copyright essay text

Copyright Examples

by Masha Komnenic CIPP/E, CIPM, CIPT, FIP

February 3, 2023

Copyright law automatically protects your original materials and helps prevent theft and other unauthorized uses. But posting a copyright disclaimer on your website or app informs users that you know the law and retain certain rights over your content.

Continue reading to learn more about copyright notices and why you might need to post one on your website or app. Then, we’ll look at real-life copyright examples and teach you how to write your own copyright notice.

What Is a Copyright?

• Copyright Examples & Types

Do You Need a Copyright Notice?

Benefits of a copyright, can you copyright ai-generated content, how to write a copyright notice, how and where to display a copyright notice, copyright notice examples, copyright faq.

A copyright is the exclusive legal right over how original content or materials you’ve made get copied, shared, reproduced, printed, performed, or published by others.

In other words, copyright provides you with exclusive rights to:

• Reproduce your work
• Distribute or sell your work
• Display or perform your work publicly
• Create derivative works based on the original work

It also allows you to authorize or restrict others in exercising these rights, further protecting your original works if they’re ever stolen or plagiarized.

A copyright usually consists of the following four components, which we’ll discuss in more detail later in the article:

• Copyright symbol © or the word “copyright”
• Year the material was published
• Name of the copyright owner
• What rights are retained by the copyright

Some examples of copyrighted works include:

• Photography
• Choreography
• Sound clips

Copyright Laws Around the World

Copyright laws vary around the world, and there is no global version of copyright, but many countries are part of the Berne Convention , which deals with protecting original works and the authors’ rights over them.

Established in 1886, countries under this convention agree to recognize a set of legal principles for protecting original content across country borders.

However, there are subtle differences in how copyright law works in each location, so we’ll briefly touch upon the relevant laws in the following countries, all of which are part of the Berne Convention:

• The United States
• The United Kingdom
• The European Union (EU)

Copyright in the US

In the US, your original materials are protected by copyright law as soon as you create something and release it publicly, even if you don’t post a copyright notice.

But if you want to ensure further protection of your works and potentially limit paying costly legal fees down the road, adding a copyright notice to your content may help deter:

• Copyright infringement
• Unauthorized reproduction, distribution, or displaying of copyrighted materials

You may also choose to register your copyright with the US Copyright Office .

Copyright in the UK

Copyright laws in the UK protect your original materials automatically. You do not have to apply for protection, register your work, or pay any fees for the law to protect your original creations, including:

• Literary works
• Dramatic works
• Works of art

Copyright in the EU

In the EU, copyright applies to your intellectual property until 70 years after your death or 70 years after the death of the last surviving author in cases of joint authorship.

But in the EU, there is no equivalent “fair use” doctrine, like in the US. Instead, there is a list of explicit exceptions that cover specific scopes.

Copyright in Australia

Like in the US, UK, and EU, Australia’s copyright law protects your creative works the moment you put your creative idea on paper, online, or any other form of documentation.

You do not need to register your work, as the protection is free and automatic under Australia’s Copyright Act 1968 .

Copyright in Canada

As of 2022, copyright in Canada applies to your work automatically and lasts the author’s lifetime plus 70 years past their death.

Previously, the protection only lasted for 50 years past the author’s death.

What Is the Difference Between a Copyright and a Trademark?

The difference between a copyright and a trademark is the type of content each notice protects — trademarks apply to logos, slogans, and brand identity. In contrast, copyright applies to original tangible materials and creative works.

You technically own a trademark as soon as you start using a name or brand identity along with your goods or service, making it similar to how copyright law works.

While you’re not legally required to register your trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) , doing so gives you broader rights and protections than when left unregistered.

For example, registering your trademark in the US grants you national recognition and creates nationwide rights.

Once registered, you can use the trademark symbol, which looks like an R with a circle around it: ®

But if your trademark is unregistered, you must use the abbreviation ‘TM’. However, if you’re trademarking a service, you may also use the initials’ SM’, meaning service mark, but both are still referred to as trademarks.

You can use the logo or abbreviations whenever you use your trademarked identity, as shown in the example screenshot below from the official International Olympics website .

However, if you prefer, you may also format it as superscript or subscript text.

Copyright Examples & Types

There are technically two types of copyright examples, one allows you to reuse copyrighted materials in specific ways for “fair use” purposes without the owners’ permission, and the other protects your content from reuse or reproduction as the owner of the work.

Let’s go over each type of copyright example in a little more detail in the following sections.

Copyrighting Works of Creative Expression

According to the US Copyright Office, copyright applies to all original works of creative expression captured in a tangible form and goes to the work’s original creator, who can choose to sell their rights to other parties.

Some examples of works that can be copyrighted include:

• Architectural works
• Sound recordings
• Audiovisual works — including motion pictures
• Dramatic works — including any accompanying music
• Musical works — including any accompanying words
• Choreographic works

That said, there are limitations to the types of work this protection applies to.

The following examples of content aren’t protected by copyright:

• Ideas, methods, systems, concepts, or discoveries
• Works that don’t have a tangible form (i.e., not captured in a physical medium)
• Titles, names, slogans
• Familiar symbols or designs
• Variations of typefaces or lettering
• Ingredient lists

“Fair Use” and Section 107 of the Copyright Act

You are allowed to legally reproduce or reuse certain aspects of a copyrighted work without the owners’ explicit permission for the following reasons, which qualify as “fair use” under section 107 of the Copyright Act :

• Commentary — i.e., copying paragraphs from a news article, scientific paper, or medical journal for educational purposes
• Criticism — i.e., quoting song lyrics or summarizing movie scenes for a critical review
• Parody — i.e., mimicking, making light of, or satirizing something in a comedic way

If you’re using someone else’s content for “fair use” purposes, it’s in your best interest to post a copyright disclaimer or a fair use disclaimer stating as much to help prevent an unfair or unnecessary copyright strike.

However, a disclaimer cannot guarantee that you won’t receive an unfair strike.

For this reason, we recommend getting explicit permission from the copyright owner to use their materials whenever possible.

While “fair use” copyrights are essential in many cases, the focus of this guide is primarily on the copyright that applies to protecting your usage rights over original content.

While you don’t legally need a copyright notice for the law to cover your original works, it’s a best practice to put a disclaimer on all your published materials for the following reasons:

• Reason #1: Having a copyright notice posted on your website or app helps add an extra layer of protection if infringement does occur because you can prove that the infringer should’ve seen the copyright and been aware that your content was protected
• Reason #2: Copyright notices are very quick and easy to make and typically consist of four concise components
• Reason #3: Including one acts as a visual reminder to your users that your work is protected by copyright, and users may assume otherwise if they do not see a notice
• Reason #4: A visible copyright reduces the chances of copyright infringement because it proves that you’re aware of the law and are willing to follow through on your rights if anyone misuses your work

It’s also in your best interest to post a fair use copyright notice if you’re reusing someone else’s copyrighted materials for commentary, criticism, or parody purposes.

While it can’t prevent someone from submitting an unfair copyright strike against you, it may help reduce the chances.

There are several benefits to including a copyright on your website or app:

• They’re quick and easy to make and publish
• They provide an extra layer of protection over your intellectual property
• Adding one now may help save you thousands of dollars in legal fees down the road

Let’s go over these benefits together in a little more detail.

Copyrights Are Quick and Easy To Make

Making a copyright for your website or app is very quick and easy, so there’s little to no reason not to include one to remind users that you own the rights over your content.

There are only four simple components you need to include:

• The copyright symbol © or the word “copyright”
• The name of the copyright owner or author of the work
• The year the content was published, which can be different from the year of creation
• Your statement of the rights you’re reserving over the materials

This screenshot labels all four copyright components from the United Parcel Service’s (UPS) website.

As you can see, they used both the copyright symbol and the word “copyright”, included a range of years, named themselves as the copyright owner, and reserved all rights.

We recommend you post a copyright notice in the footer of your website, like how UPS did it above. It’s fast, easy, and helps protect your materials better.

Copyrights Provide Extra Protection

Including a copyright notice protects your creations because it gives you something to point to as proof of ownership. It also helps you prove that any offenders should’ve seen the statement and been aware of the rights you retained over the materials.

Plus, not all users know about copyright laws. If they don’t see a notice, they might wrongfully believe they can freely use your materials when that is not legally the case.

Copyrights May Help Save You Money in Legal Fees

A copyright notice is usually free to post on your website or app and may reduce the number of copyright infringement cases you experience — that’s much cheaper than waiting until you have to rely on a lawyer.

In 2022, the average cost of a lawyer specializing in intellectual property cases averaged $342 an hour. ( Statista )

You may be wondering if you need to copyright AI-generated content — or if it’s even possible to copyright it in the first place.

Since this technology is advancing rapidly, many businesses are turning to artificial intelligence to help jump-start tasks to save time, like writing emails with AI or generating customized business logos created by AI for their brand.

Currently, government entities are still debating if such content falls under copyright laws or not. Some suggest that because a machine and not a human created it, it cannot fall under these copyright laws.

Others suggest that because AI models are created and influenced by humans, the content may fall under derivative work. Derivative works are creations based on an original piece of copyrightable content.

In Spring 2023, the U.S. Copyright Office held multiple listening sessions discussing this topic and released guidance on the matter. According to their AI Policy Guidance , when submitting a copyright application, you must disclose what portions of the content come from an AI and which portions were created by a human. The AI contributions cannot be copyrighted unless they’re de minimis — a fancy way of saying trivial or minor.

So, for now, play it safe and add a copyright disclaimer that clearly explains what portions of your materials were created by humans versus what was generated by an AI or machine learning model.

To write your own copyright notice, you must include some or all four of the following components in this order:

• The year the material was published — you may include a range of years if your content is regularly updated, and this can be different from the creation date
• The name of the copyright owner — this can be an individual, multiple people, an organization, or a business
• Your statement of rights you wish to retain over your materials — some, all, or none

What do the different statements of rights mean?

• All rights reserved: You own and retain all rights to your work
• Some rights reserved: You allow the use of your materials under certain circumstances, which you should specify in an intellectual property rights clause somewhere on your site, like in your terms and conditions agreement
• No rights reserved: You release your work into the public domain

Putting the statement of your rights in your copyright is optional. If you don’t add it, then it’s legally assumed you retain all rights .

Your copyright notice should be displayed conspicuously so that anyone who views your work knows that it’s copyrighted.

The placement of your copyright notice depends on the type of work or content you’re putting your notice on, but we suggest the following locations:

• In the footer of your website
• Mobile app description pages, purchase pages, or within the app itself
• In your email footer
• On any downloadable materials

Let’s discuss why these are good places to include your copyright in more detail in the next sections.

Copyright in Your Website Footer

The most common place to put a copyright notice is the footer of your website, so we recommend including it there, as this is where users expect to find it.

We recommend using a visible, readable font and including as many of the components you feel are necessary to establish ownership of your content.

In the screenshot below, see a copyright example from the footer of the Starbucks website.

Copyright in Your Mobile Apps

For app developers, you should include a copyright on the description or purchase pages of any app store that hosts your product so users see it before downloading and accessing your services.

Below, see a copyright example from Ulysses, a one-stop writing app hosted in the Apple App Store.

Copyright in Your Email Footers

If you send marketing emails to your consumers that contain product updates, videos, imagery, or written materials you don’t want to be copied and reproduced, include a copyright in the footer of all of your emails.

Take, for example, the copyright from Apple’s iCloud marketing emails, pictured for you below.

Copyright on Downloadable Materials

If you want to protect content you allow users to download, include a copyright notice on the document or product.

By doing so, you ensure that anyone who accesses the downloaded versions of your materials knows it’s protected by copyright law.

Additional Copyright Locations

There are some other examples of standard copyright notice placements for various works, like:

• Books or ebooks often have a copyright page at the beginning or end of the book
• Photos and other forms of digital art often have a copyright near the bottom of the work or a watermarked label
• YouTube videos often have a copyright notice in the video description or video credits

But it’s important to note that you can’t just slap a copyright on whatever you want and expect it to legally protect you — there are exceptions, like fashion or personal styles, commonly known information, or anything considered an idea, method, or system.

Now let’s look at some real examples of copyright notices, which we’ll break down into the four relevant components mentioned above.

Pixar’s Copyright Example

In the screenshot below, see the components included in Pixar’s copyright , which is in their website footer and follows the standard copyright format.

As you can see, they include the following copyright components in their notice:

• They use the © symbol
• 1986-2023 is the range of dates covered by their copyright
• Disney/Pixar is the name of the copyright owner
• There is no statement of rights , which means they reserve all rights over their property

Like the Pixar copyright example, your statement can include a range of years if you’ve expanded or updated your content since the original publication date.

In the following screenshot, you can view the clause Pixar includes in their terms of use agreement that expands upon their copyright and lists all intellectual property it covers.

We also recommend including a similar clause in your terms of use agreement.

It helps answer any questions users might have about what your copyright covers and explains the legality of reusing, redistributing, or copying your content.

The Yale University Art Gallery Copyright Example

Next, let’s look at a copyright example from the website footer of the Yale University Art Gallery, screenshotted below and labeled based on the four components.

Yale clearly includes all four components in their copyright notice:

• They use the word “copyright” and the © symbol
• The copyrighted year is 2023
• The name of the copyright owner is the Yale University Art Gallery
• They have reserved all rights

Yale also links their terms and conditions directly under their copyright. When clicked on, you can navigate to a copyright page that informs users that they trademarked their branding, as shown below.

As the highlighted text above explains, the Yale-specific trademarked branding and materials cannot be reproduced except to provide attribution.

The notice then goes on to explain that they participate in an open access policy regarding photos in their art collection that are now part of the public domain, also shown for you below.

The copyright statement specifies that some of the images from the site are part of the public domain, meaning they’re free for anyone to use.

Like this example copyright notice, you can add an “All rights reserved” statement to your copyright footer to declare full ownership over your content, then link to a copyright notice page or your terms and conditions agreement to provide more information about the specific or nuanced details.

Costco’s Copyright Example

Another great example of a copyright page comes from Costco, who posts the following copyright notice in their website’s footer.

To translate this into the four primary components of a copyright, Costco:

• Uses the © symbol
• Puts the date range 1998-2023
• Names themselves, Costco Wholesale Corporation, as the owner
• Retain all rights over their property

Within their terms and conditions, they include a copyright page that expands upon their notice even further, providing users with a way to report potential copyright claims and explaining what they’ve also trademarked.

You should also consider providing a way for your users to notify you about suspected copyright infringement, similar to how Costco does it.

Your consumers might spot breaches you miss, which helps you take care of unwanted reproduction of your materials more efficiently.

If you still have questions, we’ve got more answers. In the next section, check out some of the most frequently asked questions we get about copyrights.

Do I need a copyright?

You don’t need to post a copyright for your original work to be protected by copyright law, but using one can act as a warning to others and help prevent people from stealing or misusing your work.

Why should I use a copyright?

You should use a copyright notice to inform others about what rights you’re retaining over your materials, to prevent people from misusing or stealing your work, and to potentially avoid expensive legal fees down the road.

Can I copy someone’s copyright notice?

No, do not copy someone else’s copyright notice, as it won’t have the correct information to apply to your work. Instead, make your own copyright that includes the following details:

• The word ‘copyright’ or the © symbol
• The year you published the materials
• Name of the copyright owner or author
• What rights you’re reserving

Where do I put my copyright?

Put your copyright in the footer of your website or app, on the description page of any app stores that host your service, in the footer of any marketing emails you send, and on any downloadable materials you publish.

What types of copyrights are there?

There are two types of copyrights: one protects content you own from being reused or reproduced without your permission, and the other allows you to reuse other copyrighted materials without the owners’ permission for “fair use” purposes.

Commentary, criticism, and parody are considered “fair use”.

All of the following are types of copyrightable materials:

• Musical works
• Dramas or performances
• Branding and designs

What are some examples of copyrighted materials?

Some examples of copyrighted materials include:

• Written works
• Images or photography
• Graphic designs and branding
• Plays or dramatic works

In countries part of the Berne Convention, copyright laws ensure that your creative works are covered the moment they’re created, keeping your content safe from theft and copyright infringement.

But even though copyright laws protect original materials typically without requiring you to also post a disclaimer, it’s in your best interest to put a copyright notice somewhere on your website or app to:

• Inform others that you intend to retain all rights over your content
• Clearly show that your work requires authorization for use

This strengthens your protection over your original materials and might help you avoid potential legal fees by discouraging copyright infringement before it starts.

More about the author

Written by masha komnenic cipp/e, cipm, cipt, fip.

Generate a FREE Disclaimer

Related articles, can i copy terms and conditions.

July 1, 2024 Etienne Cussol CIPP/E, CIPM

Product Disclaimer: Examples & Guide

June 21, 2024 Masha Komnenic CIPP/E, CIPM, CIPT, FIP

Which Laws Does Termly Cover?

