics on copyright issues, such as Fair Use, seeking permissions, author rights, and licensing

 

Posted in Main Library, Scholarly Communication, Scholarly ImpactTagged copyright, public domain

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