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Library Resources

Public Domain Resources

Below are links to various resources with images, video, and audio and that are considered to be in the public domain.

Creative Commons Resources

Below are links to various resources that allow users to search for works with creative commons licenses.

Fair Use

The U.S. Copyright Office defines fair use in section 107 of the copyright law (title 17, U.S. Code).

Section 107 contains a list of the various purposes for which the reproduction of a particular work may be considered fair, such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Section 107 also sets out four factors to be considered in determining whether or not a particular use is fair.

  1. The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of 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
  4. The effect of the use upon the potential market for, or value of, the copyrighted work

Public Domain

Works in the public domain are not restricted by copyright.

Works in the public domain:
  • Government works and documents that were created as part of an officer or employee of the U.S. Government's official duties. This does not include works by government contractors.
  • Works that are assigned to the public domain by their creators.
  • Works with expired copyright.
What copyrighted works are currently in the public domain?
  • All works published in the U.S. before 1924
  • All works published with a copyright notice from 1924 through 1963 without copyright renewal
  • All works published without a copyright notice from 1924 through 1977
  • All works published without a copyright notice from 1978 through March 1, 1989, and without subsequent registration within 5 years

The current default copyright term is the author's life plus an additional 70 years.

 

Creative Commons Licenses

Creative Commons Licenses respect intellectual property rights while making it easier to legally and ethically share, alter or build upon the work of others. With a creative commons license a creator can let others know if and how they want their work reused or altered.

The six different creative commons licenses.