Information on the Library of Congress at http://www.copyright.gov/ defines the basic meaning of copyright (all quotes are from the Library’s site). It is protection under U.S. law provided for creators of “original works of authorships, including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. This protection is available to both published and unpublished works.” Remember, creation of the work is how the creator earns his or her money.
The laws do allow some leeway for use by others of copyrighted materials through the Fair Use sections of the law. Fair Use means using a copyright work for the purposes of criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Most educational institutions, news media, and corporations have policies governing copyrights.
The laws do allow some leeway for use by others of copyrighted materials through the Fair Use sections of the law. Fair Use means using a copyright work for the purposes of criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Most educational institutions, news media, and corporations have policies governing copyrights.
For individuals, it can be trickier and if you have any doubts, check out the situation with an expert. This can be a lawyer, or yourself if you are comfortable reading the government documents, or asking someone at the Library of Congress (see the “Contact Us” section of their web site).
You do need to cite the source even with Fair Use. One way to think about Fair Use is to ask are you helping the creator make money? When I write a review, I am promoting the work so I’m helping the person make more money when I cite the title and creator’s name. If I pretend it is mine, I’m stealing.
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