Copyright & Fair Use

Copyright is similar to plagiarism in that it involves using someone else's work without giving them credit. It is safe to assume that anything in tangible form that was created by someone else is copyright protected. Legal trouble can arise if you use someone else's created work without their permission.

Fair use allows copyrighted materials to be used in limited circumstances, one of them being education. This allows teachers and students to use many resources, digital and/or physical, without requiring the permission of creators. Since we are not using these materials for profitable gain, but to educate students, we are protected from copyright laws in many situations.

Below are some resources that provide more information about copyright and fair use:

U.S. Copyright Office

Copyright Society of the USA

The "Fair Use" Rule

Find Law: Fair Use