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UDSpace: UDelaware's Institutional Repository

Understanding permissions, reuse, and embargos for UDSpace content

Who holds the copyright for content in UDSpace?

Unless explicitly stated otherwise, the copyright for content in UDSpace rests with the content's original author or creator. This is in keeping with the University of Delaware Faculty Handbook policy 3.2.7 on Copyrights and Publishing

If you want to use content that is hosted in UDSpace, you should check the item record to see whether it contains a licensing statement granting permission for certain uses. You may need to click the option to "Show Full Item Record" in order to see whether a copyright or licensing statement has been included. 

If no licensing statement is present, then you may need to try and contact the author(s) or creator(s) in order to seek their explicit permission. The UD Library, Museums and Press cannot provide contact information for UDSpace authors or creators.

You may also choose to make an argument that your planned usage of copyrighted material would qualify as a fair use under US Copyright Law. Fair use arguments must be made on a case by case basis.

Using or re-using licensed content

When content in UDSpace is licensed, authors/creators are granting explicit permission for certain uses. If there is a license statement, read it carefully to understand what you are or are not permitted to do with the content. Common restrictions include granting permission for reuse, but only in noncommercial contexts; or reuse, but without adapting or modifying the content in any way.

Most licenses require that you provide attribution, meaning that you give proper credit to the authors/creators. Sometimes you might use a formal citation, or you might provide a shorter credit and link back to the original.

Embargoed content

Open-access versions of publications may have been deposited under an embargo (most embargos last from 6-48 months, depending on the publication). As of March 2022, if the publication is under an embargo, you will see the date at which it will become openly available listed in the item description. Embargoed material deposited before March 2022 may not specify when the embargo ends in the description. You will not be able to download embargoed material until the embargo ends.

Currently, content deposited in UDSpace can only be embargoed for a set amount of time before it becomes publicly available; and cannot be embargoed permanently or indefinitely.