Copyright Basics

This guide provides basic information about copyright, fair use, and Creative Commons for both content creators and users of copyrighted work. If you need more assistance thinking through a copyright question, please contact Beth Twomey, head of research and engagement.

None of the information in this guide or in consultation with university of Delaware librarians constitutes legal advice.

1. It's incomplete. Many of our copyright laws were created and implemented before the rise of the internet, and before digital tools and technologies for sharing, replicating, and remixing information and media became widely available. The laws have not caught up to current technologies, and the cultural contexts in which we share copyrighted material.
2. It changes. Significant changes in copyright law have occurred in 1909, 1976, 1978, 1988, and 1998 -- just to name a few important years. What is legal or illegal may change -- and the ways that laws are enforced may also change.
3. There may not be a definite answer to your copyright question.  Current law may not address your question as norms around using copyrighted material change more quickly than the law does. Even when you don't have a definite answer, you can make smart and informed choices to use copyrighted materials responsibly.
4. You have rights too. 

Copyright is a form of legal protection provided to the creators of “original works of authorship” including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works, both published and unpublished. The Copyright Act (17 USC § 102)  gives the creator or owner of copyright certain exclusive rights:

• to reproduce the copyrighted work 
• to prepare derivative works (new work that is based on or includes the original copyrighted material)
• to make and distribute copies of the copyrighted work 
• to perform or display the copyrighted work in public 

Many types of works are copyrightable -- including written, musical, graphic, and architectural works. However, a "work" cannot be just an idea to qualify for copyright protection. It must "fixed" to give it some permanency. The specific wording in the law is "fixed in any tangible medium of expression" -- so the "work" could be hand written or typed, photographed, recorded as audio or video, sculpted, or built. Copyright does not protect ideas, it only protects their expression or fixation. In most jurisdictions this means that as soon as you have expressed your idea in a tangible form, you hold the copyright. You hold the copyright whether or not you choose to formally register it with the US Copyright Office (more information on registering is available elsewhere in this guide).

The exclusive rights of the copyright owner are balanced for public interest purposes with limitations and exceptions.  Copyright owners have the exclusive statutory right to exercise control over copying, distribution, and other exploitation of their works for a specific period of time.  It should be noted that copyright owners may choose to license or permanently transfer or assign their exclusive rights to others. Once the copyright expires the work enters the public domain. Uses of a work which fall under the limitations and exceptions to copyright, such as fair use, do not require permission from the copyright owner. All other uses require permission.

• 17 U.S. Code Title 17: Copyrights
• Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998
• Technology, Education, and Copyright Harmonization (TEACH) Act of 2002