Educational Resources
Expert Guidance for Librarians
Information and Tools
This curated set of resources provides additional information and tools you may find useful. If you have questions about these resources, please reach out to us by clicking on the Contact Us link above.
Copyright Education
Explore peer-reviewed articles and research-based strategies addressing the evolving landscape of scholarly communication. Our resources help educators manage digital rights and institutional policy in an era of rapid technological change.
Article
What Qualifies as Creativity Authorship, Generative AI and Copyright
By Kevin L. Smith
Generative artificial intelligence poses a significant challenge to traditional notions of authorship. This article examines some of those issues through the lens of copyright law.
Book Chapter
But I Cited It! Best Practices in Teaching the One-Shot Copyright Instruction Session for Undergraduate Students A chapter in Copyright Conversations: Rights Literacy in a Digital World
By Melanie Kowalski (Emory University) and Lisa Macklin (Emory University)
Generation Z students are tech-savvy, entrepreneurial digital natives who expect instant access to information. Despite their digital proficiency, they often lack a fundamental understanding of copyright laws and fair use.
Decision-making
Utilise practical frameworks and risk-assessment strategies to navigate complex legal questions in the library environment. These resources provide clear, step-by-step guidance for managing large-scale digitization and determining the boundaries of fair use in institutional projects.
Document
Framework for Analyzing Any Copyright Question
by Kevin Smith and Lisa Macklin
The document lays out a five‑question framework to help educators and librarians analyze any copyright issue by determining whether a work is protected, whether exceptions or licenses apply, and whether fair use or permission is required. It emphasizes working through these questions in order to identify the relevant parts of copyright law and encourages users to apply the framework confidently after completing the course.
Article
Copyright Risk Management: Principles and Strategies for Large-Scale Digitization Projects in Special Collections (p. 17)
by Kevin Smith
Librarians often avoid digitizing collections with uncertain copyright status, but Kevin L. Smith argues that copyright risks should be managed using practical strategies like identifying public domain materials, seeking permissions, implementing take-down policies, and relying on fair use. This approach enables libraries to expand digital access while responsibly reducing legal risks.
Library Administration
Strengthen your institutional leadership with resources focused on the financial and structural realities of modern libraries. This section offers expert perspectives on managing sustainable budgets, navigating personnel challenges, and aligning library operations with the broader goals of scholarly communication.
Document
Thoughts on Library Budgets
by Lisa Macklin
This document explains how academic library budgets function by outlining the differences between one‑time and recurring funds, sources of surpluses, restrictions on grants and endowments, and the complexities of managing collections and personnel lines. It also describes how libraries navigate budget cuts, emphasizing the human impact of reducing services, positions, or hours.
Publication and Open Access
Discover resources and legal templates designed to modernize scholarly communication and publishing agreements. From Open Access initiatives to digital scholarship contracts, we provide the frameworks necessary for sustainable research dissemination.
Document
Model Publishing Contract for Digital Scholarship
by Lisa Macklin
The Model Publishing Contract for Digital Scholarship provides a standardized legal framework and contract templates to help authors and university presses manage the complexities of long-form digital research. Supported by the Mellon Foundation, the site aims to modernize publishing agreements for scholarship in a networked environment.
Massive Open Online Courses
MOOCS
Our curated collection of articles and documents offers expert analysis on the legal challenges facing modern libraries. These resources provide actionable guidance to help leaders navigate copyright complexities, generative AI, and organizational strategy with confidence.
Copyright for Educators & Librarians
- 4.8
- 5 Modules
- 14 Hours
- 11 Assignments
- Shareable Certificate
Fear and uncertainty about copyright law often plagues educators and sometimes prevents creative teaching. This course is a professional development opportunity designed to provide a basic introduction to US copyright law and to empower teachers and librarians at all grade levels. Course participants will discover that the law is designed to help educators and librarians.
Module 1 - Welcome to Copyright Law
Our goal is to provide participants with a practical framework for analyzing copyright issues that they encounter in their professional work. We use a lot of real life examples—some of them quite complex and amusing—to help participants get used to the systematic analysis of copyright problems. This course is intentionally a first step toward bridging the gulf that is often perceived between desirable educational practice and legal permissible activities. We very much hope that this course will be a service to the library and education community, and that it provides a relatively fun and painless way to go deeper into copyright than the average presentation or short workshop allows. If you enjoy this course and would like to learn more about copyright in multimedia, that course will soon be available!
