What does “copyright” mean?
Copyright refers to the set of exclusive legal rights creators are given to their work for set period of time. During that period of time, the creator has the right to adapt, distribute, or publish their work in any way they see fit. After the set period of time is over, the work enters the public domain.
What is the “public domain”?
Works in the public domain are free from copyright and therefore can be used freely by anyone. A work enters the public domain anywhere from fifty to a hundred years after the death of the creator. However, since the early 20th century there have been frequent changes to the length and stipulations of copyright, and therefore determining the duration of any given copyright has become nearly impossible.
What is protected by copyright?
Generally, copyright protects original works. This can include what one would think of as traditional works of art (such as films, books, and music), but also can include mediums such as architecture and software. Copyright does not protect non-tangible works, like ideas, facts, or systems, but it may protect the way they are presented.
What does “fair use” mean?
Fair use refers to a provision of copyright law that allows limited use of copyrighted work without receiving permission from the copyright holder. There are limitations to this—the line between “fair use” and “copyright infringement” is not easy to define. Some things that would be considered fair use include parody, quotation (in a review, criticism, or for clarification), use in news reports, etc. Since the internet boom of the 1990's, the terms of fair use have been constantly been challenged.
How can I determine if my use is fair use?
There are four general guidelines in determining fair use. The nature of the original work (there are different standards for different types of multimedia material), the effect on the potential market value (generally, if the use detracts from the market value of the work it would be considered infringement, but infringement doesn't always have to be tied to market value), the purpose of use (use in education or not for profit organizations are usually considered fair use), and also the sustainability of the portion of the work used related to the work as a whole (the relative value of the portion of the work being used).
I want to credit the author of a copyrighted work. How do I do that?
Always make sure the copyright symbol and the name of the copyright owner are clearly visible and somehow attached directly to the work.