Levels of Copyright Protection
"Can I use this?" is often not a question with a clear-cut answer. This section on Licensing and Access provides basic information about important guidelines and offers links to additional resources.
We hear you asking, "How can I tell?" Here's how.
| Fair Use | "Fair Use" provides allowances for educational purposes, but it does not provide blanket protection for academics. Instructors must be careful about compliance, as must students. For more details on Fair Use, click the link to the left. |
| Open Access | "Open Access" does not mean "free of copyright restrictions." For example, PubMed Central offers free access to the articles it contains, but many of these are under some type of copyright restrictions. Click the "Open Access" link to the left for more information. |
| Copyright Symbol | Look for a copyright symbol. If you see one that looks like this  the work has a Creative Commons license. Click the "Creative Commons" link to the left for more information. |
| No Restrictions | "No Restrictions" means the item is in the public domain and can freely be used by anyone. Examples include most government-produced works and most items over 70 years old. Patent and trademark restrictions may apply. |