June 7, 2024 Etienne Cussol CIPP/E, CIPM

Fair Use Disclaimer Examples & Guide

February 20, 2024 Masha Komnenic CIPP/E, CIPM, CIPT, FIP

Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: Template & Examples

February 14, 2024 Masha Komnenic CIPP/E, CIPM, CIPT, FIP

Affiliate Disclosure: Examples & Writing Guide

February 12, 2024 Masha Komnenic CIPP/E, CIPM, CIPT, FIP

What Is an Impressum and Do You Need One? (with Examples)

February 6, 2024 James Ó Nuanáin, CIPP/E, CIPM, CIPT

Medical Disclaimer Examples

February 1, 2024 Masha Komnenic CIPP/E, CIPM, CIPT, FIP

Website Checklist for Data Privacy and Security

June 15, 2023 James Ó Nuanáin, CIPP/E, CIPM, CIPT

Explore more resources

How to Write & Use a Copyright Notice Correctly

Copyright is a form of intellectual property that serves to protect original work – this can take many forms, which we will explore below.

The creator of the work is usually the copyright owner and that individual (or company) is given exclusive rights over their work.

While intellectual property laws are country-specific, the importance of protecting original creations is widely recognized worldwide.

Copyright generally gives the creator and owner the exclusive right to reproduce, distribute, display, and make adaptations to their work. This right does expire after a few years, which vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, after which the work becomes part of the public domain.

Table of Contents

PRO TIP: Don’t waste your time and take the guesswork out of the legal jargon with this personalized DMCA policy generator trusted by over 200,000 businesses.

What is a Copyright Notice?

A copyright notice is a statement used to warn your users or readers that the work that they are consuming is your intellectual property and that you hold rights to it.

In other words, its purpose is to publicly state and claim ownership of the original work that you have created and its related rights.

A copyright notice is usually fairly simple and consists of the word “copyright” or the associated symbol, the name of the owner, and the year of first publication or creation. We will dissect a typical copyright notice and provide examples below.

Do You Need to Register Your Copyright?

No, you do not need to register your copyright for it to exist. It is free and automatically arises with the simple creation of your work – no formalities are required.

However, you may choose to do so to make it easier to enforce your rights should you wish to bring forward a copyright infringement lawsuit against a perpetrator and claim financial damages.

For example, in the United States one must register their copyright with the  U.S. Copyright Office  in order to be able to enforce their rights in court should there be an infringement.

In some countries, including the United States, registration might also affect the amount of money that you could receive in damages as well as allow you to recover attorney fees.

Lastly, having it registered on a publicly-accessible database could make it easier for someone to get in touch with the owner of the copyright to request permission to use the content.

In other words, registration is simply an extra step that you can take to create a public record of your ownership. Note, however, that registration is not possible in all countries and that you must therefore refer to national laws and processes for more details.

Are Copyright Notices Legally Required?

The short answer is no.

Legally, you do not need to have a copyright notice displayed on your work for your rights to exist, be protected, and be enforceable.

Copyright automatically arises from the moment original work is created and lasts for a certain number of years, which varies depending on your jurisdiction.

Under the  Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works , as a general rule (and there are some exceptions), the duration of protection given should be the life of the author plus an additional 50 years. However, countries do have some flexibility and some have decided to grant longer durations according to the type of content created.

In the United States, for example, work created on or after January 1, 1978, is protected by copyright for the duration of the life of the author plus 70 years.

Who Needs a Copyright Notice and What Types of Content Should Have One?

Anyone who produces proprietary or original content would be wise to have a copyright statement as, while it is not legally required, it is a simple solution and, as always, it is better to be safe than sorry.

As mentioned above, any type of original content that you create on a tangible medium (therefore allowing it to be reproduced or shared) would benefit from having a copyright notice stating your ownership of said content.

This includes books, poetry, films and movies, songs or sound recordings, architectural works, software, blog posts, website content, or art, among others.

What are the Benefits of Copyright Notices?

Having a copyright notice in place makes it clear to your users that the content is your own and lets you decide which rights you wish to keep over your work. You could specifically mention that it should not be shared, reproduced, or modified without your permission.

Should someone  infringe your copyright , you could specifically mention in court that they should have known better as you had put them on notice.

While there is no guarantee that having a copyright notice will actually help your case, it could make it harder for the copyright infringer to claim ignorance and potentially be an argument for you to claim more damages.

For that reason, copyright notices are often used as a deterrent against unauthorized use.

Moreover, having a clear copyright notice on your content makes it easier for someone to contact you and request your permission to use your work legally.

How to Write a Copyright Notice Correctly?

A copyright notice should include the following elements:

Copyright Symbol

Most of us are familiar with the copyright symbol, as it appears wherever we look on the Internet or whenever we open a book or a magazine.

Graphic design platform  Canva  uses the copyright symbol:

You may also choose to use the actual word “copyright” as  Thinkific  does in the footer of their homepage:

Copyright Date

As you will have noticed from the examples above, a year is mentioned in the copyright notice. This is the year of publication and not necessarily the date on which the work was created.

American newspaper  The New York Times  displays the following notice on their homepage, on which its columnists share daily news and opinions:

Other websites store content that dates back a few years as well as content that is frequently updated. In that case, the copyright notice can cover a period of a few years by using a date range.

Here is the statement that appears on online classified ads website  Kijiji ’s website:

And on  Copyblogger ’s website – note that it uses both the copyright symbol and the word itself as well as a date range:

Copyright Author’s Name

Your statement should include the name of the person or organization that has created or that legally holds the copyright over the content that you wish to protect.

Luxury retailer  Nordstrom  names its company as the copyright owner:

Copyright Statement of Rights

This is where you, as the copyright owner, specify which rights you wish to retain over your work.

We frequently see the words “All Rights Reserved” but, sometimes, the expressions “Some Rights Reserved” or “No Rights Reserved” are used.

By using “all rights reserved” the owner of the copyright makes it clear that they wish to retain all rights given to them under the law.

By using “some rights reserved” they inform users that they wish to share limited and designated usage rights with the public – usually under the condition that appropriate credit is given to the owner.

This is an interesting option for people that want to see their work shared, adapted, or reused by the general public. It is also useful to specify or restrict the circumstances under which the work can be used.

For example, you could say that your work can be shared and reproduced but for non-commercial use only.

This principle was developed by a non-profit organization called  Creative Commons  that wanted to encourage and make it easier for people to share their academic and creative work with the world all while retaining ownership and some rights over their creations.

The  Human Rights Data Analysis Group  displays the mention “some rights reserved” on its homepage and offers the following explanation:

Conversely, by using “no rights reserved” the creator is putting their work out into the public domain as much as legally possible by waiving their rights under copyright law.

This content is usually identifiable by the  following symbol :

This is often used in cases where the copyright owner wants as many people as possible to benefit from their work, for example, historical institutions and museums, researchers, or academic institutions.

Where to Display Your Copyright Notice?

There are no specific rules as to where exactly you should display your copyright statement. However, you should make sure that it is clear and conspicuous so that your users are actually put on notice.

This could mean displaying it in the:

Website Footer

This is probably the most popular way to display a copyright notice. When surfing the web, you will see that most websites have a copyright notice in the footer of their homepage. You could, of course, decide to also include your notice in the footer of every single page.

Here is how  VSCO  does it:

And  Pinterest ‘s notice does not specify which rights are reserved which, by default, means that all rights are reserved:

Terms and Conditions

Some companies choose to include a copyright notice as well as further information in  their terms of conditions .

This is the case of  IBM  which places the following statement in its terms of use:

Directly on the Image or Video

Photo sharing websites and video streaming platform users often choose to place a copyright notice in the bottom right corner of their image or video to make it clear to the public that they own copyright over that specific piece of content.

For example, here is a  photo of the Manhattan skyline  on which the copyright symbol has been affixed:

By navigating to the website, one can purchase a single-use license to be able to use this photograph in print or advertising.

These website copyright examples demonstrate that there is more than one way to make it clear to your users that you are claiming full ownership over your work.

Sample Copyright Notices

Here are some copyright notice examples from popular websites and mobile applications.

Apple  displays this copyright statement in the footer of its website; it includes all the major elements that we have seen earlier, namely the word “copyright” as well as the symbol, the publication year, the name of the copyright holder, in this case, Apple Inc., and the mention “all rights reserved”.

Video hosting and sharing platform  Vimeo  includes the following terms, again, in the footer of its website.

Since most of the website’s content is user-generated, the company also includes a hyperlink to a section of its website that is dedicated to copyright. On that page, website visitors can find the company’s full copyright policy, which includes detailed instructions as to how copyright holders should proceed to submit a request to have allegedly infringing materials available on the platform removed.

But copyright notices are not just for websites; there is original content subject to copyright in mobile applications.

Meditation and mindfulness application  Calm  includes a copyright notice in the information that appears when you search for it on the Apple App Store:

And here is how smartphone scanning app  CamScanner  displays its copyright notice inside its app (there is a section dedicated to copyright under the “About” tab):

Final Words

Having a copyright notice on your website is a simple and effective way to remind your users and emphasize the fact that you hold copyright over your work. Especially considering that it is now easier than ever in the digital age that we live in for people to make copies and repurpose content found on the Internet.

• Acceptable use policy generator
• Cookie policy generator
• Cookie consent banner plugin
• DMCA policy generator
• Disclaimer generator
• DSAR form generator
• Guest post agreement generator
• Privacy policy generator
• Refund policy generator
• Terms and conditions generator
• Perks and benefits
• Legal glossary
• Terms and privacy
• Partnerships

• Utility Menu

Office of the General Counsel

• Get Legal Services
• Copyright and Fair Use

The guide set forth below is available in PDF here: Copyright and Fair Use: A Guide for the Harvard Community .

You may also read frequently asked questions concerning copyright and privacy  for more information.

Copyright and Fair Use: A Guide for the Harvard Community

Basics of Copyright

What is copyright?

• Why is copyright necessary?

What can be copyrighted?

What does copyright protect?

Who owns the copyright?

Can a copyright be transferred to someone else?

How does a work become copyrighted?

Should I include a copyright notice or register the copyright in my work?

Can I avoid infringement by crediting the source?

When do copyrights expire, and how can I determine if an old work is still covered by copyright?

Does a copyright expire when a work goes out of print?

How do I get permission to reproduce or disseminate someone else's copyrighted work?

Does copyright apply to online materials?

What should I be aware of when I create a website?

• How do I handle linking to material licensed by Harvard? What about linking to other material?

 Fair Use of Copyrighted Material

What is "fair use"?

What is the test for fair use?

What considerations are relevant in applying the first fair use factor—the purpose and character of the use?

What considerations are relevant in applying the second fair use factor—the nature of the copyrighted work?

What considerations are relevant in applying the third fair use factor—the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole?

What considerations are relevant in applying the fourth fair use factor—the effect upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work?

How should one weigh the various factors in arriving at a determination whether there is fair use?

How does fair use apply to photocopying of course materials?

• How does fair use apply to the use of third-party materials on a course website?

What are the rules for performing a musical or literary work, or showing a film or video, in class?

  Copyright and Permissions at Harvard

• How do I determine whether copyright should be in Harvard's name?

What happens if I receive a request from someone else to copy or quote from a work that is copyrighted by "President and Fellows of Harvard College"?

Do I need permission to use or copy material that has already been copyrighted by Harvard?

• What provisions should I make when retaining an outside vendor to create a work for Harvard (sometimes known as "work for hire")?
• If I am using a commercial computer program for my work, can I make a copy for a colleague, or a copy for my computer at home so that I can work there?

Copyright © 2023 President and Fellows of Harvard College

Basics of Copyright 

Copyright is the right of an author, artist, composer, or other creator to control other’s use of their original work. Under the U.S. Copyright Act, as soon as a creator sets a work ’down in a tangible medium (like drawing on paper, recording on cassette, video on tape, or words on a website), the creator has the exclusive right to:

• To reproduce and make copies of the work;
• To prepare derivative works based on the work;
• To distribute copies of the work to the public;
• For literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works (including individual images or screenshots from audiovisual works), to display the work;
• for literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works and audiovisual works, to publicly perform the work; and
• for sound recordings, to perform them publicly through digital audio transmission.

Though there are exceptions to this rule, notably the fair use doctrine discussed below, generally unauthorized exercise of any of the above rights is copyright infringement. Note that a number of the seemingly straightforward terms in the above list are defined in odd ways in the Copyright Act. For example, “perform” means “to recite, render, play, dance, or act [the work], either directly or by means of any device or process or, in the case of a motion picture or other audiovisual work, to show its images in any sequence or to make the sounds accompanying it audible.” “Display” means “to show a copy of [the work], either directly or by means of a film, slide, television image, or any other device or process or, in the case of a motion picture or other audiovis­ual work, to show individual images nonsequentially.”

Keep in mind that a work can have multiple authors and that there can be layers of copyright. For example, in a given musical piece, one person may hold the copyright to the composition and another to the recording of the composition. A video of dancers dancing to that piece of music would have even more layers.

Copyright is the law’s attempt to reconcile two conflicting goals. On the one hand, we want to encourage creation of new and useful works by providing incentives to creators. Copyright gives an intellectual work some attributes of private property, allowing the creator to control how the work is used and to make money from it if others are willing to pay for its use.

On the other hand, we want society as a whole to benefit from new ideas and information, and so copyright protection is limited. Copyright protects only the form in which ideas and information are expressed. Copyrights expire after a certain period of time and the law allows certain limited uses of copyrighted material by others, without the creator’s permission. The most important such use is “fair use,” which is discussed below.

Broadly speaking, one can copyright any original work of authorship that can be “fixed in any tangible medium of expression,” such as written on paper, or encoded on disk or tape, or recorded on film. This includes fiction and nonfiction writings, poetry, musical compositions (words and music alike), sound recordings, photographs, paintings and drawings, sculpture, architectural works, databases, choreographic works, dramatic works, audiovisual works such as movies, and multimedia works such as those on compact discs. Software code is copyrightable as well.

Unlike a patent, the degree of creativity necessary to qualify for a copyright is very modest. Virtually any original work—even a casual letter, or a compilation of information that involves some originality in selection or arrangement, such as a directory, an anthology, or a bibliography—can be copyrighted.

Copyright protects only the form in which ideas or facts are expressed; it does not protect the ideas or facts themselves. For example, you may read a copyrighted article and appropriate its ideas or the facts it conveys into your own work without violating the copyright. However, unless fair use or another exception to copyright protection applies, you may not reproduce the actual text of the paper without permission. Another example: if you visit a museum and see a painting of a dragon breathing fire, you may paint your own painting of a dragon breathing fire, in your own way, or write about one. The painter’s rights in the first painting do not include exclusive rights to the subject matter, just the particular way in which the painter interpreted the subject matter when they put brush to paper.

Though copyright does not protect ideas, names, slogans, or short phrases, there may be other intellectual property rights in those things, including trademark and patent.

Ordinarily, the creator does. However, if the creator creates the work in the course of employment or enters into a contract to make the work, then the work is a “work made for hire,” and the employer or the contracting party owns the copyright. If two or more creators work together to make a work, they may be co-creators and jointing own the copyright in the work.

At Harvard, University policies may vary the ownership that would otherwise result under copyright law. For example, faculty often own the copyright in works they create even in the course of their employment. Harvard’s Intellectual Property Policy can be found at https://otd.harvard.edu/faculty-inventors/resources/policies-and-procedu... .

Like any other property, a copyright can be sold or given to someone else, who then becomes the owner of the copyright. A copyright is a bundle of exclusive rights, which can be transferred separately or all together. For example, an author might grant a publisher the exclusive right to publish the author’s book, while retaining other exclusive rights, such as the right to write a sequel.

A copyright owner can also retain the copyright but permit others to exercise some of the owner’s rights. For example, a photographer might permit the use of one of their photographs on a book jacket. A software company might permit customers to use its software program. In both cases, the copyright owner grants permission to use the copyrighted work and retains ownership of the copyright.

Under current law, copyright protection begins when an eligible work is fixed in a tangible medium of expression, such as by being written on paper or recorded on film. It is not necessary to register a work with the Copyright Office in Washington, D.C. to obtain copyright protection.

Although no longer required for copyright protection, ’using a copyright notice is a good idea. A notice informs others that the work is copyrighted and by whom, thus potentially deterring infringement and facilitating requests for permission. In addition, in the event another party uses the work without permission, the presence of the copyright notice will preclude that person from using a defense of innocent infringement.

A proper notice generally requires the symbol “©” or the word “Copyright,” together with the copyright holder’s name and the year of first publication—for example, “© 2023 President and Fellows of Harvard College.” This designation should appear on or near the title page in printed works, and on an early screen in electronic works.

Registration of the copyright with the Copyright Office, while not necessary unless you wish to sue for infringement, confers certain benefits—for example, making statutory damages available if you do sue—and thus may be desirable for some works. To obtain some of those benefits, you must register before the infringement commenced or within a specified period after first publication of the work. Forms and instructions for registering a copyright are available at the U.S. Copyright Office website, www.copyright.gov .

