The Library supports the College in its affirmation that all members of the Hood Community share the responsibility to comply with the Copyright Laws of the United States of America.
This guide does not supply legal advice, nor is it intended to replace the advice of legal counsel. Please refer to Hood College's Copyright Policy.
Copyright is a set of rights provided by the U.S. Constitution "to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective writing and Discoveries" (Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution).
Under US copyright law, authors are given these exclusive rights:
For further information, visit U.S. Copyright Office.
What Can Be Copyrighted?
In order for a work to be eligible for copyright protection, it must be original and in a fixed expression. To qualify as original, a work has to have come from the creator's mind, independently created. That doesn't mean that it has to be a brand new idea, never before seen by humanity, but it needs to have not been taken from another source. A work also has to be in a fixed expression, meaning a tangible medium: written down, on film, in software, etc. It's not enough to have the idea if it isn't physically documented.
What Can't Be Copyrighted?
Some things can't be copyrighted. Below are examples:
What is the Public Domain?
The public domain consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Public domain works are always safe to link to, as well as upload. If you are not sure if a work is the public domain, contact the library.
Who Owns the Copyright of a Work?
As soon as a person has created an original work in a tangible form, it receives copyright protection. The owner does not have to register the work or place a copyright symbol or notice on it, and it does not matter if the work is published or unpublished. There are some exceptions to this, including joint authorship and work for hire.
Copyright can be transferred from one owner to anther, either permanently or temporarily, through a license.
How Long Does Copyright Protection Last?
It depends on the work. Check out this handy guide from Cornell for more information based on the specifications of a work.
The Creative Commons organization seeks to give creators a way to license their work for public use under conditions that they specify. Creative Commons licenses permit the owner(s) of a copyright to define how their works may be used, and give users of copyrighted more clarity and creative freedom because they know explicitly how a copyrighted work can be used.