Questions?
If you have any questions, or if you would like more information, please contact:
Ellen Phillips - Director, Open Educational Resources & Intellectual Property, e.phillips@snhu.edu (603.652.1900)
Take Responsibility
This guide contains resources for learning more about copyright. The information given here is for general information use only. It is not legal advice.
SNHU faculty, staff and students are liable for any infringements they make on the rights of copyright owners.
Avoiding copyright infringement is the responsibility of the individual user. Being ignorant of the law will not protect you against a claim of infringement.
Disclaimer
SNHU has provided the resources on this page and throughout this guide to help individuals learn more about copyright laws and issues. However, SNHU cannot be responsible for the accuracy or completeness of third party links. This guide is intended to be educational in nature and is not meant to constitute legal advice.
License Information
All original content in this guide is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 This link opens in a new window International License. 3rd-party content including, but not limited to images and linked items, are subject to their own license terms.
Copyright Overview
Understanding U.S. Copyright law can be challenging. The laws can be complex especially in a digital environment. Exemptions exist for classroom teaching, libraries, and online learning, fair use analyses are still an option, and obtaining permission (and sometimes paying a fee) are also options. Copyright is a set of protections afforded to the author of an original work. Under the 1976 Copyright Act, the copyright owner has the exclusive right to reproduce, adapt, distribute, publicly perform, and publicly display the work.
This section of the OER Guide is intended to help members of the SNHU community understand and comply with copyright law. It is not intended to be comprehensive or to serve as legal advice.
SNHU Copyright Policy
U.S. Copyright Law
The following web resources have been compiled by a librarian and may be useful in your research but don't forget to always evaluate any websites you use!
- U.S. Copyright Law This link opens in a new windowTitle 17 of the U.S. Code, also called the U.S. Copyright Law, governs the use of copyrighted works. This link provides the text of the law from the United States Copyright Office web site.
- Digital Millennium Copyright Act This link opens in a new windowThe 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act (H.R. 2281, 1998) deals with digital media not covered in Title 17. It was passed by the U.S. Congress on October 12, 1998 in response to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) 1996 copyright treaty.
- Congress.gov This link opens in a new windowLegislative information from the United States Senate and House of Representatives. A good place to keep track of potential changes to the copyright laws such as issues related to Orphan Works and internet radio.
More Copyright Resources
- Copyright Basics This link opens in a new windowThe Copyright Society of the USA
- Understanding Copyright, Public Domain, and Fair Use (Video) This link opens in a new windowWatch this video for a clear and concise explanation about copyright, public domain, and fair use from GCFLearnFree.org.
- Copyright History Timeline This link opens in a new windowThis is a timeline of copyright law throughout history. It is maintained and updated by the Association of Research Libraries.
- Know Your Copy Rights [pdf] This link opens in a new windowA chart from the Association of Research Libraries highlights situations when you can use works in your teaching without permission.
The Copyright Book by Call Number: Available OnlineISBN: 9780262027397Publication Date: 2014An accessible and comprehensive guide to copyright law, updated to include new developments in infringement, fair use, and the impact of digital technology.
