Copyright plays a central role in education, scholarship, and most facets of an information world. If you can read it, see it, or hear it, the “it” may be copyrighted and protected automatically under copyright law. This website contains basic information about copyright and perspectives on its relationship to core university missions: teaching, learning, research, and scholarship.
Understanding and managing copyright involves many stakeholders among administrators, faculty, librarians, researchers, and students. The law determines not only how stakeholders can make use of copyrighted works but also how they acquire and hold copyright in their scholarship and other creative efforts. This site reflects an ongoing effort to advance conversations about copyright in the UofL community and provides opportunities for members of that community to cultivate a deeper understanding of copyright law. Exploring the site can help administrators, faculty, librarians, and others learn more about key copyright principles and how to reasonably apply them in order to realize vital university and individual responsibilities.
Copyright law places responsibility for understanding and complying with the law squarely on users of copyrighted works and the holders of copyright in them. Applying fair use and other exceptions in copyright is invariably fact specific. Changing a fact can change a legal outcome. Making a determination about one specific question does not answer all questions. Users should not assume that resolving a common scenario resolves their specific situation. This web site is intended to help you navigate the complexities of copyright law and aid you in helping understand what may qualify as a fair use. Copyright is manageable if you manage its influences on your teaching, learning, research, and scholarship.
Information on this website and information provided by links to other sites frame basic copyright information relating to issues of particular interest to the university and library communities. Copyright law produces a dynamic and evolving set of complex legal challenges for institutions and individuals. The information and educational elements contained on this site do not constitute and should not be construed as legal advice. Visitors to the site should consult relevant counsel if they need specific legal advice.