No. Copyright infringement and plagiarism are two different things. Plagiarism is the misappropriation of another’s work, passing it off as your own without indicating the source. It is possible to plagiarize a work without infringing the copyright—for example if you take another’s ideas without proper attribution, even though you do not copy the language, or you borrow from a work whose copyright has expired. Conversely, it is possible to infringe without plagiarizing. Properly citing the work you are copying does not avoid liability for infringement.

Determining whether a copyright has expired can be complicated, because the rules governing the copyright term have changed a number of times. The term of United States copyright protection will depend upon when the work was created, whether it is unpublished or published, when it was first published, and the type of work (e.g., sound recordings are treated differently because they were not covered under the 1909 Copyright Act).

For works created in 1978 or thereafter, the copyright term commences upon creation. For most works, the term continues for the life of the author plus 70 years. For pseudonymous and anonymous works, and works made for hire, the term continues until 95 years from first publication or 120 years from creation, whichever expires first.

For works created before 1978, generally the following rules apply:

Works that were created before 1978 but remained unpublished on January 1, 1978 have the same term as works created in 1978 or thereafter, as described above, with one exception: the copyright term of any such work published before the end of 2002 will not expire before the end of 2047.

Before the current Copyright Act became effective in 1978, publication of a work in the United States with a proper copyright notice conferred statutory copyright and started the copyright term. Publication of the work in the United States without a proper copyright notice placed the work in the public domain, with narrow exceptions. The same general rule continued, with somewhat broader exceptions, until March 1, 1989. Hence, for works published in the United States before 1978 (or, with more exceptions, before March 1, 1989), if there is no copyright notice, the work may be in the public domain. Be particularly careful with works of foreign origin. Special rules have restored copyright in some foreign works published in this country without proper notice.

Works that were created before 1978 and published with a proper copyright notice before 1923 are now in the public domain. Works published with a proper copyright notice from 1923 through 1963 had an initial copyright term of 28 years, which could be renewed for a second term that now extends 67 years, for a total of 95 years. For these works, a renewal filing with the Copyright Office near the end of the first term was necessary to secure the second term; if a timely filing was not made, the work fell into the public domain at the end of the first term. To determine whether the copyright was renewed, you can check with the Copyright Office in Washington (202-707-3000, or www.loc.gov/copyright/ ). Alternatively, you can find some, but not all, Copyright Office renewal records online, either at the Copyright Office website ( www.copyright.gov/records/index.html ) or in a Copyright Renewal Database made available by Stanford University ( https://collections.stanford.edu/copyrightrenewals/bin/page?forward=home ). Works published with a proper copyright notice from 1964 through 1977 also had an initial term of 28 years, with a renewal term of 67 years, for a total of 95 years, but the renewal term vested or will vest automatically at the end of the first term without any filing.

A helpful chart by Lolly Gasaway summarizing these rules in a simple way, entitled “When Works Pass into the Public Domain,” may be found at https://www.boisestate.edu/generalcounsel/copyright/copyrightbasics/law/ . A more comprehensive and detailed table by Peter Hirtle, entitled “Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States,” may be found at https://guides.library.cornell.edu/copyright/publicdomain . Footnote 1 of the Hirtle document contains references to a number of other useful resources.

Note that one work may incorporate or be based upon an earlier work. For example, with appropriate permission, a motion picture may be based on a novel, or a book may include a photograph. The copyrights remain separate. Hence, the copyright term of the earlier work is not extended by the use of that work in the later work. But the copyright notice on the later work may pertain only to the later work, which can lead to confusion about the copyright status of the earlier work. Sometimes a work that has fallen into the public domain is published with new commentary, notes or the like. The public domain work may be copied by others, but not the new matter, which is protected by copyright.

The discussion above concerns copyright term in the United States. The copyright term in foreign countries often varies from that in the U.S., especially for works created before 1978. If you are reproducing, publishing, distributing, or displaying a work in a foreign country, you will need to investigate the copyright term in that country, a subject beyond the scope of this guide.

No.  The copyright lasts for a term of years (see above), regardless of whether the work is still in print.

Find the copyright owner and ask. There are no special forms that must be used, and permission can be oral or written, though it is good practice to obtain permission in writing. The copyright owner is free to charge whatever fee the copyright owner wishes, though the user is likewise free to try to negotiate a lower fee. Most major publishers and periodicals have a “permissions desk” or a “rights editor,” and a written request addressed in this way will usually find its way to the right person. You should specify the publication you wish to take from; the precise pages, chapters, photographs or the like you want to use; how many copies you want to make; and the purpose of your use (for example, “as a handout in an undergraduate course in economics at Harvard College”). Many permissions desks accept requests by e-mail or through the publisher’s website.

You can make as many copies as you like, without advance permission, from certain academic and scholarly journals now enrolled with the Copyright Clearance Center, a private clearing house (978-750-8400; www.copyright.com ). After you copy, you remit the prescribed per-copy fee to the CCC. If a publication is enrolled with the CCC, its masthead will usually provide the necessary information. (The CCC rules for course packs may differ; check with them for current information.)

If you are requesting permission to post material for the use of students in a Harvard course, your request should specify that the material will be restricted (for example, by password or student ID number) to students enrolled in the course, and that the site will be deactivated at the conclusion of the course. Specify the expected enrollment. This information lets the publisher know that the material will not be available to the public and allows publishers to set fees according to the number of users.

Even though it may be possible to copy content from the Internet, doing so may still be copyright infringement. Though it may appear that images, video, music, text, and other content online are available to be copied and distributed without need of permission, that is frequently not the case. Authors retain copyright, even if they post their works online.

In addition, that you can download a copyrighted work does not mean that you are free to disseminate that work to others, either electronically or in hard copy.

You should abide by the following principles when you access  material available online:

• Downloading material to your own computer necessarily makes an electronic copy of it, and printing what you’ve downloaded makes another copy. A copyright owner is therefore entitled to prohibit downloading and printing.
• Remember that the site owner is not necessarily the copyright holder of the site’s content. A site owner may hold the copyright to some materials but not others, or to none of it. Requests for permission should be directed to the copyright holder, not necessarily the website owner.
• Even materials made available for “free” online may be subject to license terms. For example, stock photographs are often subject to an attribution requirement even if there is no license fee. Use of those materials must be in accordance with those license terms.
• Keep in mind that there are ever-improving detection tools that copyright owners can use to identify unauthorized uses of their copyrighted materials online. For example, it is common for photographers to use tools that crawl the internet looking for unauthorized uses of their images and then seek compensation from infringers.
• Look for a copyright notice on the copyrighted material you wish to use. The notice may be on the opening screen, a home page, an “About this Program” screen, or at the beginning or end of individual items (such as an article or a graphic) within the database.

If you are in a commercial database that charges a fee for searching material, and also permits you to download or print the material through mouse or key-stroke commands, you may assume that the copyright owner has authorized the operator of the database to allow users to download and print. You may pay an additional fee for this privilege. Multiple copies for classroom use may require additional fees.

If you create a website and wish to post copyrighted material on it, you must obtain the permission of the copyright holder unless fair use or another exemption applies. See the section entitled “How does fair use apply to the use of third-party materials on a course website” below.

Harvard faculty and academic staff who create course web pages should consult their school’s experts in this area (for example, FAS Academic Technology Group), who can provide technical assistance.

How do I handle linking to material licensed by Harvard?

The Harvard libraries license a vast number of periodicals and other copyrighted works for educational use. If material you wish to make available to students is licensed, you will be able to establish a link to the resource from a course website, or otherwise furnish students a URL, which will enable them to access the material in electronic form and print a copy for personal use. To find out whether a particular article or other work is available through Harvard’s licensed resources, see http://p.lib.harvard.edu/discovery/journals.html . For instructions on creating links to those resources, see  http://guides.library.harvard.edu/links

What about linking to other material?

Like other aspects of digital media, the law relating to links from one website to another is not entirely settled. Generally, however, you should not have a problem if you simply post a link to another site, even if that site contains copyrighted material. In such a case, you are not publishing the material; you are simply pointing the way to someone else’s publication.

You should not, however, provide a link to a site that you have reason to know is violating copyright law—for example, a site that illicitly allows the free downloading of copyrighted software, music, or other material. You may reasonably assume that a website has the right to include the material found there, unless you have reason to know it is infringing.

If the site you wish to link to specifies particular requirements or restrictions concerning linking (e.g., in its “Terms of Use”), you should generally comply with them or seek permission if you wish to depart from them. Ordinarily, sites that require users to enter a user name and password do not permit linking that would bypass that process.

When you construct a link, be sure that it simply sends the user to another site. If you actually bring the material onto your own site, or “frame” it, you may be infringing copyright and may also mislead users as to the source of the content.

Fair Use of Copyrighted Material

Fair use is the right to use a copyrighted work under certain conditions without permission of the copyright owner. The doctrine helps prevent a rigid application of copyright law that would stifle the very creativity the law is designed to foster. It allows one to use and build upon prior works in a manner that does not unfairly deprive prior copyright owners of the right to control and benefit from their works. Together with other features of copyright law like the idea/expression dichotomy discussed above, fair use reconciles the copyright statute with the First Amendment.

Fair use is actually an affirmative defense to a claim of copyright infringement, meaning that the alleged infringer has the burden of proving their use was a fair use. It is now codified in Section 107 of the Copyright Act, which provides that fair use of a work “for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use, scholarship, or research)” is not an infringement of copyright. To determine whether a given use is fair use, the statute directs, one must consider the following four factors:

• the purpose and character of the use, including whether the use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
• the nature of the copyrighted work;
• the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
• the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

These factors are not exclusive but are the primary—and in many cases the only—factors courts examine. The following sections consider each of these four factors in turn.

One important consideration is whether the use in question advances a socially beneficial activity like those listed in the statute: criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research. Other important considerations are whether the use is commercial or noncommercial and whether the use is “transformative.”

Noncommercial use is more likely to be deemed fair use than commercial use, and the statute expressly contrasts nonprofit educational purposes with commercial ones. However, uses made at or by a nonprofit educational institution may be deemed commercial if they are made in connection with content that is sold, ad-supported, or profit-making. When the use of a work is commercial, the user must show a greater degree of transformation (see below) in order to establish that it is fair.

In recent years, the courts have focused increasingly on whether the use in question is “transformative.” A work is transformative if, in the words of the Supreme Court, it “adds something new, with a further purpose or different character, altering the first with new expression, meaning or message.” The Supreme Court recently clarified that for the use of a work to be “transformative,” it is not enough, necessarily, that the use “conveys a different meaning or message.” The extent of the difference matters, and use of a work is more readily regarded as transformative when the use is for a different purpose than the original. Accordingly, use of a quotation from an earlier work in a critical essay to illustrate the essayist’s argument is a classic example of transformative use. A use that supplants or substitutes for the original work is less likely to be deemed fair use than one that makes a new contribution and thus furthers the constitutional goal of copyright, to promote science and the arts.’

Courts have also recognized, however, that non-transformative uses may be socially beneficial, and that a use does not have to be transformative to support a finding of fair use. The Supreme Court has cited reproduction of multiple copies for classroom distribution as the most obvious example of a non-transformative use that may be permitted as fair use in appropriate circumstances. The Court’s emphasis on whether a use is transformative, however, makes it difficult to know how to weigh uses that are for non-profit educational purposes but are also non-transformative. In addition, it could be argued in some circumstances that verbatim copying of a work for classroom use is “transformative,” in that (to quote from the Court’s definition) the instructor is adding “something new, with a further purpose or different character, altering the first with new expression, meaning or message” in the course of presenting the material.

Other factors that sometimes weigh in the analysis of the first fair use factor include whether the use in question is a reasonable and customary practice and whether the putative fair user has acted in bad faith or denied credit to the author of the copyrighted work.

The two main considerations are whether the work is published or unpublished and how creative the work is. Unpublished works are accorded more protection than published ones, as the author has a strong right to determine whether and when the author’s work will be made public. The fact that a previously published work is out of print may tend to favor fair use, since the work is not otherwise available, but that fact not determinative.

Works that are factual and less creative are more susceptible of fair use than imaginative and highly creative works. This is in keeping with the general principle that copyright protects expression rather than ideas or facts.

However, the second factor is typically the least important of the fair use factors.

Courts have taken both a quantitative and a qualitative approach to assessing the amount and substantiality of the portion used. A court will ask both “what percentage of the original work has been used” and “is the portion used qualitatively very important to the work”? On quantity, there are no bright lines, but the higher the percentage of the original work used, the more likely this factor is to weigh against fair use. Even if the percentage is fairly small, however, if the material used is central to the work, this factor may weigh against fair use. Thus, for example, in a case in which The Nation magazine published excerpts, totaling only 300–400 words of verbatim quotes, from Gerald Ford’s forthcoming book-length memoir, the Supreme Court held that the third factor weighed against fair use, because the excerpts included Ford’s discussion of his pardon of Nixon and other central passages that the court found to be the “heart” of the work. [1]

Also important in applying the third factor is the nexus between the purpose of the fair use and the portion of the copyrighted work taken. The extent of permissible copying varies with the purpose and character of the use. Taking more of the copyrighted work than is necessary to accomplish the fair user’s purpose will weigh against fair use. In some cases, the fact that the entire work—for example, an image—was needed to accomplish the fair use purpose has led the court to hold that the third factor was neutral, favoring neither the copyright holder nor the putative fair user.

[1] See Harper & Row Publishers, Inc. v. Nation Enters., 471 U.S. 539 (1985).

Use that adversely affects the market for the copyrighted work is less likely to be a fair use. This ties back to the first factor, and the question whether the putative fair use supplants or substitutes for the copyrighted work. If a use results in lost sales to the copyright owner (or could, if the type of use became widespread), that will weigh against fair use.

This inquiry is not confined to the market for the original work; it also considers derivative markets. For example, if a novel were made into a movie without permission, the movie might not harm sales of the book—indeed, it might help them—but if there is still harm to the author’s market for a movie based on the book, that would count against fair use. This principle works in a straightforward way in the case of well-established markets, like the market for movie rights for a novel, but it becomes much more difficult to apply if there is no established market. Consistent with the language of the Copyright Act, courts have also looked at whether there is harm to a “potential market” for the copyrighted work, if one could be reasonably expected or is likely to be developed by copyright owners. In keeping with this approach, courts have concluded that there is no protectible market for criticism or parody, but have considered evidence of harm to markets under development or viewed as attractive opportunities for copyright owners, such as the market for downloads of songs. In some cases, courts have indicated that the absence of a workable market will tend to favor the fair user on the fourth factor because there is no efficient means to buy permission for the use in question.

This is a difficult and evolving area of the law. We can nevertheless venture a few generalizations: Uses that substitute for the copyrighted work in its original market or an established derivative market generally cause market harm that is cognizable under the fourth factor. Where there is no established market, harm is less likely to be found, but still may be found depending on the facts, especially if the fair use case under the other factors is weak and the “market” in question is under development by copyright owners or obviously attractive commercially. In any case, the Supreme Court has said, market harm is a matter of degree, and the importance of the fourth factor will vary, not only with the amount of harm, but also with the relative strength of the showing on the other factors.

The fair use test requires an assessment of all the factors together. The courts have repeatedly emphasized that there are no bright line rules, and that each case must be decided on its own facts. The factors often interact in the analysis. For example, the Supreme Court has stated that the more transformative the new work, the less will be the significance of other factors, like commercialism, that may weigh against a finding of fair use. The more transformative the use of the original work, the less likely it is that the use will substitute for the original and cause direct market harm. In reaching a fair use determination, all of the factors should be explored, and the results weighed together, in light of the goal of copyright law to “promote the progress of science and useful arts” (U.S. Const., art. I, § 8, cl. 8). [2]

To understand better how courts have applied the fair use test in different situations, you may find the summaries of selected fair use cases at http://fairuse.stanford.edu/Copyright_and_Fair_Use_Overview/chapter9/9-c.html . In addition, the U.S. Copyright Office maintains a Fair Use Index, which offers a searchable database of selected judicial decisions involving fair use, together with brief summaries: http://copyright.gov/fair-use/ .

[2] See Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc., 510 U.S. 569 (1994).

If you would like to make copyrighted material available to students for course use, you should find out whether the material is already licensed by Harvard, before wrestling with the question whether fair use applies or seeking permission to reproduce the material. If the material is already licensed, you will be able to establish a link to the resource from the course website, or otherwise furnish students a URL, which will enable them to access the material in electronic form and print a copy for personal use. To find out whether a particular article or other work is available through Harvard’s licensed resources, see http://p.lib.harvard.edu/discovery/journals.html , and for instructions on creating links to those resources, see http://guides.library.harvard.edu/links . Alternatively, a copy of the material you wish to use may be publicly available on the Internet—for example, through Google Scholar or a repository such as SSRN—in which case you may be able to link to it. See generally the section entitled “What about linking to other material?” above. If the material is not available through Harvard’s licensed resources, and is not otherwise available on the Internet, in some circumstances you may be able to copy and distribute the material for course use under the fair use doctrine.

