Please note that Austin Public Library cannot give legal advice. If you need legal advice, you should contact an intellectual property attorney.
United States copyright law (Title 17, U.S. Code § 101) protects the rights and the creators. The owner of copyright has the exclusive right to do and to authorize the following:
Copyright protection covers both published and unpublished works as well as out-of-print materials.
Facts, ideas, procedures, processes, systems, concepts, principles, or discoveries cannot be copyrighted, though some can be protected by patent or trade-secret laws.
Copyright limits, but does not prevent the use of work for teaching and research, and for comment and reportage.
Copyright protection lasts for the life of the author plus 70 years. If there is more than one author, copyright protection lasts for the life of the last author's death plus 70 years.
A simple, comprehensive guide to copyright from copyrightlaws.com as a good start to understanding the basics of copyright.
The U.S. Copyright Office allows you to Register Your Works or learn more about the registration process.
This guide is provided by the Oregon State University and provides an overview of your rights as a copyright owner and the use of other people's work in academic contexts.
Determine whether the material you'd like to use is covered by U.S. Copyright Laws, you may Consult the Copyright Genie or enter the details of your copyright situation in The Fair Use Evaluator
If the answer is yes, the material you'd like to use is covered by US copyright laws:
Free Online Copyright Crash Course
The Copyright Crash Course (CCC) was originally created with UT Faculty in mind, but can be used by anyone interested in understanding more about copyright as well as managing their copyrights. The Copyright Crash Course is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
