For more information and questions about copyright, contact the Copyright Officer, Stephanie Towery, or check out the resources available at the Texas State Copyright Office and the Copyright Research Guide.

Using copyrighted material in your online course may create legal trouble that could result in heavy fines and embarrassment for you and the university. Following these guidelines will help you model best practices for your students.

Do I Need to Request Permission?

Maybe – it will depend on the circumstances every time.

You won’t have to ask permission if you are using something that doesn’t have a copyright – such as something in the public domain or something that isn’t protected by copyright, such as data or a short phrase or title

You might be able to rely on various exceptions to the Copyright Act, such as Section 110(1) which allows use of copyrighted work in face-to-face teaching*, or Section 108, which allows you to receive a copy of a copyrighted work from another library for your research.

If the other exceptions don’t apply, you still might be able to rely on the right to fair use, which allows you to use copyrighted work in some circumstances without permission or attribution.

*Important note: The rules for online courses are very different to those for face-to-face, so it always worth checking copyright!

How do I request permission?

Go directly to the copyright owner and request permission. You can send them an email describing your use and identifying the work. Here is an example of how you might word your request:

Subject: Permission to use [title of work]

Good morning,

I am teaching at Texas State University this fall and would like to upload a copy of [title of work] to my course, [name of course]. [Briefly describe the context of your use.]

Do I have your permission to use it?

If you don’t own the copyright to it, please let me know who to contact.

Thank you,

[Your name]

You only need their response assenting to your use – they don’t need to fill out any special release. Even someone giving you permission over the phone or in person will work – though for your protection, you should always follow up with an email summarizing and memorializing the permission.

For permission to republish images, figures, or quotes in a book, the publishers usually require more information and may charge you for the republication. They may have a form on their website that you need to fill out. Look for the form, fill it out, and submit it. You will usually need to know the following information (which your publisher should be able to provide you):

Citation/description of the work you want to use

Title and other authors of your work

Your publisher’s name

The expected date of publication

If it will be print-only, electronic-only, or both print and electronic

The distribution – for example US-only, US and Europe, or Worldwide

The expected number of copies (for print and for electronic)

Make sure you make your request as soon as you can – it will often take months to get a response from a publisher.

Funding

For reuse of images, figures, and text in your own books, chapters, and articles, you will need to find a funding source for the fees.

The Provost offers to match departmental funds upon approval. Submit the application at the link (scroll down to Subvention Support and Guidelines).

You can also write the fees into your external grant applications.

Ask me, the Copyright Officer, to help.

I can contact the rights holders and ask for permission for you.

If you need a license, I can find out how much that will cost and purchase it. For articles and book chapters for courses, University Libraries will cover the cost of the licenses.

What if I don’t know who owns the copyright?

Research!

For online images, such as photographs, use an online reverse image search to find the original posting or photographer.

For books and art, use Writers Artists and Their Copyright Holders, a database of copyright contacts for writers, artists, and prominent figures in other creative fields.

For publishers no longer in business, use Firms Out of Business is a database with information about vanished publishing concerns, literary agencies, and similar firms.

For art, contact the artist or her agent directly. For deceased artists, use Artists Rights Society.

For music, you can contact the agents for the song copyright owners and for the sound recordings. There are different agents for different uses.

For print rights, use Hal Leonard Online.

For rights to record songs, use Harry Fox Songfile.

For rights to perform or broadcast songs, use ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, and Global Music Rights.

For rights to use music in your videos, you will need to get a sync license and a master license. Use a service like Musicbed that will get you both.

What if I’m stuck? Ask a librarian. You should have a subject liaison librarian who can help, or contact the Copyright Officer for assistance.