December 20, 2022
Copyright/Sharing Information
K-State Research and Extension professionals tend to be generous, collaborative people. While we are often willing to share information we have created, this does not mean others have an obligation to share their creations.
Our publications are meant to be shared as a part of our educational mission. In fact, we have a statement on every one of our publications stating that they are free to be reproduced for educational purposes.
This tendency to share information sometimes leads to confusion about using the work of other people. Copyright is a form of intellectual property law. It protects the form of expression, but not facts or ideas. Unless you have information that says it is free to use, you should start by assuming that works created by others are covered by copyright protections.
If someone outside our organization puts information on the web, it does not mean that information is free to use. If you receive information as a handout at a conference, the original publisher retains the rights to that work. If you are not sure if the material is free to use, assume it is not.
Never assume information or photos you have access to are available to freely reuse. If you want to reuse materials someone else created, you have a responsibility to get permission to use copyrighted materials or to determine if the materials are available through ‘fair use.’
Fair use promotes freedom of expression by permitting the unlicensed use of copyright-protected works in limited circumstances. These circumstances generally include nonprofit and scholarly works, but this is determined on a case-by-case basis. Fair use usually dictates a work may not be used in full, but it is possible for individuals to use parts of works without explicit permission if the use falls under fair use.
To determine fair use, it is best to first see if there are alternative materials available in the public domain or posted with a Creative Commons License. If you want more information about fair use, Purdue University has a handy resource available at: https://www.lib.purdue.edu/uco/fair-use.
Copyright is not meant to scare creators away from conducting scholarly research. Getting permission is always ideal; however, with the practice of fair use you may have more options available than you previously thought. Always check the licenses and copyright on a work but know that copyright is meant to empower rather than discourage innovation and use within limits.
If it is appropriate to use someone else’s work or portions of the work, remember to properly credit the author. Even if you have the right to use someone else’s material, not citing the original source is considered plagiarism.
If you would like to learn more about determining what materials are free to share or how to better navigate issues surrounding copyright, there are tools available on the K-State Library website (https://lib.k-state.edu/services-support/scholarly-communication/) that will help you determine if you can use material and more information about fair use and plagiarism.
Although I work with these issues, I am not a lawyer, and this should not be considered legal advice. Because serious violations of copyright regulations have serious consequences, when in doubt, it may be best to seek advice from a lawyer.
Thanks to Gwendolyn Sibley, scholarly communications and copyright librarian, for her collaboration and review of this article.