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Using Works of Others
Fair Use Portions or Permission Required
Intellectual property (IP) rights can be confusing for those unaware of the different types of IPs. Many students, teachers, and other people often ask librarians, "Can I copy this as fair use?" Many believe that anything posted on the Web is free for the taking, when in many cases this is not so. Fair use does lawfully permit limited copying of copyrighted works. However, the amount copied which could be defended as a fair use (if called to court for copyright infringement), varies among different audiences. For example, educators or media journalists have a much wider window of fair use than for-profit commercial businesses. When there is any doubt, it is always advisable to ask for permission to copy works of others, especially when shared or distributed to multiple recipients. The three basic types of IP are copyrights, trademarks, and patents. See Types of IP Rights section for a detailed chart which provides an overview of IPs by type and legal highlights. The good news is that more works are now open and free to share such as Creative Commons and Open Access. For further details, please see the navigation drop down on this site or email YIP.