University Resources

• • University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Fair Use Guidance

Faculty, staff, and students of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign use materials created by others for teaching, learning, research, or public service. The university encourages the appropriate use of materials to benefit the aims of the university mission within legally permissible scope of copyright law. The U.S. Constitution states that the purpose of copyright is to “promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts … .” Copyright owners are granted certain exclusive rights to their works for a limited time, including the right to reproduce, modify, distribute, display, and publicly perform their works. Because these rights are exclusive, copyright owners may prohibit others from using their works without permission in many circumstances. However, U.S. copyright law includes many exceptions to and limitations on copyright owners’ exclusive rights. The most flexible of these limitations is “fair use.” In certain circumstances, fair use allows people and organizations to reproduce, modify, distribute, display, and publicly perform other creators’ works  for certain purposes, including criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research. In addition to the purpose and character of the proposed use, fair use requires consideration of the nature of the copyrighted work, the amount and substantiality of the portion of the original work used, and the effect of the use upon the potential market for (or value of) the copyrighted work. Determining whether fair use applies can be complex and is generally considered on a case-by-case basis.

The right of all employees and students to access and share copyrighted works within the scope of copyright law, including its exceptions and the fair use doctrine, is paramount for the promotion of academic freedom, creative expression, education and instruction, and ultimately, the full participation by all members of society in furthering the pursuit of knowledge.

The university provides general guidance and resources for faculty and others to aid their understanding of copyright and help them follow the law. Members of the university community are encouraged to review the copyright and fair use guidelines available on the university’s copyright website (https://copyright.illinois.edu/resources/), among other resources, and to contact their campus librarians, including the copyright librarian, Sara Benson, at srbenson@illinois.edu, if further assistance is needed.

In the unlikely event of a copyright infringement claim, the university will defend its employees (including faculty, staff, or student employees) who have acted within the scope of their university employment and who have made use of the copyrighted work at issue in an informed, reasonable, and good faith manner within the bounds set forth in copyright law, as provided under the relevant laws[1] and policies.[2]

[1] Including Section 504(c)(2) of the Copyright Act. 17 U.S.C. § 504(c)(2) (2022).

[2] Such as the University Self Insurance Plan, available at https://www.treasury.uillinois.edu/userfiles/Servers/Server_338/file/riskUnit/SelfInsurancePlan.pdf.

• • Copyright Small Claims Procedures

This University website is intended to provide you with information about the new Copyright Claims Board created pursuant to the CASE Act.

• • University of Illinois Library Finding Images and Videos Guide

This University Library website is intended to provide you with specific resources related to various disciplines that are freely accessibly online, or through licenced library resources.

• • University of Illinois Library Copyright Reference Guide

This University Library website is intended to provide you with guidance on copyright.

• • University of Illinois Library Copyright Resources

The University Library provides this web site as a means of bringing University, federal and even global copyright resources together.

• • University of Illinois Library Copyright Resources for Creators of Scholarly Communications

If you create scholarly works at the University, you should read the information provided at this web site to understand how copyright affects your work.

• • University of Illinois Graduate College Copyright Tools

The Graduate College provides this web site as a means to provide copyright resources related to thesis work.

• • Student Responsibilities Concerning Copyright

The University’s Student Code lays outs the rights and responsibilities of students when it comes to copyright, in addition to penalties and punishments for violating the student code.

• • University’s Intellectual Property (IP) Guideline

The Office of Technology Management makes determinations of IP ownership. The link provides guidelines to its decision making and FAQ for students.

• • University of Illinois Intellectual Property Ownership Determination Matrix

If you are unsure about whether you own intellectual property materials created at the University, please consult the University of Illinois Intellectual Property Ownership Determination Matrix.

• • Steps to Take if Your Work Has Been Unlawfully Reproduced

If you believe your copyrighted work has been infringed and it has been placed online, the first step to take is to search the website for a “take-down” request. Fill out the take-down request and the website, pursuant to federal law, must respond to it quickly. For further information about take-down requests, see https://www.copyright.gov/512/. For further questions regarding how to file a take-down request, contact the Copyright Librarian at srbenson@illinois.edu

• • Copyright Notice to Add to Syllabus

“©️ 2022 [Professor Name]. All rights reserved. No part of the materials used in this course may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means–electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise–without written permission from the copyright holder. You are not allowed to upload, post or transmit materials used in this course to course-sharing or other websites (such as CourseHero). Recording material from in this course, including lectures, discussions or other activities is forbidden. Sharing recorded material or posting it online is also forbidden. Any violation of these policies will be forwarded to the Office of Student Conflict Resolution for disciplinary action.”

And then a link to https://studentcode.illinois.edu/article1/part3/1-302/ for Student Code prohibition.

Also include a link to the https://copyright.illinois.edu page.

Additional Resources

• • EDUCAUSE’s Legal Sources of Online Content

EDUCAUSE updates a list of web sites and services where you can legally obtain content such as music, movies and television shows.

• • The U.S. Copyright Office’s Copyright Basics Fact Sheet (PDF)

The United States Copyright Office provides this useful document to help you understand the foundation of our copyright system.