Module 2 - A Framework for Thinking About Copyright
In the U.S., copyright is first and foremost a federal law passed by Congress under authority given it by the Constitution, where it says that Congress is allowed to pass laws to (among other things) promote the progress of science and the useful arts by securing for limited time to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writing and discoveries. This authorization allows Congress to adopt both copyright laws which protect creative expression, and patent laws, which are very different and provide exclusive rights in inventions. In this unit we will examine what is copyright and how it happens.
Module 3 - Owning Rights
For this module, we will discuss copyright ownership and what it means in an educational context. We will also discuss the public domain, the first sale doctrine, and the idea/expression dichotomy. This last concept—that creative expression can be copyrighted, but that the ideas behind it cannot—is one of Anne’s favorite topics in copyright law. As you’ll see in the video, the concept is applicable to many subjects and situations.
Module 4 - Specific Exceptions for Teachers and Librarians
This module will cover specific exceptions in copyright law for libraries and educational instruction as outlined in Section 110(1) of the U.S. Copyright Law. The module will examine how this law applies to in-class and online instruction as well as library lending. Additionally, it will explore different licenses for those working in educational institutions and libraries, including the specifics of Creative Commons. Finally, we discuss identifying and requesting permissions for use of copyrighted material.
Module 5 - Understanding and Using Fair Use
Fair Use is one of the most powerful aspects of U.S. copyright law for educators and librarians. In this module, we help students define Fair Use and understand where and in what contexts the law applies. We also address international aspects of copyright.
Copyright for Multimedia
- 4.6
- 5 Modules
- 12 Hours
- 12 Assignments
- Shareable Certificate
Copyright analysis for multimedia is complex due to legal distinctions across different media types. This course addresses these challenges by exploring format-specific exceptions, fair use, and permission nuances. Ultimately, participants will gain a robust framework to confidently make informed copyright decisions in their professional roles.
Module 1 - Introduction and Getting Started
Copyright questions about different formats – data, images, music and video – can be especially difficult. Sometimes the law specifically distinguishes between these different formats, and in most cases there are media-specific considerations that impact a copyright analysis. In this course we will look at four different media types, paying special attention to the unique issues for each one and the kinds of information that are important when making copyright decisions. We will work through fair use issues for each multimedia format, look at specific exceptions in the law, and consider unique issues for seeking permission for film, music, images and data. At the end of this course, participants will have a deeper understanding of how to apply our framework for making copyright decisions, and will be more comfortable with assessing multimedia issues.
Module 2 - Data
Data can refer to many different types of materials, and the copyright situation is different depending on what particular type of data is meant. In this module we will consider the different potential types of data, the rights associated with each one, and the copyright considerations involved when using data. We will look carefully at how fair use applies in various data-use situations.
Module 3 - Images
Those who create or use works of visual arts benefit from an understanding copyright protections and exemptions. Topics covered in this module include which works of visual arts get copyright protection, what special rights are afforded artists under the Visual Artists Rights Act (VARA), how to apply the TEACH Act and fair use to images, and what steps to take if you need to seek permission. Finally, some attention will be given to social media, implied licenses that can arise when posting and using images, and privacy.
Module 4 - Music and Audio
Copyright for music, and especially for recording music, is extremely complicated and difficult to untangle. In this module we will explore the multiple rights that must be accounted for in almost every musical composition or recording. We will pay special attention to the multitude of licenses that come in to play when creating or using music. Exceptions for using music in teaching will be covered, and we will examine fair use considerations for different musical situations in detail. This is a module that has important implications for musicians, music teachers, librarians, and all those who want to use or reuse music.
Module 5 - Film and Video
Copyright issues for film tend to be complicated because of the number of creators and creative works that come together to make them. In this module, students will learn to apply the fundamentals of copyright with regard to film. Topics covered include identification of the various rights and rights holders involved in many films, the role of copyright exceptions when creating or using film in educational settings, and when and how to seek permission to make use of copyrighted material in films.