Copyright Resources: Using Copyrighted Works in Scholarship

The following resources are good starting points for evaluating 3rd party use, determining the copyright status of a work, and potential use, including fair use. Additional resources may be found in adjacent boxes.

• Copyright Decision Tree: This interactive slide show is designed to walk users through the steps to determine whether they are using copyright-protected materials in compliance with U.S. copyright law, including fair use.
• A Framework for Analyzing any U.S. Copyright Problem:  This simplified resource, similar to the Copyright Decision Tree above, is designed to assist potential users of 3rd party content to determine if and how they are using copyright-protected materials in compliance with U.S. copyright law and/or fair use through the application of five simple questions.
• Fair Use Checklist (Cornell University) OR Fair Use Checklist (Columbia University): These checklists may help users consider whether their use of copyrighted material falls may be considered fair according to U.S. copyright law in context of four statutory factors.
• Digital Copyright Slider (American Library Association):  The ALA's Digital Copyright Slider is a tool for determining the copyright status of a work, including whether a work is copyright-protected or in the public domain. Additional resources can be found on the ALA's Copyright Tools page.

Copyright and plagiarism are distinct but related issues. Whereas copyright establishes legal rights of intellectual property ownership, plagiarism is a professional and ethical concern that is not itself illegal, though it can have significant consequences. According to Wikipedia, "Plagiarism is the representation of another author's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work." Avoiding plagiarism is generally accomplished by providing accurate attribution or citation, giving credit where it is due. Attribution is not required or even mentioned in copyright law, though it is generally recognized as a good practice. It's possible to violate copyright without plagiarizing (such as by reproducing a protected work with attribution), and to plagiarize without violating copyright law (such as by reproducing public domain or unprotected work without attribution). Authors should be aware of both concerns and careful to avoid violations.

More information and resources about plagiarism are available on the College Readiness Skills and Resources Plagiarism page.

One strategy for avoiding potentially complicated copyright problems is to identify content that may be freely used, either because it's in the public domain (no copyright) or because it is licensed for reuse.

• Use Google to find reusable web content: Google enables searching by "Usage rights" from the Advanced Search and Advanced Image Search pages, which can reveal images and other web content that may be reused. Terms of use, such as a requirement of attribution, may apply.
• Creative Commons (CC): Creative Commons is a non-profit organization devoted to expanding the depth and breadth of creative works available for others to legally build upon and to share through the maintenance and application of open licenses. CC-licensed content is reusable, subject to requirements for attribution (BY), limits on commercial use (NC), derivative licensing (SA), and ability to create and share derivatives (ND). See "Introduction to Creative Commons" (video, 15 min.) for a brief overview.
• OpenVerse (formerly CC Search) is a tool that allows openly licensed and public domain images to be discovered and used.
• CAA Image Sources and Rights Clearance Agencies: The College Art Association maintains this list of sources of free images suitable for use in scholarly publications and teaching, in addition to prominent fee-based image banks (such as Getty Images).
• Open Image Collections: The Open Image Collections is a collection of digital image sources suitable for teaching, learning, and research. Sources include museum digital collections, stock images, photo archives, design resources and image search engines.

The "public domain" refers to "creative works that are not protected by copyright law -- either because they are no longer covered by the limited terms of copyright law, because their creators did not comply with various formal requirements in the past, or because their creators deliberately donated to the public the rights that they might have asserted." Because works in the public domain are not protected, they can be freely reused and adapted for any otherwise legal purpose. Determining if a work is protected or not can be complicated. In the U.S., January 1st of each year is Public Domain Day, when another year of content becomes part of the public domain. For example, on January 1, 2025, works published in the U.S. in 1929 were no longer protected by copyright. On January 1, 2026, works published in the U.S. in 1930 will lose copyright protection, and so on. The Center for the Study of the Public Domain at Duke University is an excellent resource for information and updates about the public domain.

Fair use is an important provision in U.S. copyright law that balances the rights of users with those of content creators/owners. Fair use is incredibly common; examples include quotations and thumbnail images. Fair use determinations are based on four factors: the purpose and character of the use, the nature of the copyrighted work, the amount and substantiality of the portion taken, and the effect of the use on the potential market for the work. The resources below may be useful when considering fair use for scholarly purposes:

• Public Statement of Library Copyright Specialists: Fair Use and Emergency Remote Teaching & Research (signed or endorsed by Dean of KU Libraries Kevin Smith and KU Libraries copyright experts)
• U.S. Copyright Office Fair Use Index: The goal of the Fair Use Index is to make the principles and application of fair use more accessible and understandable by presenting a searchable database of court opinions. This site also includes summaries of the four factors involved in a fair use determination.
• A Framework for Analyzing any U.S. Copyright Problem:  This simplified resource is designed to assist potential users of 3rd party content to determine if and how they are using copyright-protected materials in compliance with U.S. copyright law and/or fair use through the application of five simple questions.
• Fair Use Checklist (Cornell University) OR Fair Use Checklist (Columbia University): These checklists may help users consider whether their use of copyrighted material falls may be considered fair according to U.S. copyright law in context of the four factors outlined above.
• Codes of Best Practices in Fair Use: The Center for Media and Social Impact at American University  has collaborated with a growing number of disciplinary communities to create codes of best practices for fair use within those disciplines, including visual art, documentary films, and media studies, among others. Most guides address primary production, secondary analysis, and teaching.
• Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Open Educational Resources:  "This document is intended to support authors, teachers, professors, librarians, and all open educators in evaluating when and how they can incorporate third party copyright materials into Open Educational Resources to meet their pedagogical goals."