When the Copyright Act of 1976 was being enacted, there was extensive debate about photocopying of copyrighted material for educational and scholarly purposes. Congress declined to adopt a specific exemption for such photocopying, and instead left this to be addressed under the fair use doctrine. Section 107 provides that, if the traditional criteria are met, fair use can extend to reproduction of copyrighted material for purposes of classroom teaching. The difficulty comes in applying those criteria. Recognizing that difficulty, the House Judiciary Subcommittee urged representatives of copyright owners and educational institutions to work out a set of specific guidelines, and the resulting guidelines were included in the House Report on the Copyright Act of 1976.

Those Guidelines for Classroom Copying can be found beginning on page 3 of this circular: https://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ21.pdf . The Guidelines are intended as a “safe harbor,” to define certain activities that, at a minimum, will qualify for fair use. The Guidelines set forth requirements for “brevity” (limiting the amount of material that may be copied), “spontaneity” (requiring that there not be time to secure permission between when the decision to copy is made and the copy is used in class), and “cumulative effect” (limiting the aggregate amount of such copying). In addition, the Guidelines contain a number of further restrictions, including that an item may not be copied again by the same teacher for use in a subsequent term. The Guidelines also permit, somewhat more liberally, the making of a single copy of excerpts of a work for use by an instructor in research or teaching. When the Guidelines were agreed to by certain representatives of copyright owners and educational institutions, a number of educational groups dissented, objecting that the rules were unduly narrow, even as a safe harbor, and would constrain the reasonable application of fair use to photocopying of classroom materials.

Two noteworthy cases addressing photocopying of course materials have rejected the fair use defense. [3] In both of those cases, however, the defendant was a commercial copy shop, and the commercial nature of the use figured importantly in the analysis. It is therefore not entirely clear how those precedents bear on copying by a professor or university for non-profit educational purposes. In those cases, the excerpts of the plaintiff’s material contained in the course packs ranged from 14 to 110 pages in length in one case, and from 17 to 95 pages in the other, representing 5% to 25% of the works from which they were taken in one case, and 5% to 30% in the other. In assessing the third fair use factor, both courts found that these amounts weighed against the defendant. Both courts also held that the fourth factor weighed against the defendant, primarily because the plaintiffs had lost permission fees for this copying – in other words, that the copying had a negative effect on the licensing market for photocopying of excerpts for inclusion in course packs. Previous cases had held the opposite, but that licensing market did not exist at the time.

Looking at these cases and the legislative history of the Copyright Act of 1976, the following are factors that a court might take into account, in the framework of the four factor fair use analysis, to determine whether a given instance of photocopying for course use constituted fair use. Some of the questions bear on more than one of the four statutory factors, which remain the touchstone.

First Factor: Purpose and Character of Use

• Will the material be the subject of significant commentary, criticism, explanation, or the like by the instructor? (The more the material functions to illustrate, support, or enable the new meaning or message delivered by the instructor—as opposed to functioning mainly as material for students to engage in its own right—the more likely its reproduction and distribution for course use will qualify as “transformative” in the sense described above and hence favor a finding of fair use.)
• Is the copied material integral to the nonprofit educational purpose of the course? For example, is the material important to a lecture or classroom discussion? (Even if the use is not “transformative,” use for a nonprofit educational purpose will weigh in favor of fair use.)
• Is the copyrighted material recently published (for example, in a newspaper), or is the instructor inspired at the last minute to use the material in class, with the result that there is little or no time to obtain permission? (An affirmative answer will weigh in favor of fair use.)
• Are copies distributed to anyone other than students in the course who need one? (Distribution to others could weigh against a finding that the use is for a nonprofit educational purpose. Unless there is a compelling educational reason to do otherwise, materials copied in reliance on fair use should be restricted to enrolled students.)
• Are students being charged for the copies? If so, does the charge have any profit component, or does it only recover costs? (Copying and distribution of a commercial nature will weigh against fair use.)

Second Factor: Nature of the Work

• Is the copyrighted material published or unpublished? (If unpublished, it will weigh against fair use.)
• Is the copyrighted material factual in nature or creative? (If factual, it will weigh in favor of fair use; if creative, against.)
• Is the copyrighted material readily available for purchase? Is it in print or out of print? (The fact that a work is out of print and unavailable for purchase through normal channels will favor fair use copying for educational purposes, though this may be mitigated if permission to photocopy may readily be purchased.)
• Was the copyrighted material prepared primarily for the higher educational market—e.g., a textbook? (If the original work was prepared primarily for the higher ed market, it will tend to weigh against fair use, since photocopying it is more likely to harm the market for it than if the original were aimed primarily at a different market.)

Third Factor: Amount Copied

• How much of the copyrighted work is being copied? How long is the portion copied and what percentage of the work does it represent? (The smaller the portion, the more likely the copying will qualify as fair use. Generally, a strong showing on the other factors will be needed to justify copying more than one chapter of a book, or one article from a periodical or newspaper, or one short story, short essay or short poem, or other similarly small parts of a work.)
• Is the portion copied the “heart” of the work? (Even a quantitatively small portion of a work may weigh against fair use if it is the most important or commercially valuable part of it.)
• Is the amount copied limited to that which is necessary for the educational purpose to which it is being put? (It will weigh against fair use if you have copied more than is necessary for the educational purpose.)

Fourth Factor: Effect on the Market

• Will the photocopying result in lost sales of copies of the copyrighted work? (Copying that substitutes for sales of the copied work will weigh significantly against a finding of fair use.)
• Can permission to photocopy the material in question readily be purchased through the Copyright Clearance Center (the “CCC”) or another efficient licensing mechanism, such as the publisher? (Even if the copying will not supplant sales of the entire work, the market for the work may nonetheless be harmed if there is an efficient mechanism for buying copies of the excerpt you want or for buying permission to copy the excerpt. Whether this market harm, if present, will tip the overall determination against a finding of fair use depends on how the other fair use factors weigh in the particular situation. The economic significance to the publisher of permission fees, as compared to revenues from book sales, may also weigh in the analysis.)
• Is it difficult or perhaps impossible to locate the copyright holder or are there other significant obstacles to seeking permission? Is the expense of seeking permission greater than the value of the permission sought? (Where there is no cost-effective way to obtain permission, that will weigh in favor of a finding of fair use.)
• Does the University, or other person making the copy, own a lawfully acquired or purchased copy of the work? (A negative answer will weigh against fair use.)
• Is the price of permission prohibitive—i.e., so high that the instructor would reasonably forego educational use of the material in question rather than pay it? (If so, this may counter the potential harm to the market.)

Other Considerations Bearing on Various of the Factors

• Is the copyright notice on the original reproduced on the photocopy? (You should reproduce the copyright notice(s), so that users know the work is in copyright and where to start in seeking permission for subsequent uses, and you should include appropriate citation or attribution to the source.)
• Is this the first time this instructor has photocopied this excerpt for course use, or has the instructor repeatedly photocopied the same material from term to term without permission? (Some people assume that “the first use is fair.” This is incorrect. Each use – whether it is the instructor’s first use or a later use – should be evaluated on its own merits.)
• How extensive is the reliance on fair use in providing materials for this course? Is the copied material a supplement to other purchased or licensed materials in the course? Or does it replace such materials? (Copying that fills out a reading list of purchased or licensed materials—for example, to bring a subject up to date or supply missing pieces—may be more likely to qualify as fair use than copying that substitutes altogether for materials that are purchased or for which a license or permission has been acquired.)

You also will find some further guidance on these issues under the section that follows entitled “How does fair use apply to use of third-party material on a course website?”.

The law in this area is difficult to apply. Outside of the limited Classroom Guidelines, it is hard to know with certainty when fair use applies to photocopying for course use. For that reason, a number of units at Harvard have adopted specific rules and practices for photocopying to ensure copyright compliance. Whenever dealing with those units, you should follow their rules and practices. In other situations, if you wish to make photocopies for course use without obtaining permission from the copyright owner, you should have a good faith reasonable belief that the copying qualifies as fair use.

[3] See Basic Books, Inc. v. Kinko’s Graphics Corp., 758 F.Supp. 1522 (S.D.N.Y.1991), and Princeton University Press v. Michigan Document Services, Inc. , 99 F.3d 1381 (6 th Cir.1996).

How does fair use apply to use of third-party materials on a course website?

The fair use factors apply similarly, regardless of the medium. However, when you apply the fair use factors to multimedia content, the analysis is likely to differ in some ways from the analysis of textual materials. For example, there may be two different copyrights in an image—one in the underlying work of art and the other in the photograph—that need to be considered, though it is sometimes difficult or impossible to identify the photographer; [4] you typically need to use the entire image to achieve your educational purpose, and courts have recognized that copying the entirety of an image where necessary for a legitimate fair use purpose will not weigh against a fair use finding; there is a longstanding tradition in higher education of making slides from art reproductions in periodicals, exhibition catalogs and books for teaching and study; there is no centralized and efficient mechanism for licensing educational images that is analogous to the CCC in the case of text; and the reproductions made for educational use on a course website are typically lower in resolution and quality than the images that copyright holders sell or license for publication, thus reducing the likelihood that a digitized image will harm an existing market.

In recent years, a number of fair use “best practice” guides have been promulgated. Though they have been developed primarily by user communities, and may not be fully accepted by copyright owners, the guides are another useful point of reference. Various guides can be found on the website of the Center for Media & Social Impact: http://www.cmsimpact.org/fair-use/best-practices . See, for example, the Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for the Visual Arts and the Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Academic and Research Libraries .

The following are some general measures that, while not substituting for the four factor fair use test, will tend to boost a fair use argument when copyrighted material is made available on a course website:

• Use others’ copyrighted material in your course website only if the material is integral to the course curriculum.
• Include your own comments, criticism, and explanation, or otherwise make your use of the copyrighted material transformative.
• Use only a limited portion of others’ copyrighted material, and only what is necessary for your educational purpose.
• Be wary of using others’ copyrighted material that is produced in digital form primarily for instructional use, or where your use would reasonably be expected to harm the market for the analog version of the material.
• Consider whether a license (permission) allowing the educational use of the material that you wish to make can readily be purchased. If it can, this fact generally will weigh against fair use, though it still may be possible to prevail on fair use depending on the other circumstances (see the preceding discussion).
• Don’t incorporate material in your website in lieu of having students buy books or other such material.
• Limit access to the materials to students enrolled in the course and other qualified people (e.g., a professor’s graduate assistants).
• Allow access to students in a course only during the term in which the course is given and disable student access thereafter.
• Wherever feasible, employ streaming formats and technological limits on copying, retention, and further dissemination of the work by students.
• Only incorporate portions from lawfully acquired copies of others’ materials.
• Avoid taking many excerpts or portions from any one work.
• Alter others’ works only where necessary to support specific instructional objectives.
• Credit the sources fully and display the copyright notice from the original.
• Include a notice that material on the website is being provided under fair use, and that the material may only be used for personal, noncommercial, educational purposes. An example of such a notice can be found at http://ogc.harvard.edu/files/ogc/files/user_notice_for_course_websites.pdf?m=1365193735 .

For each item of copyrighted material you wish to use, make a good faith fair use determination. If you do not reasonably believe your proposed use passes the four factor test, you should obtain permission for the material or should not use it.

[4] You normally need not be concerned about a second level of copyright in a photograph of a two- dimensional work of art, since a federal district court has held that a photograph that aims to reproduce a painting faithfully lacks sufficient originality to qualify for copyright protection.

The Copyright Act contains a special provision, Section 110(1), that allows teachers to perform or display a copyrighted work, either live or recorded, “in the course of face-to-face teaching activities . . . in a classroom or similar place devoted to instruction.” Thus, you can use sound recordings, live performances, readings, films, videotapes, slides, or any other performance or display of copyrighted works without restriction and without permission, so long as you are teaching students in a classroom or similar place such as a studio. The only exception is that you may not use a film or videotape that you have reason to believe is an illegally made copy.

Note, however, that this special classroom dispensation applies to performance and display only. It does not authorize making copies. Nor does it appear to enable you to put materials on your web page, even for course use, because it requires that the performance or display occur “in the course of face-to-face teaching . . . in a classroom or similar place devoted to instruction.” Similarly, if you wish to videotape a class session in which you have performed or displayed others’ copyrighted material and to transmit the video to remote students (e.g., via streaming), a different set of considerations comes into play. Amended by the TEACH Act in 2002, Section 110(2) of the Copyright Act provides a special exemption for such distance learning activities. The exemption is conditioned on a detailed set of requirements. You can find useful descriptions of the TEACH Act requirements at http://www.ala.org/advocacy/copyright/teachact/distanceeducation . If you cannot meet all of the TEACH Act requirements, you may be able to rely on fair use, if the statutory four factor test is satisfied, or you should obtain permission to use the copyrighted material in the video of your class session.

Copyright and Permissions at Harvard

How do i determine whether or not copyright should be in harvard's name.

There is no fixed rule on whether to affix a copyright notice on something that you write or create where Harvard owns the copyright. (On the question of ownership, see the section entitled “Who owns the copyright?” above.) If the material is to be published and widely disseminated or publicly available, and if further distribution would be inappropriate without Harvard’s permission, you should warn potential infringers by affixing the copyright notice “Copyright [and/or ©] [year] President and Fellows of Harvard College.” The “[year]” should be completed with the year in which the current version of the work was first published. This is the all-purpose copyright designation for any Harvard publication on paper, disk or other medium. (Drafts may bear a copyright notice as well, particularly if they are widely distributed.) It is also very useful to append to the copyright notice an indication of the unit at Harvard that administers the copyright, so that people who would like to use the work later will know where to turn for permission. For example, you could add after the copyright notice: “For permission to use this work, contact the Peabody Museum of Archeology and Ethnology at Harvard.”

There is no central “permissions desk” at Harvard. The decision to grant or deny permission to copy or quote from works copyrighted by Harvard—and the decision whether to charge a fee for the permission—is made by the unit that published the work originally or is now responsible for it. For example, the Peabody Museum of Archeology and Ethnology can grant permission to quote from, or copy portions of, works published under its auspices, and the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid can grant permission for the brochures about Harvard that it distributes.

It is not necessary to consult the Office of the General Counsel on this decision, but we will advise you on the mechanics of it, or on questions in particular cases, if that would be helpful to you.

You should call the Harvard office that produced the material and ask permission to use the it.

What provisions should I make when retaining an outside vendor to create a work for Harvard (sometimes known as a "work for hire")?

An agreement for the preparation of material to be published by Harvard should always include a provision stating that Harvard will own the copyright. This avoids later disputes over whether Harvard or the individual creator owns the rights to the work.

You can find model forms of Consulting Agreement with appropriate provisions regarding copyright on the Office of the General Counsel website. You should also address this issue if you contract with students concerning creation of copyrighted works.

If I am using a commercial software program for my work, can I make a copy for a colleague or a copy for my computer at home so that I can work there?

No, unless the software license allows it. Much off-the-shelf software is limited to use on one computer. Unless the software license specifically provides otherwise, such programs may not be copied, no matter how legitimate the need for its use elsewhere.

The solution in most instances is to purchase a license that specifically authorizes the program to be used on more than one computer, either individually or through a server. Site licenses are generally less expensive than multiple purchases of individual programs, and home or laptop computers can be included if the vendor agrees. Harvard University Information Technology (HUIT) may be able to provide information on Harvard’s site licenses.

Harvard University’s policy is that no program is to be copied or used except as specifically allowed by the terms of its license. Those who violate this policy may be personally liable for infringement.

We hope that this guide answers some of your questions about copyright and fair use. By its nature, this guide provides a general, and necessarily limited, discussion of various topics; it does not purport to give specific legal advice. The Office of the General Counsel advises Harvard and its faculty and staff on specific copyright questions and on other legal concerns that may arise in their work for the University. Please let us know how we can be helpful to you. You can reach us at 617-495-1280.

Please also be aware that the Harvard Library’s Office for Scholarly Communication coordinates a group of “Copyright First Responders” who may be able to help you with copyright-related inquiries. You can find a member of this group in your Harvard library at https://osc.hul.harvard.edu/programs/copyright/first-responders/ .

[1]   See Harper & Row Publishers, Inc. v. Nation Enters., 471 U.S. 539 (1985)

[2]   See Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc., 510 U.S. 569 (1994).

[3]   See Basic Books, Inc. v. Kinko’s Graphics Corp., 758 F.Supp. 1522 (S.D.N.Y.1991), and Princeton University Press v. Michigan Document Services, Inc. , 99 F.3d 1381 (6 th Cir.1996).

[4]   See Cambridge University Press v. Becker, 863 F.Supp.2d 1190 (N.D.Ga.2012).

• Model Documents
• Publications & Advisories/Alerts
• Conflict of Interest

Other Copyright Resources

U.s. constitution and copyright law.

