Copyright and Fair Use

The following are recommended resources for faculty who want to know how their work is protected via copyright.

Copyright Crash Course  

• Creator and first owner - The creator of an original copyright work is usually the first owner.
• Works created for an employer - The same rule does not apply for works created by an employee in the course of his employment.
• Commissioned works - For some works the rule governing commissioned works changed in 1989.
• Joint authors - A single work may be created and owned by more than one person.

Under 17 USCS section 102 the following are protected:

• Literature
• Music and lyrics
• Drama
• Pantomime and dance
• Films
• Sound Recordings
• Architecture
• Software
• Pictures, graphics, sculpture

"In no case does copyright protection for an original work of authorship extend to any idea, procedure, process, system, method of operation, concept, principle, or discovery, regardless of the form in which it is described, explained, illustrated, or embodied in such work."

(U.S. Copyright Office)