Copyright

Jane the librarian educates her university colleagues about copyright law and its impact on the academic institution’s use of intellectual property.

The U.S. Copyright Code provides for the educational use of copyrighted material without the permission of the copyright holder under certain conditions. Use this tool to find out if your intended use meets the requirements set out in the law.

Complete and attach this addendum to the standard publisher's agreement to reserve key rights to your work. This has been approved by MUSC legal counsel for use.

Traditionally, authors have transferred the copyrights of their work to publishers to get their work in the printed literature. The SPARC Author Addendum is a legal instrument that modifies the publisher's agreement and allows you to keep key rights to your articles.

In general, when using the work of others you must first determine if copyright permission is required. If the work is protected by copyright law, is not in the public domain and does not meet the criteria for fair use or another specific exception in the copyright law, you must obtain permission from the copyright holder or its agent in order to reproduce or reuse the work.