• Copyright Clause of the U.S. Constitution, Article 1, Section 8, Clause 8:

“The Congress shall have the power . . . To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.”

• Copyright Act, Title 17 of the U. S. Code

Useful Websites

• U.S. Copyright Office  - Note, among other things, the U.S. Copyright Office circulars, including Circular 21, Reproduction of Copyrighted Works by Educators and Librarians.
• Columbia Copyright Advisory Office  - Note, among other things, the materials on fair use and the accompanying Fair Use Checklist.
• Stanford University Libraries/Copyright and Fair Use

Other Materials

• Form of User Notice for Course Websites
• Selected Copyright Resources for Dissertations

Plagiarism Checker

A completely free and accurate online plagiarism detector. Simply copy and paste to detect copied content.

Get your Weekly Plan Only in

The free version does not support more than 1000 words.

Plagiarism Checker “ PRO ” the most trustworthy plagiarism detection tool

Our mission is to fulfill everyone's NEEDS in plagiarism detection. Most user-friendly interface with plenty of exclusive FEATURES to execute efficiency & reliability mission.

Plagiarism Checker Online for Multiple Languages

Why choose our plagiarism checker.

Our best free plagiarism checker is totally free. It doesn’t charge you anything which means you can conduct as many searches as you like. All you need to do is just copy and paste your content.

This plagiarism checker software offers you a deep and thorough check. With deep search, you get extra levels of plagiarism search and additional result details.

If you don’t want to copy and paste your text, you can alternatively upload the page URL or the file for a quick and free plagiarism check.

Consequences of Plagiarism

Today, copyrighted content has become a constant problem in educational institutions. Students create many assignments using a lot of research in a short period. Many schools/institutions, such as Duke University, have judicial affairs offices. They will review each case of plagiarism and fix penalties.

Most of the outcomes of plagiarism occur once the replication is caught. Institutions have noted that students who duplicate data often fail to learn research and writing skills. Once they leave the institution, all those students lose the ability to create original content because they have only cheated before.

Professional

Countless journalists, academics, writers, and creators have had their reputations damaged by plagiarism accusations. Not only do plagiarists disrupt their ongoing work by getting fired or terminated. They also find it difficult to get work in the future. A particularly egregious instance of plagiarism, or worse, can destroy a person's professional image. It also forces them to change careers to avoid the stigma of plagiarism.

Apart from all the professional and personal difficulties that may arise in certain cases, there are also legal consequences. Copying copyrighted material for profit may result in the plagiarist having to pay some financial losses. In some cases, copying data can subject the plagiarist to criminal prosecution. And the punishment can range from charges to imprisonment.

So, before submitting any content, do a plagiarism check once to see if you have copied it or not. It can protect you from all kinds of harm. You won't have to wait long for results using a duplicate content checker. You can take advantage of this plagiarism checker free and save yourself from embarrassment.

How it detects?

Plagiarism Detector is the free and an intelligent and essay checker software. It doesn't matter if you are a student or a professional, everyone can have benefit from this likewise.

Now, with the help of our plagiarism detector, you can check if your content that you are just seconds away from publishing and considering its uniqueness. If you are web owner, then it is very important to have a plagiarism-free content on your website if you wish to attract maximum traffic. This is the best Free Plagiarism Checker that you will find online as it works the same way as Google.

Built with thorough research on the needs of our customers, all the essential strategies and techniques have been implemented to make results 100% accurate and authentic for everyone.

We analyzed that any anti-plagiarism software is mostly used by students or teacher to check the essays, papers, and reports that they submit or that have been submitted to them. Because plagiarism is unacceptable no matter what type it is . That is why we have particularly designed a system that offers free plagiarism detection which helps students and teachers to check their duplicate content.

Teachers, as well as students, should discourage plagiarism .

You can try our plagiarism detector now, and you will know that it is rightfully the free online plagiarism checker with percentage!

Importance of plagiarism Detector

If you aim at a higher Authority on SERP (Search Engine Results Page) then never take the risk of publishing a heavily duplicated content.

Plagiarized or duplicated content can lead to lower page rank. If you are caught up in a situation where your article, blog or web page content is not entirely unique, then there is a comparatively higher risk of getting blacklisted by search engines especially Google. You can utilize the free plagiarism detection service offered by our similarity checker to check the content from your own website to make sure that no one has stolen the content from your website. Apart from SEO (Search Engine Optimization), our free plagiarism finder can also be utilized by students and teachers for academic uses.

Beware! It is a double-edged sword .

How the plagiarism scanner Works?

It is very simple!

Plagiarism scanner is an intelligent free and most accurate software.

The content you enter is analyzed on the basis of its

• lexical frequencies,,
• word-choice,,
• matching phrases,,

and many other important factors. Your given text is mapped into our internal network, and then it is compared against different databases and the entire internet. We have designed our algorithm to especially ignore statistically common phrases to provide a better and more valuable search for potential plagiarism in the text. Once the plagiarism test completes, the results will appear below along with the match percentage that our best plagiarism tool has found.

The article you have entered is carefully scanned, and so is the entire internet. If complete plagiarized sentences are found, the plagiarism detector will identify the original source of that content and show to you. All you have to do is copy and paste the content in the text box and then click on “Check Plagiarism” button.

It is as simple as it sounds. (How to check plagiarism)

This plagiarism checker free online for teachers, students, and writers will run your text through its database of millions of sites to show you the best plagiarism free report with the detailed results. Alternatively, you can either enter the URL of the website for which you want to conduct a plagiarism check or you can upload the files. Whether it is an article, essay or blog, a thorough sentence check will be conducted for your text in order to give you the most reliable and accurate results.

Online Plagiarism Checker

Understanding the results.

Beside the text box, you are shown the percentage for Checked, Unique, and Plagiarized.

Phrases or sentences shown in the results below are the ones that our plagiarism detector has identified as plagiarized and already exist online, along with the matched percentage. These are the links and by clicking on the “Match Text” you will be redirected to the original source where you can see yourself the plagiarized text. When the plagiarism test is finished, you’ll also be given an exact percentage of uniqueness and plagiarism of your text. However, if your content is completely unique then you will get a congratulations message:

Plagiarism Checker API

The plagiarism checker API allows everyone to add plagiarism detection functionality to their software or applications. Our flexible system allows you to customize your settings to fit your needs. It can grow with your business or personal needs. Most importantly, our reliable services give you peace of mind knowing your data is safe and protected.

Identify Copied Material with Anti Plagiarism Software

Plagiarism can appear in different forms, but the end outcome is always the same: the plagiarist stole something from another person. Plagiarism refers to using some other person’s ideas and information without acknowledging that specific person as the source. Similar to all other forms of theft, plagiarism also has many disadvantages associated with it.

It can take place in both intentional, when you try to pass someone’s content as your own, or unintentional when you forget to mention the source for your work correctly. In spite of the kind, piracy always has consequences when it is discovered. Mostly, the punishment of accidental copying is temporary. Because ascertaining unintentional plagiarism requires knowledge of intent, the overall prestige of the plagiarist becomes the deciding factor.

Plagiarism can occur in any shape either textual or pictorial. So we not only scan the document for the copyrights but also check the duplication for images. You can also perform Reverse Image Search to look for the best matching photos. By using advance image recognition algorithms, it will bring out the matching results from all over the internet and search engines.

Before jumping to direct consequences, here’s a brief detail of how can you make sure your work is not matching with any source. Loads of information, millions of text documents, is attainable on the internet now. So, if you think you can check manually, then you are wrong. No matter, how many articles you read or how many hours you spend, you can never be sure. Hence, the alternative best way you can take help from is a free plagiarism detector. There are many such tools readily available on the internet, providing best services to users. Majority of them, search your material against billions of contents and underlines each sentence which resembles with another posted article.

Copyright and Plagiarism Explained: What You Need to Know

In the world of content creation, dealing with plagiarism and copyright infringement issues can happen to anyone. This is especially true in today’s digital age, where it’s easy to take something from the internet, make small changes, and claim it as your own.

Although plagiarism and copyright infringement are different concepts, people often get confused as both involve presenting someone else’s work as your own. Whether you’re using the internet or the library for research, understanding copyright and plagiarism is essential to steer clear of trouble.

This guide breaks down the differences between the two, explores their nuances, discusses consequences, and provides practical tips to avoid them. We’ll also touch briefly on how AI relates to copyright and plagiarism, offering a forward-looking perspective on these critical issues.

• Copyright is a legal concept designed to protect the rights of creators for their original works.

Plagiarism is the act of presenting someone else’s ideas, words, or work as your own without giving them proper credit.

• It’s important to always provide accurate and complete citations for any information or ideas borrowed from other sources.

Table of Contents

What Are The Differences Between Copyright and Plagiarism?

When you create something, whether it’s an article, image, or video, copyright automatically protects it. Picture it as a safety net that grants you exclusive rights over your creation.

These rights, however, are not eternal and they only offer protection for a specific timeframe. After that, your work enters the public domain for everyone to use.

On the flip side, there’s plagiarism, the less desirable counterpart. Plagiarism occurs when someone presents another’s work as their own.

Not only is plagiarism frowned upon in the digital community, but it can also lead to legal consequences. In essence, plagiarism undermines the principles of authenticity and originality.

To make the distinctions clear, let’s examine the key differences through a comparison table:

Copyright serves as more than mere rules, it acts as a tool, granting you authority over the future of your content. On the other hand, plagiarism is like a shortcut that inevitably leads to a professional dead end.

Steer clear of plagiarism, and allow your work to stand as a testament to your professional honesty. Keep it genuine, and your professional integrity will resonate strongly.

What is Copyright?

Copyright is a legal concept designed to protect the rights of creators for their original works. It provides creators with exclusive rights to control the use, distribution, and reproduction of their creations. 

Copyright helps with creativity, encourages new ideas, and makes sure people who put effort into making things get to keep their rights.

In the United States, the legal foundation for copyright is deeply rooted in the U.S. Constitution, which empowers Congress to grant authors and inventors exclusive rights for a limited time. The details of copyright law are further outlined in the Copyright Act, providing a comprehensive framework for the protection of various forms of creative expression.

Balancing the rights of creators and the public is essential in copyright. Instead of being like an impenetrable fortress, copyright aims for a fair middle ground.

One important thing to note is that copyright doesn’t last forever. It has a time limit, so creative works don’t stay under control forever. 

This intentional limit means that eventually, these works become available to everyone in the public domain. It’s like opening the door to let society freely enjoy and benefit from these creations.

The main idea behind this is to find a balance where creators are protected during their active years, giving them credit for their hard work and promoting continuous innovation. As time goes on, their works eventually become available to the public, becoming part of our shared cultural heritage.

This process acknowledges two goals: supporting creativity and making sure the benefits of creativity are shared with everyone. 

Now, let’s unpack the various types of works that fall under the protective umbrella of copyright, each with its considerations.

Literary Works

This category blankets a wide array of written content, including books, articles, and textual compositions. Authors wield copyright protection here, securing their exclusive rights to reproduce, distribute, and showcase their written creations.

Visual Arts

Moving to the visual arts, this category spans paintings, drawings, and photographs. Visual artists enjoy copyright protection, safeguarding their right to manage the reproduction and public display of their visual expressions, preserving the authenticity of their creative output.

Performing Arts

Next is the performing arts, which includes both live and recorded performances. This broad category ensures performers and creators retain control over the reproduction and public dissemination of their live or recorded acts, emphasizing the significance of their creative contributions.

Sound Recordings

Sound recordings, involving the protection of recorded sounds and music, form another important facet of copyright. Musicians and record producers find strength in copyright protection, allowing them to govern the use and distribution of their recorded musical creations.

Architectural Works

Lastly, architectural works cover the design and structure of buildings. Architects, as copyright holders, maintain authority over the reproduction and distribution of their architectural designs, affirming the respect owed to their creative pursuits. 

What is Plagiarism?

Plagiarism is a breach of academic and ethical integrity. This includes various forms such as direct copying, paraphrasing without attribution, mosaic or patchwork plagiarism, self-plagiarism, and even unintentional plagiarism.

Understanding and avoiding plagiarism is important in maintaining honesty and upholding ethical standards in academic and professional settings.

Now, let’s explore the various forms of plagiarism to understand its implications. 

Copy-and-Paste Plagiarism

This is the straightforward act of copying someone else’s work and presenting it as your own. It can involve entire paragraphs, sentences, or even just a few words.

Paraphrasing Plagiarism

Changing the words of a source while retaining the original meaning is still considered plagiarism if proper credit is not given. It’s not just about swapping words but understanding and presenting the ideas in your own unique way.

Mosaic or Patchwork Plagiarism

This sneaky form involves combining bits and pieces from various sources to create a seemingly original piece. It can be a mix of copied text and slightly modified content, creating a mosaic of information without proper attribution.

Self-Plagiarism

Self-plagiarism involves the reuse of your previously published content or portions of it, presented as new and original work. While not illegal, self-plagiarism is considered unprofessional and unethical and includes actions like submitting entire papers that have been previously published.

Accidental Unintentional Plagiarism

Unintentional plagiarism occurs when proper citation practices are not followed due to a lack of understanding rather than an intentional effort to deceive. It’s important to educate oneself on proper citation methods to avoid accidental unintentional plagiarism.

How Do You Prevent Copyright and Plagiarism Violations?

Maintaining integrity in content creation involves being proactive in preventing both copyright infringement and plagiarism. Here are practical tips and tools to ensure you steer clear of both.

How to Avoid Infringing Copyright?

Before sharing prevention tips, let’s address a common question: Is infringing copyright the same as theft? While copyright infringement and theft share similarities in depriving the owner of the benefits of their creation, they differ in legal terms.

Copyright infringement pertains specifically to the unauthorized use of copyrighted material, whereas theft typically involves physical deprivation of property.

Now, let’s explore ways to sidestep copyright infringement:

• Understand Fair Use : Familiarize yourself with fair use guidelines and respect the limitations and exceptions for using copyrighted material.
• Use Licensed Content : Choose content with proper licensing, ensuring you have the right to use and share it in your work.
• Seek Permission : When uncertain, obtain explicit permission from the copyright owner before using their material.
• Utilize Creative Commons Licenses : Leverage content under Creative Commons licenses, which provide clear guidelines for usage.
• Explore Public Domain Works : Incorporate works that are in the public domain, as they are free from copyright restrictions.

How to Avoid Committing Plagiarism?

Now, moving to plagiarism prevention, let’s ensure that the ideas and words you use are rightfully attributed to their origin. Here’s a guide to avoiding plagiarism:

• Proper Citation : Always provide accurate and complete citations for any information or ideas borrowed from other sources.
• Effective Paraphrasing : Practice effective paraphrasing to convey ideas in your own words while retaining the original meaning.
• Use Plagiarism Detection Tools : Employ plagiarism detection tools to check your work for potential instances of unintentional plagiarism.
• Educate Yourself : Stay informed about the principles of plagiarism. Many educational institutions offer resources and tutorials to help you understand and avoid plagiarism.

By adhering to these preventive measures, you can ensure your creative and academic endeavors are both ethically sound and legally compliant. 

How Do You Resolve Copyright and Plagiarism Violations?

Encountering copyright and plagiarism violations requires a thoughtful and strategic approach to address the issues responsibly. Here are steps and strategies for resolving these matters while considering both legal and ethical considerations.

Resolving Copyright Violations

• Cease Unauthorized Use : Immediately stop using the copyrighted material without proper authorization. Stopping unauthorized use is the first step toward rectification.
• Open Communication : If possible, reach out to the copyright owner or creator. Explain the situation, acknowledge the infringement, and express a commitment to resolving the issue.
• Obtain Permission : Seek permission from the copyright owner for the continued use of the material. This may involve negotiating a licensing agreement or obtaining explicit consent.
• Comply with DMCA Takedown Notices : If a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown notice has been issued, comply with the request promptly. Remove the infringing content from online platforms to avoid legal consequences.
• Provide Proper Attribution : If attribution was lacking or incorrect, rectify this by providing proper credit to the original creator. Acknowledging the source is an essential step in addressing copyright violations.

Resolving Plagiarism Violations

• Acknowledge the Plagiarism : Acknowledge the act of plagiarism. Understand that it is a serious ethical breach and take responsibility for the improper use of someone else’s work.
• Offer Open Communication : Offer to communicate openly with the affected parties. Explain the circumstances, apologize for the plagiarism, and express a commitment to resolving the concern.
• Rectify the Issue : Immediately rectify the issue by providing proper attribution to the original source. Clearly indicate where the borrowed material begins and ends.
• Learn and Educate: Educate yourself about proper citation practices and academic integrity. Use the experience as an opportunity to grow and ensure that future work adheres to ethical standards.
• Follow Institutional Procedures : In an academic setting, follow the established procedures outlined by the institution for addressing plagiarism. This may involve reporting the incident to professors, academic boards, or other relevant authorities.
• Face Academic Consequences : If there are academic consequences, such as failing grades, work collaboratively with instructors or academic advisors. Follow any recommended steps for academic redemption.

