Guides: Help: Databases and Other Library Resources: Academic Honesty & Copyright

Page contains:

video on the TEACH Act and copyright implications (useful for faculty)
copyright tools (i.e. Public Domain Slider, Section 108 Spinner, Fair Use Evaluator, Exceptions for Instructors eTool) that can help to educate faculty on copyright

Information contained in this research guide is not to be taken as legal advice - it is intended for educational purposes.

Copyright Tools

Fair Use Evaluator

Fair use (Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright code) provides parameters for the legal use of copyrighted material without the permission of the copyright holder. The law mandates that four factors be considered in determining whether or not a use is fair. See the Fair Use Checklist below for more information.

Fair Use Evaluator
Tool to help understand how to determine the "fairness" of a use under the U.S. Copyright Code. Tool does not provide legal advice - only a court of law can definitively rule on whether a use is fair or unfair.

Exceptions for Instructors eTool

Copyright Code provides for the educational use of copyrighted material without the permission of the copyright holder under certain conditions (TEACH Act).

Copyright Exceptions for Instructors
Tool to help determine if the intended use of materials meets the fair use requirements set out in the law.

Public Domain Slider

If a work is in the public domain, you are free to use that work in any way that you choose – digitize it, re-publish it, post it on the internet etc. – of course with appropriate attribution.

Public Domain Slider
A tool to help determine the copyright status of a work that is first published in the United States.Copyright status can be difficult to determine because of varying copyright registration requirements over the years and because the term of copyright has changed a number of times.

Section 108 Spinner

Section 108 of the U.S. Copyright Code allows libraries & archives, under certain circumstances, to make reproductions of copyrighted materials without the permission of the copyright holder.

Section 108 Spinner
Tool to help determine if a particular reproduction is covered by the exemption.

The following tools have been developed by Michael Brewer and the Copyright Advisory Subcommittee of the American Library Association Office for Information Technology Policy.

American Library Association. (2018, October 16). Copyright tools. https://www.ala.org/advocacy/pp/pub/copyright

Copyright Basics & Fair Use

What is Copyright?
Learn about the basics of copyright from the U.S. Copyright Office's easy to read reference page.

Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States
The attached chart can guide users through the rules of U.S. copyright in order to determine public domain. (© 2004-2025 Peter B. Hirtle. Use of this chart is governed by the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.)
Fair Use Checklist
Created by Cornell University under a CC-BY license (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License) this checklist can help assess the use of a work for fair use status.
How to Investigate the Copyright Status of a Work
Created by the U.S. Copyright Office, this document provides methods for investigating the copyright status of a work. (Revised 1-2025)

Copyright and TEACH Act

Copyright TEACH Act
Video reviews the basics of copyright, factors to consider when determining Fair use, how works enter into the Public Domain, and the TEACH Act.