What are Copyrights and Public Domain

Copyright is a federally granted intellectual property law that protects the rights of authors to control the use of their original works for a limited time. Copyright protects both published and unpublished works, including:
Literary works, Dramatic works, Musical works, Artistic works, Poetry, Novels, Movies, Songs, Computer software, and Architecture. Copyright protects the way works are expressed, but not: facts, ideas, systems, and methods of operation. 
The three basic elements of copyright are: originality, creativity, and fixation. In the United States, copyright usually lasts for 70 years after the creator's death.

Works are considered to be in the public domain when their copyright term expires, and anyone can use them without permission from the author. The public domain also includes material that copyright law never protects, such as:

• Ideas
• Facts
• Titles
• Discoveries
• Procedures
• Works created by the U.S. federal and State governments

Works in the public domain are owned by the public, and no individual owns them. You can use a public domain work without obtaining permission and without citing the original author, but no one can ever own it. 
Works in the public domain can serve as the foundation for new creative works, and can be: copied and distributed to classes, placed on course web pages, and quoted extensively. 

Why do I have to worry about copyrights?

Federal law and District Policy require faculty, staff and students to  complying with all applicable state and federal laws regarding copyright compliance. District employees and students must obtain all required licenses, consents, and releases necessary to avoid infringing the rights of third parties. The District supports  the responsible, good faith exercise of full fair use rights as codified in the United States Copyright Act by faculty, librarians, staff and students in furtherance of their teaching, research, studies and service activities.

The office responsible for copyright compliance for the Sonoma County Junior College District is the Office of the Dean, Learning Resources and Educational Technology.

Which materials can be freely used in instruction?

Using open access publications and open educational resources (OER) in teaching is an easy way to prevent any conflict with copyright law. Copyrighted material may be used under certain conditions.

• Open access publications are articles and books that the author (or their institution) has paid to publish so that everyone can use them freely, without needing to pay or request specific permission first. (The author still retains the copyright to their work, typically through an open license, such as one from Creative Commons.)
• Open educational resources (OER) are teaching resources (such as textbooks, lecture slides, streaming media, quizzes and test banks, and models and simulations) that have an open copyright license, or are part of the public domain and have no copyright. Depending on the license used, OER can be freely accessed, used, revised and shared.
• Creative Commons License give everyone from individual creators to large institutions a standardized way to grant the public permission to use their creative work under copyright law. From the reuser’s perspective, the presence of a Creative Commons license on a copyrighted work answers the question, What can I do with this work?
• Public Domain are public documents, government publications and works where a copyright has expired.  

Fair Use of Copyrighted Material

Copyrighted material that is needed for teaching, but is not open access, can still be used under the Fair Use provision of U.S. copyright law if certain conditions apply. To determine whether a use is fair, consider these four factors.

Fair Use applies to materials used for teaching in the classroom or for online instruction that are:

• Purchased
• Accessed through library or other licenses, or Available online without an open access license.
• Materials broadcast online or on cable, live television or other recorded means. 

Important to keep in mind:

• Limit access to students in your course (this applies both to course material you have uploaded for students and to any recordings of your classes you have made)
• Upload only what is really necessary for your educational goals.
• Check for and rely on licenses when they are available
• Take the material down at the end of course.
• Make students aware of copyright (“Do not share!”)
• Properly attribute the uploaded resources
• Be reasonable, but don’t agonize.

Obtaining Permission to Use Copyrighted Material

If you want to use copyrighted material that may not be covered under fair use, you should ask for permission.

• Identify the copyright owner
• For journal articles, the copyright owner can be the author (often for open access articles) or the journal publisher.
• For books, the copyright owner is often the publisher, but for open access books it could also be the author.
• For photographs, films and music, copyright owners often employ licensing agents who can grant permission. They may charge fees.
• Keep copyright layers in mind – for example, an image in an article might have a different copyright owner.

Request permission in writing to use Copyrighted works used in your courses and include:

• Precise identification of the material to be used, e.g., the title, author, and page numbers;
• A link to the material you want to use or a photocopy;
• The number of copies you wish to make;
• The exact nature of the use, including form of distribution and whether the material will be sold.

Using the works or recordings of Students, Guest Presenters or Community Members:

Obtain a Media Release and file it with Marketing and Communications.

If the copyright owner is unresponsive or cannot be identified:

• Check Fair Use options.
• Use alternative material.

• Contact a Library Liaison to assist you in determining next steps.