Learn more about Public Performance Rights for Videorecordings
Copyright is a form of protection provided by Title 17, U.S. Code to the authors of original works of authorship, including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works, including material published in electronic format. Copyright protection covers any work, published or unpublished.
Copyright protection subsists from the moment the work is created in fixed form, including digitally created works. The copyright in the work of authorship immediately becomes the property of the author who created the work. Only the author or those deriving their rights through the author can rightfully claim copyright.
Copyright law protects the expression of ideas or facts, not the ideas or facts themselves.
Copyright protection begins from the moment a work is started and some aspect of it has been fixed in a tangible (including digital) medium. In the U.S., no registration or notice is required for works to be protected under copyright law. However, registration is advised if legal action is undertaken to recover damages; posting the copyright notice also prevents the "innocent offender" defense, where a copyright violator might claim that s/he was not aware of the copyright status of the work that s/he reproduced.
Works that have not been fixed in a tangible form of expression (for example, choreographic works that have not been notated or recorded, or improvisational speeches or performances that have not been written or recorded)
Titles, names, short phrases, and slogans; familiar symbols or designs; mere variations of typographic ornamentation, lettering, or coloring; mere listings of ingredients or contents
Ideas, procedures, methods, systems, processes, concepts, principles, discoveries, or devices, as distinguished from a description, explanation, or illustration
Works consisting entirely of information that is common property and containing no original authorship (for example: standard calendars, height and weight charts, tape measures and rulers, and lists or tables taken from public documents or other common sources). Most of the information produced by the U.S. Government is not copyrighted and may be freely used.
In general, it is permissible for a person to reproduce portions of someone else's work under the doctrine of "fair use", including applications that clearly advance education or scholarship.
Copyright protection is not forever; see How long does copyright last?
The purpose of the use - including non-profit educational use
The nature of the copyrighted work - factual rather than fictional/creative; published rather than unpublished
The amount of the copying
The effect of the copying on the market value (or potential market value) of the work
Get written permission to reproduce another's work.
Use only your original work in your project.
Use content licensed with Creative Commons agreements. The "find" feature identifies content that you can use. Read about the different Creative Commons licenses.
Use uncopyrighted, public domain material.
Examine a copy of the work for such elements as a copyright notice, place and date of publication, author and publisher. If the work is a sound recording, examine the disk, tape cartridge, or cassette in which the recorded sound is fixed, or the album cover, sleeve, or container in which the recording is sold.
Search the Copyright Office catalogs. These only list registered materials; copyright protection exists even without copyright registration.
additional information
General
United States Copyright Office FAQ
"Tales from the Public Domain: Bound by Law?"
The basics of copyright in comic book form from Duke University
A Fair(y) Use Tale
The basics of copyright explained by Disney characters in parody (YouTube)
Fair Use
Copyright and Fair Use - Stanford University Libraries
Public domain
Determine public domain status (from Cornell)
Finding copyright holders
Copyright Clearance Center
"manages rights relating to over 1.75 million works and represents more than 9,600
publishers and hundreds of thousands of authors and other creators, directly or through
their representatives."
Harry Ransom Center
Contains the freely-accessible WATCH File (Writers, Artists and their Copyright
Holders), which gives searchers information on contact persons for copyright holders for
U.S. and U.K. authors and artists.
Register Your Work
Copyright Registration for an online resource you create