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Attribution

The act of ascribing a work to the creator or author of the work; providing credit as specified by the original creator, author, and source of a work according to their specifications.

C

Creative Commons

A type of copyright license a copyright holder uses to defines the limits and terms of acceptable uses of their content, which would otherwise be an infringement of their copyrights. (See the Creative Commons page for more information.)

Copyright status

Copyright status refers to defining the status of a given work, for example, the work could be in the Public Domain, it could be licensed as All Rights Reserved, it could be licensed with a Creative Commons license, or it could be under the status of an orphan work. This list is not exhaustive; it only provides examples of different types of copyright status.   

Copyright term limits

Copyright term limits are complicated, see for the latest information on copyright term limits as defined by the specific characteristics of a work, such as first publication date, place of publication, copyright renewals, etc. 

Copyright notice

The copyright notice, “©,” is a requirement of a work to be officially copyrighted in the U.S. before March 1, 1989. When the U.S joined the Berne Convention this practice was no longer a requirement of U.S law. However, it is still a highly suggested and recommended practice.

Copyright holder, copyright owner

“Copyright owner,” with respect to any one of the exclusive rights comprised in a copyright, refers to the owner of that particular right. This could be the original author/creator or in some cases, such as a work for hire, the person who by reason of contract has attained the copyright to the work. 

Created

A work is “created” when it is fixed in a copy or phonorecord for the first time; where a work is prepared over a period of time, the portion of it that has been fixed at any particular time constitutes the work as of that time, and where the work has been prepared in different versions, each version constitutes a separate work.

D

Derivative works

A “derivative work” is a work based upon one or more preexisting works, such as a translation, musical arrangement, dramatization, fictionalization, motion picture version, sound recording, art reproduction, abridgment, condensation, or any other form in which a work may be recast, transformed, or adapted. A work consisting of editorial revisions, annotations, elaborations, or other modifications, which, as a whole, represent an original work of authorship, is a “derivative work.”

Display

To “display” a work means to show a copy of it, either directly or by means of a film, slide, television image, or any other device or process or, in the case of a motion picture or other audiovisual work, to show individual images nonsequentially.

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Educational use

Educational use is a major component in factor one of the Fair Use Checklist. However no one factor is dispositive, and all factors will need to be considered when performing a fair use analysis.

Exclusive rights in copyrighted works

A copyright holder has a set of exclusive rights as set forth by the U.S. Constitution and defined in 17 U.S.C. § 106. These rights are subject to some specific limitations as defined in 17 U.S. C § 107-122.

Fair Use

Fair use is a limitation on the exclusive rights of a copyright holder.  These limitations are defined in U.S law, see 17 U.S. C § 107-122. The Fair Use Checklist provides guidance on making an informed analysis of a proposed use of a copyrighted work to help determine if the use would weigh in favor of fair use or be an infringement. (See Fair Use & TEACH Act page for more information.)

Fixed

“Fixed” – a work is “fixed” in a tangible medium of expression when its embodiment in a copy or phonorecord, by or under the authority of the author, is sufficiently permanent or stable to permit it to be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated for a period of more than transitory duration. A work consisting of sounds, images, or both, that are being transmitted, is “fixed” for purposes of this title if a fixation of the work is being made simultaneously with its transmission.

Good faith effort

A good faith effort is a requirement of showing that a proposed use of a copyrighted work weighs in favor of Fair Use. An example of a good faith effort is performing an analysis using the Fair Use Checklist for the proposed use, with a finding that the use weighs in favor of fair use. The checklist analysis should be dated and filed to serve as a record of the analysis. 

Infringement

Infringement occurs when a copyright holders exclusive rights have been violated or encroached upon.

Innocent infringement

This occurs when the infringer is not aware that his or her acts constitute an infringement, the courts may still award statutory damages for innocent infringement of not less than $200.00 according to 17 U.S.C. § 504.

Literary works

Literary works are works, other than audiovisual works, expressed in words, numbers, or other verbal or numerical symbols or indicia, regardless of the nature of the material objects, such as books, periodicals, manuscripts, phonorecords, film, tapes, disks, or cards, in which they are embodied.

Market value

In reference to the Fair Use Checklist, this is an element of the fourth factor. It relates to whether a proposed use of a copyrighted work would harm the copyright holders market value for their work or content.

Mediated instructional activities

This is an important element of the TEACH Act. It specifies that for teaching activities to be exempt from copyright infringement (when using copyrighted content) the activities must be: integral to the course, under the direction of the instructor, and similar to the kinds of performance or displays in a face-to-face classroom setting.

Nature of work

The nature of a work is a major component in factor two of the Fair Use Checklist. However no one factor is dispositive, and all factors will need to be considered when performing a fair use analysis. Nature of a work   refers to if the work is creative, fictional, or factual in nature.

Public Domain

Public Domain refers to works, which have never had copyright protections, or works whose protection has expired. Some examples are factual works or content, works by the U.S. Federal Governments (except for third party contract work), or works whose copyright protection has expired. Generally speaking, the date of January 1, 1923 (for published works) is the date used to determine if a work is in the Public Domain. However, there are many elements, which should be considered when determining Public Domain status. (See the Public Domain page for more information.)

TEACH Act

Technology, Education, and Copyright Harmonization Act is a set of conditional  limitations on the exclusive rights of a copyright holder as related to and which concerns distance education as well as face-to-face teaching that has an online web-enhanced component. This limitation only relates to displays or performances it does not apply to making textual content available to students in an online environment. (See the Fair Use & TEACH Act page for more information.)

Terms of use or service

This refers to rules by which one is required to agree, to abide by, in order to use a service. Specifically, most websites have some type of terms of service or terms of use, and in some cases, one is considered to have automatically agreed to the terms of service just by accessing the website.

Visual Artist Rights Act of 1990

This act grants certain rights to the artist, generally speaking, the right of attribution and integrity. This law is codified in 17 U.S.C. §106a.