Copyright & Licensing

Copyright

a protection given to authors and inventors to have exclusive rights to what they create for a limited time (they have a "limited" monopoly of their work) ... so no one else can do the following without asking their permission: 1) make copies; 2) make derivative works; 3) distribute copies; 4) perform works publicly; 5) display works publicly; and 6) perform works publicly via digital transmission.

[The Congress shall have Power . . . ] To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries. (US Constitution - Article I, Section 8, Clause 8)

• Baylor Copyright Guide

• Baylor Copyright Pages for Students

• Copyright Basics (Copyright Society of the USA)

Licensing

permission you get from the copyright holder to exercise one of their exclusive rights (many times this requires a fee)

• Copyright & License Terms & Definitions (Copyright Society of the USA)

• Guide to Performing Rights Organizations

  • Performing Rights Organizations in US = ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC.

Fair Use

the exemption to exercise one or more of the creators exclusive rights without getting permission for educational or scholarly purposes ... but you must go through a fair use analysis to make sure each specific use falls under "fair use" or not

• Cornell Fair Use Checklist

• Drummond, Tim. “Understanding Copyright and Fair Use in the Music Classroom.” Music Educators Journal 102, no. 2 (December 2015): 48–53.

Creative Commons

tools to help people share their work = the creator giving certain permissions rather than the user having to seek out the permissions from the creator

• What Creative Commons Licenses Do

Public Domain

once the "limited" monopoly of copyright is up, works fall into the public domain (so you do not need to seek permission from the copyright holder to exercise any of the rights that fall under copyright ... but you must still cite the work to avoid plagiarism

Plagiarism

to present someone else's work as if it were created by you