Authors have broad exclusive rights in the works they create. When you use or share another’s copyright protected work in your research or teaching, you may be implicating one or more of those rights.

Relying on an exception
If you are copying, adapting, distributing, displaying, or performing a copyrighted work, consider if your use may fall into an exception in the law that will make your use permissible. Some exceptions, including fair use, are discussed in more detail in this guide.

Public domain and openly licensed content
You may also find materials for reuse that are free of copyright (public domain) or openly licensed. Openly licensed works may be used according to the terms of the license selected. Creative Commons is a popular choice for open licenses—if you are using a work made available under a CC license, make sure you are following all license terms, including complete attribution statements.

Can you link to the work? 
In some situations, it may be possible to simply provide a hyperlink to materials that are already publicly available online. Directing to an existing source may be a good option to avoid copying and distributing a work. When providing hyperlinks, make sure you are directing to a legitimate and authorized source. Do not provide links to source you know or should reasonably know to be infringing.

Through licensing agreements with copyright owners, University Libraries also provides online access to many different types of resources, including full-text articles and electronic books, that may be shared with authorized users for purposes of teaching.

• Linking to Library Licensed Resources is guide to finding stable URLs for library licensed electronic resources at OSU, including articles and database items, e-Books, streaming video and music, and images.
• Affordable Course Materials provides more information on finding and using affordable content for instruction

More information:

• Copyright Services: Using Materials
• Copyright in Your Thesis or Dissertation
• Copyright Services: Find Public Domain and Openly Licensed Materials
• Public Domain Slider (ALA)
• Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States (Peter Hirtle) - Detailed charts to help determine when a work may enter the public domain in the U.S.

Getting permission

If your use of another's copyrighted work is not covered by an existing exception in the law, you will need to contact the rightsholder to ask permission for the use.

When requesting permission, make sure you have identified the current rightsholder or their authorized agent. Copyright rights can be transferred over time, so the original author of a work may not be the current rightsholder. Publishers may, for example, hold copyright in published scholarly works under the terms of the publication agreement with the author.

Copyright Services provides template release forms and license agreements to help secure rights needed for the use of materials in teaching and research: go.osu.edu/permission.

Getting permissions can take time, so start the process early. Make sure you get all agreements in writing.

More information:

• Copyright Services: Permissions
• Asking for Permission - Process steps for asking for permission, from the Copyright Advisory Office of Columbia University Libraries
• Obtaining Copyright Permissions - helpful guidance from the University of Michigan Library Copyright Office

Using another's words or ideas without acknowledgment is considered plagiarism, which is an issue of academic integrity. Plagiarism is not, however, the same thing as copyright infringement. Copyright infringement occurs when you use another's copyrighted materials without permission (either through an exception in the law or permission from the copyright owner). 

Copyright law does not require citation to use a work, but citation may be required by a rightsholder as part of a license or other agreement to use the work. You also cannot avoid a claim of copyright infringement by simply providing a citation--your use must be permissible under the law or otherwise granted by the rightsholder.

More information:

• Copyright Services: Plagiarism 
• What's the difference between plagiarism and copyright infringement? A handout from Copyright Services