Copyright for Faculty

If a work is within the public domain there are no ownership rights associated with it. Anyone may reproduce, redistribute, or adapt the work and there is no longer a need to seek permission for its use.

This particular statute does not define public domain, but does explain the conditions necessary for copyright protection, the types of works that are eligible for protection, the rights of copyright holders and the exceptions to these exclusive rights."

In 1989 the United States joined Europe at the Berne Convention, where it was decided that registration for copyright will no longer be needed- all works of a fixed, creative manner are copyrighted automatically.  Thus, the Copyright logo © is not needed (and sometimes not used) on items that do have copyright. 

Copyright is automatically granted at the time a new work is created, including  works of literature, music, photography and images, and other creative works. Registration or attaching a copyright notice to a work is not required.

Under 17 USCS section 102 the following is protected:

• Literature
• Music and lyrics
• Drama
• Pantomime and dance
• Pictures, graphics, sculpture
• Films
• Sound Recordings
• Architecture
• Software

"(a) Copyright protection subsists, in accordance with this title, in original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression, now known or later developed, from which they can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device.

"(b) In no case does copyright protection for an original work of authorship extend to any idea, procedure, process, system, method of operation, concept, principle, or discovery, regardless of the form in which it is described, explained, illustrated, or embodied in such work."

(U.S. Copyright Office)

Never Published, Never Registered Works

Works Registered or Published in the US