*Please note that the information on this page or provided by UTA Libraries’ staff should not be considered legal advice or guidance. We provide information only.*

In the United States, when you make your intellectual property tangible, you automatically have copyright for it. The rights defined in U.S. copyright law are exclusive rights of the copyright holder – the author or creator.

These rights are alienable, meaning you can give them away or sell them. You may grant licenses for these rights, which can be exclusive (meaning just the one person or entity you name may use the rights) or non-exclusive (meaning that you are granting rights to a person or entity but reserving the right to grant those rights to others, too). Many agreements authors sign with publishers are exclusive. Creative Commons licenses are non-exclusive.

These rights are also divisible, meaning you can retain some rights while giving away or selling other rights. An exclusive copyright release to a publisher is functionally a full transfer of rights from the author/creator to the publisher. You can negotiate with your publisher to keep all of your bundle of rights, or at least some of them. Using the SPARC Addendum is a straightforward way to seek rights retention from your publisher. Many publishers include contractual language that suggests that the author or creator sign away many more of their rights than is necessary.

The Creative Commons licensing system ensures that authors retain their copyright and tell users what they can/cannot do with that work. Most open access publishing agreements today require that the author choose a CC license for their work.

For more information, contact your subject librarian and/or refer to the additional resources below. If you are looking for information about trademarks or patents, see the resources provided by UTA’s Office of Innovation and Commercialization.

• Copyright.org Q&A
• UTA Intellectual Property Policy, HOP Policy 5-702
• UT System: Intellectual Property and Technology Transactions
• UT System Copyright Policy
• UT System Getting permissions Guide
• Jisc (formerly Sherpa services, database of academic publisher’s copyright and open access policies)
• What to Look for in Publisher Copyright Agreement Forms?
• Negotiating Guide from Arizona State University

There is a misconception among instructors that they can rely on Fair Use as a blanket protection to use any materials in their courses. That is not true. If instructors are seeking teaching resources, they should first seek materials that are in the public domain or openly licensed. If an instructor feels strongly about using a copyrighted resources for their teaching, they should do the due diligence to receive permission form the copyright holder.

The doctrine or exemption of “fair use” in U.S. Copyright law identifies the factors by which the use of a particular work may be considered “fair,” such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. These uses are powerful, but not unrestricted. Not all use for educational purposes will be considered fair use.

The guidelines below will help explain the opportunities and restrictions of fair use. Each of the following four factors must be weighed in order to determine fair use.

1. PURPOSE: The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes.
2. NATURE: The nature of the copyrighted work. The balance tips in favor of fair use for published, factual, nonfiction material; the reverse is true for unpublished or highly creative work (music, novels).
3. AMOUNT: The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole. The balance tips in favor of fair use for published, factual, nonfiction material; the reverse is true for unpublished or highly creative work (music, novels).
4. MARKET: The effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work. The balance tips in favor of fair use for published, factual, nonfiction material; the reverse is true for unpublished or highly creative work (music, novels).

Fair use court cases have set precedents in several arenas. See eight high profile fair use cases, all of which were found in favor of the user. To ensure you know how fair use may apply to your activities, it is good practice to use a checklist:

• For instructors of face-to-face and synchronous virtual courses, the Fair Use Checklist is useful.
• For instructors of purely online/distance learning courses, the TEACH Act Checklist is more specific to your needs. Be sure to consider that fair use applies to “mediated instructional activities” only.
  • If you require support to develop a copyright notice for your materials, contact the Learning Resources Librarian via the AskUs chat.

• Frequently Asked Questions about showing videos for teaching and extracurricular activities
• UTA Handbook of Operating Procedures, Policy 5-401, "Copying Copyrighted Materials."
• How Fair Use Promotes Creation of New Knowledge
• Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Open CourseWare
• Documentary Filmmakers' Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use
• CODE OF BEST PRACTICES IN FAIR USE FOR THE VISUAL ARTS