Copyright laws are laws that protect the works and the rights of the authors. The laws determine if someone's works can be legally copies, shared, performed, reused, or modified.
But wait, if something is in the public domain, does this mean that you still have to cite? Of course you do! You always need to cite your sources, silly!
Creative Commons icons as shown above indicate what a person can and cannot do with their design.
This section was made with the help of:
Library 160: Introduction to College-Level Research Copyright © 2021 by Iowa State University Library Instruction Services is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.
Copyright and the law affects you as a student because you are constantly taking in copyrighted material everyday. This is in your social media platforms, your coursework, your music, your podcasts, your leisure books, your shows, your everything! You cannot get away from it.
As a student doing academic work, you will need to cite someone else's work. You will need to know what you can share, copy, or even modify. You will need to know how to discern what is in public domain or not. For the most part, citing work properly helps you out of this pickle. However! When it comes to modifying copyrighted work, you will need to know if that license allows for that and then cite accordingly.
As a student making creative endeavors, you will need to know that what you make is copyrighted and you have a right how your works can be used. To learn more about copyright law, go to the US Copyright Office webpage.
This section was made with the help of:
Library 160: Introduction to College-Level Research Copyright © 2021 by Iowa State University Library Instruction Services is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.
When in doubt, cite it out! If you are not sure if something is copyrighted, it most likely is. If you are using something for a paper, cite it! If you are using a picture or a graph for a project, cite it! If you are modifying something that is copyrighted, make sure the license allows for that. And- of course- then cite!
Why does fair use exist if copyright is such a big deal?
Copyright is important, of course. The reason fair use is in play is because it makes it easier for educational users to use copyrighted materials for readings and research. This also makes it easier for other creators to reference another piece of work. Fair use is determined by:
Purpose and character means that the original work is being:
Nature of copyright compares artistic work versus factual work.
Amount of the portion of the work in relation to the original work means that only part of the work can be under the fair use or the parts that are not the "most" important parts.
Effect on the original's value cannot be negative nor can it be mistaken for the original or overshadow.
Library 160: Introduction to College-Level Research Copyright © 2021 by Iowa State University Library Instruction Services is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.
Since copyright infringement means using something without permission, wouldn't that be the same as plagiarism? It is, but the outcomes are a little different.
Infringement infers that the perpetrator used the copyrighted material without permission which holds a legal consequences. They would also need to take down the copyrighted material if the material had been posted elsewhere and fees and compensation could occur.
Plagiarism, itself, isn't a crime, but it is still unethical. This is why we say to check the copyright and to cite whenever possible. This will keep you out of hot water. Especially
Using copyrighted materials ethically for a class is OK, but permission is needed if the same materials are used outside of the classroom.
We keep saying you can cite copyright. Of course you can! It's a book, a movie, a picture, a graph....just about everything!
You cite as you normally do. Here is our webpage on citing in papers.
