Understanding Copyright

Copyright Protections

A copyright owner has the rights to do the following things, under U.S. copyright law:

  • Make copies of the work
  • Distribute copies of the work (by selling, renting, lending, or giving it away)
  • Perform or display the work publicly
  • Make derivative works, like translations, adaptations, and reinterpretations

A copyright owner can give away some or all of those rights to other people or entities, by transferring ownership or granting licenses.

(17 U.S.C. § 106)

What Copyright Protects

The copyright rights outlined above only apply to original works that fit into one of these eight categories:

  • literary works
  • musical works, including accompanying words
  • dramatic works, including accompanying music
  • pantomimes and choreographic works
  • pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works
  • motion pictures and other audiovisual works
  • sound recordings
  • architectural works

(17 U.S.C. § 102(a))

What Copyright Doesn't Protect

Copyright does not apply to:

  • Procedures, processes, systems, methods of operation. These may qualify for protection and ownership under patent law, and patent and copyright do not usually overlap.
  • Ideas, concepts, principles, or discoveries. Broadly speaking, these are not ownable under any form of U.S. intellectual property law. 
  • Titles, names, short phrases and slogans; familiar symbols or designs, mere variations of typographic ornamentation, lettering, mere listings of ingredients or contents (32 CFR § 202.1) These are considered to fail the requirement of originality.
  • Other unoriginal or unfixed works


More info on what copyright doesn’t do, from the U.S. Copyright Office:

( 17 U.S.C. § 102(b))

How to Get Copyright

Any work that qualifies for copyright is automatically protected from the moment it is first recorded in some physical or digital format.  Publication is not a requirement for copyright protection, and even formal registration is purely optional. There is also no requirement to include a copyright notice, date, the “circled c” © symbol, or any other information on the work in order to own a copyright.

How Long Copyrights Last

For works created today, copyright protection starts automatically as soon as a work is created, and lasts for 70 years after the death of the creator.

Because copyright terms have been changed several times, the term lengths for older works vary widely, based on many factors.

Using Copyrighted Material

Fair Use

Fair use is a right outlined in title 17, section 107, U.S. Code, that allows for the reproduction of copyright materials without permission from the copyright holder in certain circumstances. Whether you are within the boundaries of fair use depends on the facts of your particular situation. To determine whether you are within fair use, the law calls for a balanced application of these four factors:

  1. The purpose and character of the use (e.g., use is commercial in nature or for nonprofit educational purpose);
  2. The nature of the copyrighted work;
  3. The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
  4. The effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

To determine if reproduction falls under Fair Use, check out these resources:

 

Public Domain

The public domain is the collection of all expressive works for which no one owns the copyright—or to look at it another way, the collection of works which everyone owns. Works within the public domain may be used freely by anyone, for any purpose, without copyright permission from anyone because no one owns the exclusive rights to these works.

A work is in the public domain if its term of copyright protection is over, or if it never met the requirements for copyright protection in the first place.

 

Creative Commons

Creative Commons is a nonprofit organization that created a set of simple, easy-to-understand copyright licenses.

Creative Commons licenses do two things:

  1. They allow creators to easily share their work, giving permission for anyone to use their work in certain ways
  2. They allow everyone to find work that is free to use without needing to ask for individual permission

As long as you obey the terms of the license attached to the work, you can use Creative Commons licensed material without fear of inadvertently infringing an author or creators copyright. You can learn more about Creative Commons licenses at creativecommons.org.

 

Other Rights of Use

Copyrights are subject to many limitations and exceptions that permit the public to make certain uses of copyrighted works. “Fair use” is probably the best known and most important of these exceptions, but the U.S. Copyright Act includes more than a dozen statutory exceptions. The following relate to classroom instruction and libraries:

  • Displays and Performances in Face-to-Face Teaching: Under this exception (from Section 110(1)), educators may make performances and displays of all types of works in a classroom or similar place at most educational institutions. It allows instructors and students to:
  • Online and Distance Teaching: Section 110(2) of Title 17 U.S. Code, commonly called the TEACH Act, identifies specific exceptions to copyright for distance and online teaching. 
  • Library Copying: Section 108 permits libraries and archives to make copies of materials for preservation and security, to give copies to users for their private study or research, or to send copies through interlibrary loan.
  • First Sale Doctrine: This exception in Section 109(a) states that once a particular copy of a copyrighted work has been sold, the copyright owner controls only the first sale, and cannot control further selling, lending, or renting of that copy of the work. 
  • Public Displays: This statute from Section 109(c) allows the owner of a lawfully made copy of a work to display it to the public at the place where the work is located, such as a museum or library.

 

Obtaining Permission

Permission from copyright holders is often needed when writing theses, dissertations or other papers, creating course materials, or developing websites. Items in the public domain or that have been explicitly licensed for reuse do not require permission for reuse. Otherwise, you need to obtain permission when you use a work in a way that infringes on the exclusive rights granted to a copyright holder and is outside the boundaries of fair use.

Generally, the publisher is the owner of the copyrights and can grant permission for your use. The University Libraries have provided a sample permission letter for students writing a thesis or dissertation.  This letter is offered as a starting place for drafting a letter suitable to your needs.  

GVSU Copyright Resources

Grand Valley State University has developed a number of policies related to copyright and the use of copyrighted materials. The following information, guidelines and procedures have been compiled as a reference guide for the campus community to help faculty, staff and students navigate copyright and related issues.

Adapted and used under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license from the University of Minnesota Libraries.  Any original content produced by the Grand Valley State University Libraries is released under an identical Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license.

This website presents information about copyright law. The University Libraries make every effort to assure the accuracy of this information but do not offer it as counsel or legal advice. Consult an attorney for advice concerning your specific situation.


Page last modified July 16, 2025
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