For both copyright infringement and plagiarism issues, if legal consequences are looming, consult with legal professionals to understand the potential implications and explore options for resolution.

Taking immediate action, demonstrating genuine remorse, and actively working to resolve the violation are essential steps if you find yourself in violation of copyright or guilty of plagiarism. Open communication and a commitment to learning from the experience can also contribute to a more constructive resolution.

Consequences of Copyright and Plagiarism Violations

Understanding the consequences of copyright infringement and plagiarism is essential to promoting ethical behavior and upholding legal standards in creative and academic endeavors. Adhering to proper practices not only protects individual reputations but also contributes to a culture of integrity and respect for intellectual property.

Consequences of Copyright Infringement

Copyright infringement carries significant legal implications. Individuals or entities found guilty of this offense may face financial penalties, including fines and damages awarded to the copyright owner.

Courts have the authority to issue injunctions, restraining the infringing party from further using or distributing the copyrighted material without proper authorization. In severe cases, copyright infringement can escalate to criminal charges, potentially leading to imprisonment for the violators.

Additionally, online platforms may swiftly respond to a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown notice by removing infringing content, thereby impacting the violator’s online presence.

These legal consequences emphasize the importance of respecting intellectual property rights and adhering to copyright laws to avoid severe penalties and legal actions.

Consequences of Plagiarism

Plagiarism has multifaceted implications, primarily rooted in ethical, academic, and professional settings.

Ethically, engaging in plagiarism can inflict substantial damage on one’s personal and professional reputation. It destroys trust and gives rise to questions about an individual’s integrity.

Plagiarism also carries severe consequences within academic settings, including the potential for failure in assignments, and courses, or even expulsion from educational institutions. Academic disciplinary actions, such as notations on transcripts, further underscore the gravity of this ethical breach and can leave lasting marks on an individual’s academic record.

Committing plagiarism can hinder your professional progress, as employers may view it as a significant breach of trust. This perception could result in job loss or missed career opportunities, stopping your growth in your chosen field.

Moreover, in professions with strict ethical standards, plagiarism might lead to legal action or professional penalties.

What is the Impact of AI on Copyright and Plagiarism?

The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into the realms of copyright and plagiarism has ushered in transformative changes, showcasing a dual-edged nature that both challenges and enhances the landscape.

Let’s get into the finer details of this matter.

Detection of Plagiarism

AI in plagiarism detection has significantly improved efficiency and accuracy. These tools analyze large amounts of data with precision, accelerating the identification process for educators, publishers, and content creators.

AI is adept at cross-language detection, enhancing plagiarism prevention by addressing challenges in identifying copied content within translated materials. This boosts the overall reliability of plagiarism detection.

Additionally, AI enables real-time monitoring of digital content, providing instant feedback to key stakeholders. This proactive approach intervenes promptly and prevents potential plagiarism issues, creating a responsive system.

However, integrating AI into plagiarism detection has challenges.

Dependence on automated tools may yield false positives due to AI’s struggle with understanding context and intent. Human oversight is still essential, emphasizing the need for a balanced and collaborative approach.

As AI evolves, plagiarists adapt to these algorithms, employing sophisticated techniques to evade detection. This ongoing dynamic underscores the importance of vigilance and continuous refinement of both AI tools and human oversight to preserve the integrity of content creation and academic pursuits.

Content Creation and Copyright

AI can have a positive impact on content creation and copyright by helping creators, including writers and journalists, to efficiently produce original content. This streamlining of the creative process contributes to diverse and dynamic content across platforms.

AI also supports data-driven decision-making for content creators by analyzing trends, audience behavior, and market preferences. This approach enhances the creation of content aligned with audience interests, providing a more personalized user experience.

However, the integration of AI in content creation poses challenges, particularly regarding ownership and attribution. Questions arise about rightful ownership and proper attribution of content generated by AI, leading to potential copyright issues and requiring careful consideration of legal frameworks.

Additionally, there is a challenge of automated plagiarism in AI-generated content. When AI-generated content is repurposed without proper attribution, ethical concerns arise.

Addressing this challenge involves maintaining a balance between innovation and ensuring ethical use, emphasizing the need for ongoing discussions and guidelines in the evolving landscape of AI-driven content creation.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between copyright and plagiarism.

Copyright pertains to legal ownership and exclusive rights over creative works, while plagiarism involves presenting someone else’s ideas or work as your own without proper attribution.

How can you prevent copyright infringement?

Preventing copyright infringement requires an understanding of fair use guidelines, using licensed content, seeking permission when necessary, and respecting copyright laws and regulations.

What are the consequences of committing plagiarism?

Consequences of plagiarism include damage to personal and professional reputation, academic penalties such as failing grades or expulsion, and potential legal and professional repercussions.

How can you avoid committing plagiarism in your work?

To avoid plagiarism, make sure you provide proper citations of sources, practice effective paraphrasing, utilize plagiarism detection tools, manage your time effectively, and stay informed about plagiarism guidelines and principles.

What steps can you take to resolve copyright and plagiarism violations?

Steps to resolve violations include acknowledging the issue, seeking legal advice if necessary, addressing the violation ethically and responsibly, and taking corrective actions to rectify the situation.

Original Writing, Made Easy With Quetext

Quetext's deep search technology analyzes your text to identify plagiarism and AI, to resolve writing issues, and build citations with ease. You wouldn't want to write without it.

DeepSearch™ technology

With contextual analysis, word placement, and our smart algorithms, checking your writing has never been easier

Lightspeed recognition

Our software pairs speed with the accuracy of DeepSearch™ technology

Privacy comes standard

We back industry-leading technology with a three-part pledge, Our Commitment to you

The #1 Tool for Detecting Plagiarism and AI   for

We’ve helped more than 5 million students, teachers, and professionals identify potential plagiarism in their work. Now offering AI Content Detection!

Annotations Tools

Bulk Uploads

Source Exclusion

Enhanced Citation Generator

Grammar & Spell Check

Deep Search

Rich & Intuitive Feedback .

Detect plagiarism and AI with less stress with a click of a button and an easy, immersive experience.

ColorGrade™ Feedback

Easily spot exact plagiarism, AI and annotation exact matches vs. near-exact or ‘fuzzy’ matches with corresponding colors.

Interactive Snippet Text

Easily drill-down on your matches side-by-side with our interactive and intuitive snippet text viewer.

Comprehensive Scoring

Our comprehensive scoring for plagiarism and AI is backed by billions of internet sources.

Need some inspiration?

Check out our latest blog posts, quetext faq, is quetext reliable.

Quetext is reliable, safe, and extremely effective for verifying original work with ease. Rigorous testing is involved with every update made to the product, and the comprehensive plagiarism score users receive is backed by billions of internet sources. Students, teachers, and content writers alike rely on Quetext for fast and accurate verification.

What languages does Quetext support?

Quetext currently supports the following languages:

How effective is Quetext?

Quetext is extremely effective for writers who need to verify their content's originality. Not only does the plagiarism checker quickly and accurately identify any and all instances of plagiarized writing, but it also generates citations where necessary, right on the spot. In addition, our AI Content Detector Tool performs detailed, line-by-line analysis, proving our subscribers with the confidence to know the content they check was written by a human. It can be easy to lose track of sources, and Quetext is there to help writers stay on top of them without creating extra work.

What is the pricing for Quetext?

Quetext has several different subscription options, depending on what your needs are. The free plan is a great place to start, as it comes with plagiarism checks on 500 words (1 page), ColorGrade™ feedback, contextual analysis, fuzzy matching, and conditional scoring. Now, you can also check 250 words using our new AI detector tool for free! However, starting at just $8.80 per user per month, you get so much more: 100,000 words (200 pages) that can go through the plagiarism checker, DeepSearch™ Extended, Citation Assistant, a downloadable originality report, custom URL exclusion, interactive snippet text, and premium support. You can learn more and get started on our Quetext Pricing page.

Try Quetext today!

Ready to stop wasting time with that old-school "plagiarism tool" from the 90's? Start using Quetext today for free!

TRY OUR FREE APP

Write your book in Reedsy Studio. Try the beloved writing app for free today.

Craft your masterpiece in Reedsy Studio

Plan, write, edit, and format your book in our free app made for authors.

Guides • Book Design

Last updated on Sep 03, 2021

How to Create a Copyright Page in 5 Minutes (with Template)

About the author.

Reedsy's editorial team is a diverse group of industry experts devoted to helping authors write and publish beautiful books.

About Martin Cavannagh

Head of Content at Reedsy, Martin has spent over eight years helping writers turn their ambitions into reality. As a voice in the indie publishing space, he has written for a number of outlets and spoken at conferences, including the 2024 Writers Summit at the London Book Fair.

A copyright page is a section at the front of a published book that lists its publication, legal, copyright, and printing details. While it doesn't contribute to the reader's experience, it is a useful resource for anyone looking to find out technical information about the book.

Despite what most people think, a copyright page is not mandatory — there’s no book police who will punish you for not writing one up. However, a copyright page is recommended for most books, simply because:

• It announces that the work is under copyright and identifies you as the owner
• It discourages infringement
• Your readers may appreciate the information disclosed in it

And last but not least, it’s super easy (and free) to create one. In fact, here’s the template as a .docx, so all you need to do is copy and paste! Just remember to customize it by switching in your own information.

Sign up to download your free copyright template!

You'll get it in your email inbox right after you sign up

If you want something that creates the copyright page entirely for you (and professionally typesets your whole book as well), you can use Reedsy Studio . This free tool automatically generates a copyright page and places it in the right place in the front matter of your book.

Cool, I know how to get a copyright page now. But what exactly is being said on this copyright page?  

Glad you asked! Because that’s what the rest of this post is for. Let’s de-mystify the topic by going through each section of the copyright page, one by one. For reference on what each section looks like on the page, you can regularly check back on this image:

1. Copyright Notice

The first thing to know is that you already own the copyright to your work the minute you create it. One more time for the people in the back: you already own the copyright to your work the minute you create it ! If you’re curious about the mechanics behind this, you can read up on your rights in this comprehensive guide to copyright.

The job of the copyright notice is simply to declare this to readers: I wrote this book and I own the copyright. It consists of three components:

• “Copyright” and “©”: Since the copyright symbol isn’t recognized in some countries, it’s best to also write it out so there’s no confusion.
• Copyright owner’s name: Assumedly, this will be the author’s name, though it’s perfectly okay to use a pen name or pseudonym.
• Year of publication: Note that this is the year you publish the work (not the year you first created it).

Together, it will give you this copyright statement. Any configuration will do the trick:

Copyright © Anthony Hall, 2014 Copyright © 2014 Anthony Hall Copyright © 2014 by Anthony Hall

Believe it or not, that’s all you need to tell the world that you own the copyright to your work. If you want, you can also include additional information about copyright dates of previous editions, copyright renewals or other changes, and the country of printing, but none of that is absolutely necessary. 

Now we need to inform people about your rights, which takes us to the next step: the reservation of rights.

Get a professional to format your book

Reedsy's professional designers can make your books look like they belong on the bestsellers lists. Sign up for FREE and meet them today.

Learn how Reedsy can help you craft a beautiful book.

2. All Rights Reserved

The page will also include a copyright statement that asks the reader to respect the writer’s rights. To do this, you simply need to write one of the two variations:

All rights reserved. or The moral rights of the author have been asserted.

So what exactly do these deceptively short sentences mean? 

All rights reserved

This indicates that the copyright owner reserves all the formal rights that copyright protection grants. This includes the right to publish the work, distribute the work, and make derivative works out of it.

Moral rights

Asserting moral rights — separate from economic rights — is a way to declare the right to be attributed as the author of the work. You’ll see this sentence most often in books that are published outside the United States, since the U.S. doesn’t distinguish between moral and economic rights.

These days, this statement is just a formality. But if you’d prefer to be a bit more explicit, this is another popular way to phrase it:

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by an electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

Ta-da! In a few strokes of a pen, you’ve successfully declared your status as the copyright owner. That’s all that you really need. 

If you’re using Reedsy Studio : Our free formatting tool will automatically generate the copyright notice and rights of reservation. When you're editing your book, you just have to tap on "Copyright" in the "Front Matter" section of the left-hand sidebar. Then all you have to do is fill in the fields, and hey presto! When you export your final book, it'll have a perfectly formatted copyright page.

3. Disclaimer

In a society where lawsuits are commonplace, it’s really no wonder that disclaimers are popular among authors. Don’t sweat, though! Before you start sweating over the idea of trips to the courtroom, there are a few copyright statements that will cover your bases. Here are some popular examples of disclaimers:

FOR FICTION: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

FOR CREATIVE NONFICTION: This is a work of creative nonfiction. Some parts have been fictionalized in varying degrees, for various purposes.

FOR MEMOIRS: The events and conversations in this book have been set down to the best of the author’s ability, although some names and details have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals.

If you’re really feeling paranoid, you can even go so far as Cheryl Strayed’s Wild did:

Every effort has been made to trace or contact all copyright holders. The publishers will be pleased to make good any omissions or rectify any mistakes brought to their attention at the earliest opportunity.

Some authors gleefully seize this opportunity to make their disclaimers tongue-in-cheek. Take this example of Dave Egger’s disclaimer for A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius , for example:

Any resemblance to persons living or dead should be plainly apparent to them and those who know them, especially if the author has been kind enough to have provided their real names and, in some cases, their phone numbers. All events described herein actually happened, though on occasion the author has taken certain, very small, liberties with chronology, because that is his right as an American.

But it’s fine to keep it straightforward. To get the best idea of the disclaimer that you should use, spend some time flipping through books in your specific genre.

Did someone else design your cover? (Hint: indie authors are strongly recommended to get professionally designed covers). If you want to credit your designer properly, this is the spot for you. Here are some examples of ways to do this:

Illustrations copyright © 2005 by Trudy White Jacket photograph copyright © 2006 by Colin Anderson/Brand X Pictures/Getty Images Design by Lauren Dong Cover photography by Aaron Fedor

Depending on the book, there might be other things you want to credit. For example:

• Excerpts from copyrighted material
• Photographs and maps

How you decide to phrase these acknowledgments is entirely up to you. If you want examples, see these sample acknowledgments from Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink and Susan Caine’s The Power of Introverts , respectively: 1 , 2 .

Ah, the ISBN. We all (vaguely) know what that is, right?

In case you don’t, ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number. It contains 13 digits, and you must acquire one if you want to sell print copies of your book or stock the shelves of brick-and-mortar stores. To find out more about this oft-misunderstood creature, read our ISBN guide here .

Assuming you’ve already obtained your ISBN, just list it on the page. You’ll get a different ISBN for each edition of your book (i.e., the paperback, the hardback, etc). For the sake of simplicity, you may wish to record each of these ISBNs on the page and make a note of its edition in parentheses. For example:

ISBN 978-1-5011-7321-9 (paperback) ISBN 978-1-4767-4660-9 (hardcover)

6. Edition of the Book

The edition information is pretty straightforward. Confirm whether it’s the first, second, or third edition of your self-published book — then put that intel right onto the page.

You can do this in a few ways, all of which work:

First Edition First Edition: January 2018 This paperback edition first published in 2018

7. Publisher Details

Publishers never waste a chance to promote themselves! You’ll find their details on the copyright page of a traditionally-published book, which will include the publisher’s:

If you’re self-publishing, you should know that the publisher is you (not Kindle Direct Publishing or IngramSpark, for example.) As for the address, if you don’t want to make it public, that’s perfectly fine. Simply provide the URL to your website and give readers another method of contacting you.

Reedsy Studio makes this easy. Head over to the “Copyright” tab again and fill out the relevant fields so that Reedsy Studio can create an ‘extended’ page for you. If you want to include a disclaimer, you can choose between a few of the most standard versions or write one of your own with the "additional clauses" option.

Of course, that's not all you might see on the copyright page. The information in our copyright page templates is specific to self-publishers. But if you’re morbidly curious about everything that goes onto the page in a traditionally published book, we can give you the nitty-gritty:

• Printer’s key: This is a mysterious string of numbers . Sorry to disappoint but it’s no riddle of the Sphinx: the printing numbers simply point to the print run. The smallest number that you see indicates the printing. For example: if the smallest number is “3,” then that’s the third printing of that edition.
• CIP data: Otherwise known as Cataloguing-in-Publication data, this is the Library of Congress’ bibliographic record for a book. It’s not available to self-publishers — so it’s one thing that you don’t need to worry about.

Whichever way you choose to write up this page is up to you! It all depends on what information you want to put out there for safe-keeping. And that should be a breath of relief, to know that there’s no (ahem) copy-wrong way to go about it. 

In the next section of this guide, we're leaving any legal concerns behind and talking about epigraphs: those enigmatic quotes that often kick off a book!

10 responses

Andrea Jones says:

02/01/2019 – 07:59

By far the best description and breakdown that I have read. Thank you

Carol Caputo says:

22/08/2019 – 14:33

I'm an artist self– publishing a 260 page memoir with multiple images of my artwork.( 200 copies limited edition) Do I have to send a complete copy(PDF,) of the book in order to get it copyrighted?

