WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Copyright and eLearning
Prepared by the Office of Distance Education and eLearning and University Libraries’ Copyright Services.
The information in this document is not legal advice and is provided for educational purposes only.

Copyright Principles that Apply in All Contexts
ALL MATERIAL IN A FIXED, TANGIBLE FORM IS COPYRIGHTED UNLESS PROTECTION HAS BEEN REMOVED§ All Material: including, but not limited to: literary, musical,§ Copyrighted: includes the right to control reproduction,and dramatic works; pantomimes and choreographic works;
pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works; sound recordings;
motion pictures and other AV works; and architectural works.
Ideas and facts are not subject to copyright. Brand names aretrademarked. Inventions and methods are patented.
§ Fixed Tangible Form: includes works in physical or digitalform, e.g., ebooks, streaming video, e-mail.

distribution, creation of derivative works, and public
performance or display of a work.
§ Unless Protection has been Removed: Copyright is
automatic and valid until the copyright holder releases, gives,
and/or sells rights, or copyright expires. Copyright currentlylasts for the life of the author +70 years; or 95 years frompublication/120 years from creation (whichever is shorter) for
corporate authorship.

Except...
STATUTORY PROVISIONSLICENSED

OPEN

PUBLIC DOMAIN

U.S. Copyright Law allows
some educational uses of
copyrighted material:§ Sec. 107: Fair Use (Seebelow)§ Sec. 108: Library copies§ Sec. 110: Classroom
display or performance§ TEACH Act: Extends Sec.
110 to eLearning undervery specific conditions

Copyrighted work may be
used with permission of thecopyright holder:§ Written permission
required for exclusive
license (or transfer of
copyright ownership)§ Payment negotiated§ Allowed use negotiatedMany people make theirwork available for use, withconditions. Typical conditions
include:§ (Non-)commercial§ Attribution§ Further re-use

The public domain consistsof works never or no longer
protected by copyright (note:publicly available does notmean public domain):§ Pre-1925 texts§ Some later works
depending on compliancewith required formalities§ Most federal government
documents

Basic Method of Conducting a Fair Use Analysis
OVERVIEWONLINE RESOURCES§ Four factors determine Fair Use: purpose of the use, nature§ OSU Health Sciences Library Fair Use Checklistof the material, amount used, and effect on the market.
§ Analyze the degree to which each of the four factors favors
or does not favor Fair Use.
§ Look at the factors as a whole (educational use is not
automatically Fair Use). The weight of each factor will dependon the individual facts of each analysis.

hsl.osu.edu/copyright/fair-use-checklist§ Follow the Four Factors of Fair Use
go.osu.edu/fourfactors§ Thinking Through Fair Uselib.umn.edu/copyright/fairthoughts

Common Aspects of eLearning Tools That Favor Fair Use for Each Factor
PURPOSENATURE OF USEAMOUNT OF MATERIAL USEDMARKET IMPACT§ Criticism, comment, and/or§ Factual/non-fiction§ Important to favored§ Appropriate for a favored§ Copyright holder does notteaching§ Transformative or
productive use§ Access restricted to classor other group (enrolled/for credit)

educational objectives§ Published work

purpose§ Not central or significant to
the entire work
§ Small percentage

market similar work

§ Lack of licensing
mechanism§ No significant impact onmarket§ Copy made from lawfully
owned work

Copyright and eLearning: It’s Complex
WHAT STAYS THE SAMEWHAT MAY CHANGE/IMPORTANT FACTORS§ All material is copyrighted, unless that copyright has expired§§§§or been removed.
§ Fair Use exceptions apply.

Your copyright

Limited/enrolled audience versus open
Commercial versus non-profit
Instructor/student as producer
License must specify appropriate medium

Use of student work

RESEARCH YOUR RIGHTS

GENERAL PRINCIPLES§ Who owns your teaching materials? You? OSU? Joint§ All material is copyrighted automatically, unless thatcopyright? Contact the University Libraries’ Copyright
Resources Center to learn more.
§ Using another platform? What rights do they claim?
Copyright? License? Read the terms.
§ Consider a Creative Commons license
creativecommons.org/licenses/

copyright has been waived.

§ Students own copyright in their work.
§ Fair Use and other copyright exceptions may apply, but it
may be necessary to ask permission.

§ Privacy/FERPA restrictions still apply—and HIPAA for
medical data.

OSU-Provided eLearning Resources and Services
CARMENMEDIASITECARMENZOOM

go.osu.edu/carmen

resourcecenter.odee.osu.edu/mediasite

osu.zoom.us§ Auto-synced to roster§ Password-restricted§ Stricter copyright standards than face-§ Secure media server provides§ Stricter copyright standards than face-

to-face class§ Requires compliance with licenses,

password-restricted access, limited toclass roster§ Best practice is to stream throughCarmen

TEACH Act, and/or Fair Use

to-face class§ Requires compliance with licenses,
TEACH Act, and/or Fair Use§ Student contributions may be subject
to copyright and FERPA restrictions

LINKING TO LIBRARY CONTENTLIBRARY DATABASESODEE RESOURCE CENTER

guides.osu.edu/librarylinks

go.osu.edu/lib-dbs

resourcecenter.odee.osu.edu§ Helps find stable URLs for library§ Best practice to assign students to§ Use of material requires license or

licensed electronic resources§ Includes resources for e-books,
articles, streaming media, andimages

read articles in the database§ Re-use of material outside of
database (including Carmen) requires
license or Fair UseFair Use, strict standards§ Integration with iTunes Store makessome licensing easier

GET HELPMedia storage and dissemination > mediaservices@osu.edu
Online learning spaces > carmen@osu.edu

Copyright Services > go.osu.edu/copyright
Health Sciences Library > go.osu.edu/hslcopyright

iTunesU, epublishing > digitalfirst@osu.edu

Teaching and Learning > library.osu.edu/teaching

Course Design > odee@osu.edu

Subject Area Librarians > library.osu.edu/subject-librarians

Office of Distance Education and eLearning
University Libraries