Knowing how to use information ethically and legally is an important part of being an information literate individual. With all the information that is available online and in digital format, it is all too easy to use other people's work and call it your own. Although there are provisions for students to use copyrighted material without permission (see Fair Use below) it's important to understand intellectual property rights and the importance of knowing that most works are copyrighted.

Intellectual Property

Intellectual property rights are the rights of a creator that control the works he/she has created. This includes, but is not limited to, books, articles, music, software, paintings, games, plays, photographs, and movies. According to U.S. law, once a work is created, it is copyrighted. The creator of the work has the right to determine how his/her work may be used.

The following What Do You Think? video (12:44 min.) from the University of Richmond's Intellectual Property Institute, discusses intellectual property and file-sharing, with interviews with college students, and responses from experts on both sides of the issue:

Section 1.3. Information Ethics

Copyright

Copyright is one form of intellectual property protection. Essentially, anything created by a person is their property. According to U.S. law (Title 17, section 106 of U.S. Federal law), once a work is created, it is copyrighted, and the personal property of its creator. The creator of a work has the right to determine how the work may be used. Copyright law has been developed to establish exclusive rights for a copyright holder.

In general, the copyright holder has the right to make copies, make different versions of the work, and to display or perform certain works in public. These rights can be purchased or sold. Individual permission can also be granted by the copyright holder for specific needs and for a specified time period. For example, a copyright holder could be contacted for permission to use material on a one time basis. It is up to the copyright holder to determine if they will grant the right to copy or use the material. If someone exercises one of these rights without the authorization of the copyright holder, the person has committed copyright infringement.

Some things cannot be copyrighted, such as most Federal documents, works with expired copyrights, freeware, some clip art, and works published before 1923. Works that cannot be copyrighted are said to be in the public domain and anyone may use them as they wish, without permission. Most books published prior to 1923, such as works by Mark Twain or Shakespeare, are said to be in the public domain and do not have copyright protection.

Copyright vs. Plagiarism

There is often confusion associated with copyright infringement, plagiarism, and the difference between them. In short, copyright law is the legal authority entitling a copyright holder to the rights described in federal law and plagiarism is the failure to give credit to those who created the original work. Just because plagiarism has been committed doesn't necessarily mean there is copyright infringement. 

Examples:

• Publishing a book which contains the Bill of Rights (a Federal document, therefore in the public domain) without attribution would be plagiarism, but not copyright infringement.
• Shakespeare's works are out of copyright because he's been dead more than 70 years. So you cannot violate his copyright. However, if you were to try to pass off one of his sonnets as your own, you would be plagiarizing.

Fair Use

One exception to copyright is Fair Use. This exemption allows users of copyrighted works to exercise some of the rights normally reserved for the copyright holder. Without this exemption, writers would not be able to quote copyrighted material for socially beneficial purposes such as comment, criticism, teaching, scholarship, research, or news reporting. In order to use the Fair Use exemption, four factors must be considered:

1. the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
2. the nature of the copyrighted work; 
3. the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and 
4. the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

There is a common misconception that any and all copyrighted material that is used for educational purposes falls under Fair Use. This is an oversimplification, since Fair Use involves an analysis that includes much more than just the nature the use. The American Library Association has an online tool to help you evaluate whether something can be considered Fair Use called the Fair Use Evaluator. It incorporates all of the four factors above.

Fair Use: What's Okay?

• Photocopying a few pages of a book, for your own personal use or study
• Viewing a library copy of a film in your dorm with a few friends
• Linking to a site or a YouTube video from your own Web site

Fair Use: What's Not Okay?

• Downloading pirated versions of music or movies through peer-to-peer networks or filesharing
• Copying copyrighted photographs from the Web and using them on your own Web site
• Reproducing a piece of art and selling it without permission from the artist
• Scanning an entire copyrighted book and uploading it to the Web
• Ripping multiple copies of CDs and giving them out to all your friends

Reference: Fair Use examples adapted from Understanding Copyright, Xavier University