Lewis Penn says:

29/08/2019 – 18:17

Getting ready to self-publish something new and my dad reminded me I should probably have a copyright page! I was a little overwhelmed, not sure where to start, but this was awesome!

15/10/2019 – 19:03

this sucked no help at all, don't use this, please imma beg you

↪️ C.A.Author replied:

25/04/2020 – 00:31

Don't you mean Emma beg you

Jewel Daigle says:

22/10/2019 – 15:50

This was amazing to read! I would definitely be using this for my upcoming book as a self publisher. My very first book too!

Adrian Laurence says:

30/11/2019 – 00:13

Great article. When writing under a pen name, should one put the pen name, real name or both in the copyright? Thanks!

↪️ Martin Cavannagh replied:

13/12/2019 – 09:56

The pen name alone should be fine. You're, in essence, trading under that name.

Jackie Dasen says:

17/12/2019 – 21:23

Does it matter if the text is centered on the copyright page or margin justified?

18/12/2019 – 09:51

The industry standard is centered. With something as standardised as this, it's best not to buck the trend.

Comments are currently closed.

Join a community of over 1 million authors

Reedsy is more than just a blog. Become a member today to discover how we can help you publish a beautiful book.

Copyright Page Template

The one page you need to protect your book.

1 million authors trust the professionals on Reedsy. Come meet them.

Enter your email or get started with a social account:

• PRO Courses Guides New Tech Help Pro Expert Videos About wikiHow Pro Upgrade Sign In
• EDIT Edit this Article
• EXPLORE Tech Help Pro About Us Random Article Quizzes Request a New Article Community Dashboard This Or That Game Happiness Hub Popular Categories Arts and Entertainment Artwork Books Movies Computers and Electronics Computers Phone Skills Technology Hacks Health Men's Health Mental Health Women's Health Relationships Dating Love Relationship Issues Hobbies and Crafts Crafts Drawing Games Education & Communication Communication Skills Personal Development Studying Personal Care and Style Fashion Hair Care Personal Hygiene Youth Personal Care School Stuff Dating All Categories Arts and Entertainment Finance and Business Home and Garden Relationship Quizzes Cars & Other Vehicles Food and Entertaining Personal Care and Style Sports and Fitness Computers and Electronics Health Pets and Animals Travel Education & Communication Hobbies and Crafts Philosophy and Religion Work World Family Life Holidays and Traditions Relationships Youth
• Browse Articles
• Learn Something New
• Quizzes Hot
• Happiness Hub
• This Or That Game
• Train Your Brain
• Explore More
• Support wikiHow
• About wikiHow
• Log in / Sign up
• Education and Communications

How to Copyright Your Writing for Free

Last Updated: August 17, 2023 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Clinton M. Sandvick, JD, PhD . Clinton M. Sandvick worked as a civil litigator in California for over 7 years. He received his JD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1998 and his PhD in American History from the University of Oregon in 2013. There are 12 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 251,411 times.

When you create an original piece of writing, you automatically get certain property rights in that work. These rights are called "copyright" and automatically attach to certain works. If your work is copyrightable, it will be copyrighted as soon as it is "fixed." Nothing more needs to be done to gain the protections of the law. However, there may be certain reasons you want to register your copyright and formally protect it well into the future.

Understanding Copyright Law

• Therefore, while copyright law does grant you and other creators protection of your rights to the work you have already produced, the primary purpose is to encourage a continuing expression of new ideas.

• Literary works;
• Musical compositions;
• Dramatic works;
• Sound recordings; and
• Architectural works. [2] X Trustworthy Source United States Copyright Office Part of the Library of Congress, responsible for maintaining copyright records Go to source

• Commentary;
• News reporting;
• Teaching (in a non-profit school);
• Scholarship; and
• Research. [5] X Research source
• Your rights are also limited by "first sale", meaning you cannot prevent others from reselling copies of your works, once you have sold them. Many software products are therefore not actually "sold", but rather "licensed" to end-users, often restricting the right of further resale.
• Your right to prevent distribution of copies or public performances are subject to other limitations, by statute. For instance, you may not use copyright laws to prevent performance of your non-dramatic songs in a church ceremony, or a certain non-profit performances. You cannot use copyright law to prevent someone from making a backup copy of computer software, provided they follow the rules.

• Works published in the USA prior to 1923 have no US copyright, other than certain sound recordings covered by state laws until 2067.
• For writings created after 1977, a copyright will last for the life of the author (or last surviving author of a joint work) plus another 70 years. [7] X Trustworthy Source United States Copyright Office Part of the Library of Congress, responsible for maintaining copyright records Go to source
• If your writing was a work for hire (meaning a writing specifically commissioned under a written contract or completed as part of an employment agreement) or is published anonymously, the copyright will last either 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation. [8] X Trustworthy Source United States Copyright Office Part of the Library of Congress, responsible for maintaining copyright records Go to source
• However, if the work was created in this period but not published, the copyright will last for the life of the author plus 70 years. [10] X Research source
• Note that copyright duration in other countries varies, but is generally not less than 50 years from publication or from the death of the author, by treaty. Some may be 95 or 100 years after the authors' deaths. [11] X Research source

Copyrighting Your Writings

• In order to create something, it does not have to be written down (or "fixed"). You can create an original work by simply thinking or speaking about it. Mere creation, however, does not make something copyrightable.

• For example, a writing will be fixed when it is printed on paper or when it is stored on a computer. [16] X Research source
• Examples of works that are not fixed include speeches that are not transcribed and live, unrecorded performances of music. [17] X Research source
• In general, all you need to do is create a work of authorship and write it down or otherwise record it somewhere. This will automatically create copyright protections.
• In theory, you do not need to own the original copy in order to own the copyright. For example, if you publicly perform some original music and an audience member records it, you own the copyright of that recording.

• Works whose copyright term has expired;
• Works of the United States Government;
• Works that authors have clearly and irrevocably dedicated to the public;
• Procedures;
• Methods of operation;
• Principles; and
• Discoveries. [18] X Research source [19] X Research source
• For example, you might write a book that describes a new system of bookkeeping. [20] X Research source Your copyright protection would extend to your description of the system but not to the system itself . [21] X Research source
• Similarly, you may be the author of an original computer program, including an HTML web page, but you only own the copyright for the parts that are "creative" and "original", not the standard segments necessary for the basic operations of the system.

• Although registering your copyright is voluntary, there are reasons you might want to take that step. [23] X Research source For example, you must have registered your US copyright if you want to bring a copyright-infringement suit against someone who is unlawfully using your work. [24] X Research source You can register your copyright at any time during the copyright period. [25] X Research source
• Early copyright registration provides additional rights related to statutory damages, allowing you to claim some amount of damages without actually proving any.

• Lack of a proper copyright notice, including intentional misstatement of the publication date, resulted in the immediate loss of copyright.
• Similarly, failure to file a renewal notice in the proper year, if published prior to 1964, resulted in loss of copyright at the end of that year. This is one reason the "Happy Birthday" song became public domain.
• To indicate that you will not enforce your copyright, you can note on the work that it can be "freely copied" or words to that effect. [31] X Research source As noted in the cited reference, such a disclaimer is effectively a license for the public use, whether or not restricted by its terms (e.g., only for non-commercial use).

Registering Your Copyright

• The United States Copyright Office website has a great tutorial you can utilize, which gives you step-by-step instructions on how to complete the application. [35] X Trustworthy Source United States Copyright Office Part of the Library of Congress, responsible for maintaining copyright records Go to source

• The basic online registration fee ranges from $35 to $55. [38] X Trustworthy Source United States Copyright Office Part of the Library of Congress, responsible for maintaining copyright records Go to source
• Specialized registrations will cost between $25 and $400, as explained on the Copyright Office website. [39] X Trustworthy Source United States Copyright Office Part of the Library of Congress, responsible for maintaining copyright records Go to source

Expert Q&A

You might also like.

• ↑ https://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ01.pdf
• ↑ https://copyrightalliance.org/faqs/what-rights-copyright-owners-have/
• ↑ https://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-duration.html
• ↑ http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/copyright-basics-faq-29079-4.html
• ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries%27_copyright_lengths
• ↑ https://archive.org/about/copyright_TH.php
• ↑ http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/copyright-automatic.html
• ↑ https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/copyright
• ↑ Technically, such a work remains copyrighted, by law, but the owner has waived the right to enforce it to varying extent.
• ↑ http://copyright.gov/eco/eco-tutorial-standard.pdf
• ↑ http://copyright.gov/eco/
• ↑ http://copyright.gov/docs/fees.html

About This Article

When you create a piece of writing, you get certain property rights automatically. Copyright laws apply to original works of literature, music, drama, sound, and architecture. To make sure your work is copyrightable, you’ll need to put it into a fixed form that can be reproduced. For example, you can fix a piece of writing by printing it out or storing it on a computer. However, you can't copyright a speech that isn't transcribed or a live performance of an original song that isn't recorded. Once your work is fixed, you'll have copyright protections, like having the sole ability to display, reproduce, or perform your work. To learn how long a copyright lasts, keep reading! Did this summary help you? Yes No

• Send fan mail to authors

Reader Success Stories

Jun 26, 2023

Did this article help you?

Angela Barney

Mar 6, 2023

Aug 31, 2021

Goran Kotur

May 14, 2019

Jacqueline Madison

Mar 22, 2020

Featured Articles

Trending Articles

Watch Articles

• Terms of Use
• Privacy Policy
• Do Not Sell or Share My Info
• Not Selling Info

Get all the best how-tos!

Sign up for wikiHow's weekly email newsletter

• Plagiarism Checker

Duplichecker detects plagiarism from your text more accurately

Available in:

To be specific, Plagiarism checking or content's similarity detection is a process of identifying the occurrence of plagiarism or copyright infringement within a work of content for writer, teacher, student blogger, webmaster, or any document.

What we offer!

Popular SEO Tools

Other tools.

I LOVE DUPLICHECKER

Firstly, I have to say how much I love Duplichecker. Its by far the best checker on the Internet and the most simple to use. Its form fits its function and is an overall great website. Very Satisfied User

Joey Cipriano

“DUPLICHECKER IS FANTASTIC!”

“I am a freelance writer who uses the internet like a wall of encyclopedias of days long gone! My editor sent me your sites web address and three others. I pulled them all up and tried them out. None compared to your site! Thank you DupliChecker!!”

— PJ Martin, Freelance Writer

“HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!”

“Im a blogger and also work in an SEO company. I have been using this site for the past 2 years. I just wanted to say that Duplichecker is a great free tool to check duplicate content. I find this site very useful.”

Muhammad Akhther, India

How does the Plagiarism Checker work?

Steps to check plagiarism with DupliChecker.com?

The easiest process with a user-friendly interface.

Most accurate with percentage and 100% free and compatible, it can be used on any of your devices as ever needed.

The following steps are:

Paste your text into the text box.

Upload your Doc or Text file using the Choose File button. (.tex, .txt, .doc, .docx, .odt, .pdf, and .rtf)

• Click on the “ Check Plagiarism ” button

As your request is sent (button clicked) for processing, the results will be displayed in a matter of seconds.

In case, there are duplicate matches (content) found, the tool will show results in percentage meaning

Percentage % of Unique content

Percentage % of Plagiarized

The relevant text with similarity score along with the source it originates from.

(A tip “In the case of plagiarism detected there is a great option (button) to make it unique with the BEST Paraphrasing tool .”)

In case no matches are found, a message will display “ 100% Unique ”

So, if you ever need to do a quick plagiarism check or are looking for free plagiarism software online, DupliChecker.com is the place for it!

Besides, we would love to get suggestions and recommendations from our valuable users. As we believe in Super User experience, simply suggest us .

There are additional features Offered by Duplichecker Premium.

Duplichecker allows you to scan up to 25,000 words per search. While using global search methods and AI-based technology it deeply analyzes the content for duplication. This plagiarism checker is one of the most efficient and advanced due to its extensive features such as URL checking, custom PDF reports, and supporting multiple file formats. Not only this, but you can also make your content plagiarism-free by rephrasing it in a single click.

Plagiarism checker API

We have the solution! 💯

If you want to embed a real-time plagiarism detection system on your website. Duplichecker’s plagiarism API is the best solution for you.

Benefits of the Plagiarism API:

Here are some key benefits of our Plagiarism API

Check multiple documents with one click, eliminating manual checks.

Simple API setup for seamless integration into your website.

Reliable detection of plagiarism across various types of content.

Reduces the need for extensive manual labor, saving costs.

Perfect for small educational institutions and large websites with frequent content submissions.

Designed to be intuitive and easy to use for everyone

Definition of Plagiarism

But before checking for plagiarism everyone should know, What Is Plagiarism?

“The act of pretension where you take one’s words and make them your own it can include ideas, thoughts, or any material that you can see/hear and make a copy of.”

If we talk in a legalistic manner then taking someone’s copyright and claiming it to be yours is unintentional plagiarism.

Self-Plagiarism

The concept of thinking that, self-plagiarism is only copying some other's paintings or borrowing someone else's unique idea. In my thoughts like "copying" and "borrowing" can cover the seriousness of the offense.

According to the Oxford Dictionary Plagiarism is:

“The practice of taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as one's own”

In precise words, plagiarism is an act of fraud. It involves both stealing someone else's artwork and lying approximately it in a while.

Necessity of AI Plagiarism Checker Over Time

DupliChecker's AI plagiarism checker utilizes artificial intelligence to enhance the precision of detecting plagiarism by analyzing various text elements, such as syntax, writing pattern, tone, and rhythm of words. This inclusion of AI simplifies to check AI plagiarism across different domains.

How Does AI Plagiarism Checker Differs from Traditional Methods?

The working of an AI plagiarism checker differs from traditional methods as it organizes your data and analyzes it with advanced machine learning and Natural Language Processing techniques. Later, this AI plagiarism detector compares the comprehended information with millions of web pages’ data available in its databases to find similarities. Lastly, it displays AI plagiarism detected in your content while letting you know its exact percentage. This entire method differs from traditional plagiarism detection methods that use string-matching techniques and provide an approximate estimation of plagiarism that needs to be more accurate.

Plagiarism detector VS Manual checking [Pros and Cons]

It’s boring, time taking and the big thing is the MANUAL! Ah

Who wouldn’t want to skip doing something that technology can do for you with more accuracy and quickly? Right!!!

We know We would! As it can help in many ways, one of which is finding a copy of original content over the internet and informing about it while you are sipping your coffee in dim light, “Sounds Cool”. Or you can go ahead and crosscheck to look for the plagiarized work manually which not only is going to take a lot of time. You need an excellent memory because while reading so many documents you might keep on forgetting the duplication and sources.

Isn’t it enough reason why a plagiarism scanner is used?

Because it is accurate and able to find the copied content real fast to improve academic honesty and whatsoever that does not allow plagiarism. This usually happens in almost every student, professional writer, professor, or content creator’s life that uses the internet to study, teach or deliver their work.

So, they have to be very careful in uploading a part of their work online; the best way is the use of image formation. If someone copies from the image we have developed a tool to find similar image . It will recognize objects on the image and let you know where this object or image is located. In which no one can copy any sort of work, but they will have to write down which people mostly don’t like to do.

Plagiarism in the digital world.

The most common problem in plagiarized content has to face is expulsion from the Search Engine Result Page (SERP), and websites that are aiming for a better rank can’t afford that.

Therefore this plagiarism checker will inform you after detection of all the areas of the internet where it finds similarity or duplication in the content.

In the world of the internet, it is not considered a crime, but it just shows deceitfulness in that person’s character. The question is why does it matter? Well, in academics, it can put people into serious trouble, if caught plagiarizing, they will not only face punishments but lose the time a beginner can utilize to learn.

In this cyberspace, there can be many mistakes that can trigger duplication in content. One of the most significant ones is failing to put a quotation mark, even if you had no intention of taking someone’s words but forgetting unintentionally to give credits or quoting the name, there is a possibility that it can put the content or you to serious complications.

Why Introducing Plagiarism checker by DupliChecker.com?

Whether it is an academic assignment or an article for a website, as a writer you must be familiar with the importance of written work. There are times in life when people copy your work and pretend to be the rightful owner of that content, how bad can it be? It is another discussion.

There is a specific term used for such a type of ill practice known as plagiarism. It is not about only the copy of the written content or academic paper, but people even copy photos, music, and videos and show others as their work without giving even a little piece of credit to the person who is the real holder of all that work. Thoughts and ideas of someone are their property and thus belong to them and can be protected by copyright laws .

We know how it feels when somebody takes away a part of your work. Of course, whatever you write is your thoughts; therefore, we developed a plagiarism detection tool.

Plagiarism detector looks for any copied content over the internet if found then online plagiarism checker free will inform you about where it is located and how much of your content is present word by word on that website.

Paper Checker (Essay checker)

How accurate is this free plagiarism checker for students?

Take our word: This copyright checker offers you the most authentic possible results.

It took us months of research and trials to come up with a final product – a duplicate content checker that you delightfully use to check your essay, articles, Quotations, and research paper today. Our sophisticated, one-of-a-kind anti-plagiarism tool has been designed as an exclusive free plagiarism checker for students to provide you with the results even for Academic writing that are authentic and easy to interpret with minimum probability of errors.

We drive satisfaction from the fact that our tool is being used by hundreds and thousands every day and users are happy with the results to improve academic integrity and unique web content. Nonetheless, if you come across any bug or error, please bring it to our attention so we can fix it soon.

According to our millions of satisfied users, absolutely Duplichecker.com is free and the most accurate plagiarism checking the website.

There is a procedure as mentioned above, How does the Plagiarism Checker work?

It detects plagiarism by checking more than billions of websites, pages, and papers.

Absolutely free with duplichecker.com

Simply upload the file as instructed in this section.

Duplichecker allows you to check the plagiarism of any website by just pasting the URL in this section.

Yes! The AI plagiarism checker is capable of detecting paraphrased content. Its advanced mechanism identifies and highlights phrases, sentences, or paragraphs that have been paraphrased from another source over the web.

Yes! The AI plagiarism checker is compatible with a wide range of document formats. Whether you have a document in .pdf, .txt, .doc, or .docx format, you can easily check AI plagiarism and determine the correct proportion of duplication.

FREE TOOLS FOR BETTER SEO, EFFECTIVE CONTENT, AND BUSINESS GROWTH

As a webmaster that cares about the success of your online business, you ought to deploy the best tools online to optimize your content, improve your search appearance, and ultimately grow your business. DupliChecker is an inventory of truly helpful web tools for managing your content marketing and search engine optimization activities for fast growth.

Our tools can help you grow any kind of online business, whether it is a hobby blog, a business website, or an eCommerce store where you sell your products and services. DupliChecker can also help you learn why your competitors are ranking high on search engine results pages (SERPs) and what you need to do to outrank them.

Our tools are so reliable that we call it “DupliChecker” which means every time you run your website or content on it, our sophisticated engines double-checks for accuracy before delivering incredibly helpful results. And it does this in a matter of seconds.

DupliChecker is an online service that provides dozens of free, high-grade SEO and content tools . The tools and the DupliChecker platform are being managed by a small team of enthusiastic digital professionals with a knack for helping online entrepreneurs take their search and content marketing games to the next level. Our team consists of experts in search engine optimization, content marketing, digital product development, user interface design, user experience optimization, web research, and social media marketing.

We build tools — premium-quality SEO and text analysis tools. But we don't just build tools for the sake of it; we are a team on a mission to make the best SEO and content marketing tools accessible to people all over the world for absolutely free. We've created over 100 remarkable tools so far. Some are as follow:

• Paraphrase Tool
• Reverse Image Search
• Grammar Checker
• Backlink Checker
• Free Proxy List
• XML Sitemap Generator
• Backlink Generator
• Malware Tracker
• Site Link Analyzer
• Keyword Research Tool
• Geo IP locator
• Domain Authority Checker
• PageRank Checker , And So many others

HOW WE DO IT

Our digital tools are always readily available for use by anyone. We've made it so simple and easy that you don't even need to register on our website to start using them. All you really have to do is provide the required information necessary to process your request, like providing the URL of a web page you want to analyze. Each tool page contains information on how to use the tool.

WHY WE DO IT

What is our target with DupliChecker? Why do we create premium tools and make it available for free? The key thing that pushed us to start is this: we found out that the web was full of talented people who needed quality tools to grow their online businesses. What is the problem? Mostly, the only tools that were available were ones that required users to pay top dollars. So we decided to create a platform for accessing great SEO tools for free. So typically, our “why” is that we are driven to make “pay-worthy” tools available to users for completely free? And we are passionate about it!

WHERE YOU COME IN

DupliChecker is for everyone. Whether you are a website administrator, blogger, freelance writer, SEO professional, a marketing manager, etc., DupliChecker has So many things to offer you.

Here are some of the things you can do with DupliChecker tools:

Text Analysis Tools

Whether you want to check the word count of your content or analyze it for plagiarism. Whether you want to spell or grammar check, DupliChecker has all the content analysis tools you will ever need to make your texts stand out and avoid duplicate content.

Stop wasting time with manual article rewriting and editing. Our sophisticated paraphrasing tool lets you recreate any piece of content to a super high quality in just minutes by spinning tool.

Build or Analyze Backlinks

You can build multiple quality backlinks at one go with our backlink generator tool. Our other link tools enable you to do things like analyze backlinks for any website, check broken links, track links, and so on.

Keyword Research Tools

With our keyword research tools, you get thousands of relevant keyword suggestions from our mammoth database of millions of valuable short-tail and long-tail keywords. You can also check keyword density and even keyword position.

Search and Optimize Images

As an all-around SEO and content tool, DupliChecker lets you perform a reverse image search, resize any image, and convert images from one file format to another.

Check Website Statistics

From Google Pagerank to Mozrank and even website hit counts, you can rely on our tools to deliver accurate statistics of your website or that of competitors.

Spy on Your Competitors with

Most of our tools can be used to spy on your competition, to see what they are doing so you can best position your marketing strategy for greater results.

Monitor Domains

Our array of domain tools is the best for checking domain authority , domain age, page authority, and what have you. Monitor which domains are expiring so you can easily grab it before anyone else does.

Generate SEO Instruments

From XML Sitemaps to robots.txt , our tools let you create and manage useful SEO instruments for appropriate indexing and higher rankings.

Analyze SEO Score

Perform a balanced SEO audit on any website with our SEO checker tool. Use our advanced SEO metrics to make educated decisions about the next best step to take for the best search performance.

We run over 100 SEO tools and content engines which you can use to perform numerous activities to grow your search traffic, business, and revenue for free!

Duplicheckers blog is so much more than just a written diary or journal. This blog is a place for sharing knowledge and views, and for awaring people about various hot topics. “It’s a place that can become the entire foundation of your online world and a key to unlocking incredible opportunities.”

Technical Aspects of .pdf .doc...

.pdf The PDF (Portable Document Format) file format was developed back in the 1990s by Adob

How Can Visual Content Improve...

There was a time when achieving a rank on search engines was a matter of stuffing keywords and

The DupliChecker.com team comprises of experts in different fields, all with the same primary focus: helping our clients generate greater business by use of online services.

Quick Links

• AI Detector
• Testimonials
• Privacy policy
• Refund Policy
• Term of Services

2024 Dupli Checker. All Right Reserved.

Published By Stanford Copyright and Fair Use Center

Copyright basics faq.

These frequently asked questions explain what a copyright is and what exactly it protects.

Ignore Heading – Content

What types of creative work does copyright protect.

Copyright protects works such as poetry, movies, streaming audio and video, video games, plays, paintings, sheet music, recorded music performances, novels, software code, sculptures, photographs, choreography, and architectural designs.

To qualify for copyright protection, a work must be “fixed in a tangible medium of expression.” This means that the work must exist in some physical form for at least some period of time, no matter how brief. Virtually any form of expression will qualify as a tangible medium, including a computer’s random access memory (RAM), the recording media that capture all radio and television broadcasts, and the scribbled notes on the back of an envelope that contain the basis for an impromptu speech.

In addition, the work must be original — that is, independently created by the author. It doesn’t matter if an author’s creation is similar to existing works, or even if it is arguably lacking in quality, ingenuity or aesthetic merit. So long as the author toils without copying from someone else, the results are protected by copyright.

Finally, to receive copyright protection, a work must be the result of at least some creative effort on the part of its author. There is no hard and fast rule as to how much creativity is enough. As one example, a work must be more creative than a telephone book’s white pages, which involve a straightforward alphabetical listing of telephone numbers rather than a creative selection of listings.

Does copyright protect an author’s creative ideas?

No. Copyright shelters only fixed, original and creative expression, not the ideas or facts upon which the expression is based. For example, copyright may protect a particular song, novel or computer game about a romance in space, but it cannot protect the underlying idea of having a love affair among the stars. Allowing authors to monopolize their ideas would thwart the underlying purpose of copyright law, which is to encourage people to create new work.

For similar reasons, copyright does not protect facts — whether scientific, historical, biographical or news of the day. Any facts that an author discovers in the course of research are in the public domain, free to all. For instance, anyone is free to use the information included in a book about how the brain works, an article about the life and times of Catalonian shepherds, or a TV documentary about the childhood of Jimmy Carter — provided that they express the information in their own words.

Facts are not protected even if the author spends considerable time and effort in discovering things that were previously unknown. For example, the author of a book on Neanderthals takes ten years to gather all the necessary materials and information for her work. At great expense, she travels to hundreds of museums and excavations around the world. But after the book is published, any reader is free to use the underlying facts and research of this ten-year  project to write his or her own book on Neanderthals — again, provided that they express the information in their own words.

How long does a copyright last?

For works published after 1977, the copyright lasts for the life of the author plus 70 years. However, if the work is a work for hire (that is, the work is done in the course of employment or has been specifically commissioned) or is published anonymously or under a pseudonym, the copyright lasts between 95 and 120 years, depending on the date the work is published.

All works published in the United States before 1924 are in the public domain. Works published after 1923, but before 1978 are protected for 95 years from the date of publication. If the work was created, but not published, before 1978, the copyright lasts for the life of the author plus 70 years. However, even if the author died over 70 years ago, the copyright in an unpublished work lasted until December 31, 2002. And if such a work was published before December 31, 2002, the copyright will last until December 31, 2047.

Comments are closed.

Free Essay and Paper Checker

Try our other writing services

Correct your entire essay within 5 minutes

• Proofread on 100+ language issues
• Specialized in academic texts
• Corrections directly in your essay

Correct your entire essay in 5 minutes

Why this is the best free essay checker.

Tested most accurate

In the test for the best grammar checker , Scribbr found 19 out of 20 errors.

No signup needed

You don’t have to register or sign up. Insert your text and get started right away.

Long texts, short texts it doesn’t matter – there’s no character or word limit.

Don’t wait for ads or distractions. The essay checker is ad-free!

Nobody's perfect all the time—and now, you don’t have to be!

There are times when you just want to write without worrying about every grammar or spelling convention. The online proofreader immediately finds all of your errors. This allows you to concentrate on the bigger picture. You’ll be 100% confident that your writing won’t affect your grade.

Correcting your grammar

The Scribbr essay checker fixes grammar mistakes like:

• Sentence fragments & run-on sentences
• Subject-verb agreement errors
• Issues with parallelism

Spelling & Typos

Basic spell-checks often miss academic terms in writing and mark them as errors. Scribbr has a large dictionary of recognized (academic) words, so you can feel confident every word is 100% correct.

Punctuation errors

The essay checker takes away all your punctuation worries. Avoid common mistakes with:

• Dashes and hyphens
• Apostrophes
• Parentheses
• Question marks
• Colons and semicolons
• Quotation marks

Avoid word choice errors

Should you use   “affect” or “effect” ? Is it   “then” or “than” ? Did you mean   “there,” “their,” or “they’re” ?

Never worry about embarrassing word choice errors again. Our grammar checker will spot and correct any errors with   commonly confused words .

Improve your text with one click

The Scribbr Grammar Checker allows you to accept all suggestions in your document with a single click.

Give it a try!

Correct your entire document in 5 minutes

Would you like to upload your entire essay and check it for 100+ academic language issues? Then Scribbr’s AI-powered proofreading is perfect for you.

With the AI Proofreader, you can correct your text in no time:

• Upload document
• Wait briefly while all errors are corrected directly in your document
• Correct errors with one click

Proofread my document

A Grammar Checker for all English variants

There are important differences between the versions of English used in different parts of the world, including UK and US English . Our essay checker supports a variety of major English dialects:

• Canadian English
• Australian English

Why users love our Essay Checker

Save time and upload your entire essay to fix it in minutes

Scribbr & academic integrity.

Scribbr is committed to protecting academic integrity. Our plagiarism checker , AI Detector , Citation Generator , proofreading services , paraphrasing tool , grammar checker , summarizer , and free Knowledge Base content are designed to help students produce quality academic papers.

We make every effort to prevent our software from being used for fraudulent or manipulative purposes.

Ask our team

Want to contact us directly? No problem.  We  are always here for you.

• Email [email protected]
• Start live chat
• Call +1 (510) 822-8066
• WhatsApp +31 20 261 6040

Frequently asked questions

Our Essay Checker can detect most grammar, spelling, and punctuation mistakes. That said, we can’t guarantee 100% accuracy. 

Absolutely! The Essay Checker is particularly useful for non-native English speakers, as it can detect mistakes that may have gone unnoticed.

The exact time depends on the length of your document, but, in most cases it doesn’t take more than a minute.

• Take Advantage of Essay Copyright Checker
• How to Check for Copyright in 2020?

Our Guarantees

Plagiarism Check Free with Duplicate Checker

Getting Good Grammar

Here are our top tips for getting good grammar.

• Use semicolons right : Semicolons are easy if you remember the inverse rule from commas. Where commas join a thing that can’t stand by itself+a thing that can, semicolons only join two parts of a sentence that stand by itself. Semicolons join two independent clauses; commas join an independent and dependent clause. See what we did there?
• Temporary surgery : Sound ominous? Temporary surgery is just a way of referring to a tip when you’re having trouble appropriately matching the subject with the appropriate verb, remove any clauses in the way. For instance, “These great reasons, although it’s never pleasant to cut off a friend and you may have to explain your position to him, show why you should dump your boyfriend” is a very complex sentence. You might get confused about whether it should be show or shows. If so, just remove the clause and say “These great reasons show…” See? Simple!
• Remember your possessive rules : Possessives are always apostrophe ‘s! Got an s already? No sweat – just put the apostrophe on the outside. Add another s or not – up to you.
• Use a grammar checker : The easiest way to get amazing grammar is to use a checker! It’s easy to miss things, but with a good grammar checker, you won’t have to worry about it. You’ll get your mistakes fixed no problem.

Check Copyright with Paper Plagiarism Checker

Free Online Copyright Checker

• Look away : Don’t watch your source while paraphrasing! Influence can creep in totally on accident, and you don’t want that.
• Take notes : Taking notes can help you look away. Just write down in very informal language what you think the piece means, then paraphrase from notes.
• Summarize first : Before you start paraphrasing, think about the underlying concepts of the piece. You can even try explaining them to friends and family!
• Use a checker : Again, there are plenty of amazing copyright checkers out there that can help you make sure you’re citing any influences you’re showing. It only takes a few seconds to use them, too!

Your Best Copyright Checker

There’s no question about it: correct grammar and citing can save your writing. Even if you’re not totally confident about your thesis, writing well and citing correctly are two huge parts of good writing. If you do these two things correctly, your teacher will know what you were trying to say, and will understand where you got it from. That’s already half the battle to a good paper!

Easy Plagiarism and Grammar Checker

Don’t stress out about citing – use our free copyright checker and feel secure in your writing.

Comments are closed.

See Our Video

Cookies are used on this website to improve your user experience

Lorem Ipsum

"neque porro quisquam est qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit...", "there is no one who loves pain itself, who seeks after it and wants to have it, simply because it is pain...", what is lorem ipsum.

Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.

Why do we use it?

It is a long established fact that a reader will be distracted by the readable content of a page when looking at its layout. The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, as opposed to using 'Content here, content here', making it look like readable English. Many desktop publishing packages and web page editors now use Lorem Ipsum as their default model text, and a search for 'lorem ipsum' will uncover many web sites still in their infancy. Various versions have evolved over the years, sometimes by accident, sometimes on purpose (injected humour and the like).

Where does it come from?

Contrary to popular belief, Lorem Ipsum is not simply random text. It has roots in a piece of classical Latin literature from 45 BC, making it over 2000 years old. Richard McClintock, a Latin professor at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, looked up one of the more obscure Latin words, consectetur, from a Lorem Ipsum passage, and going through the cites of the word in classical literature, discovered the undoubtable source. Lorem Ipsum comes from sections 1.10.32 and 1.10.33 of "de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum" (The Extremes of Good and Evil) by Cicero, written in 45 BC. This book is a treatise on the theory of ethics, very popular during the Renaissance. The first line of Lorem Ipsum, "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet..", comes from a line in section 1.10.32.

The standard chunk of Lorem Ipsum used since the 1500s is reproduced below for those interested. Sections 1.10.32 and 1.10.33 from "de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum" by Cicero are also reproduced in their exact original form, accompanied by English versions from the 1914 translation by H. Rackham.

Where can I get some?

There are many variations of passages of Lorem Ipsum available, but the majority have suffered alteration in some form, by injected humour, or randomised words which don't look even slightly believable. If you are going to use a passage of Lorem Ipsum, you need to be sure there isn't anything embarrassing hidden in the middle of text. All the Lorem Ipsum generators on the Internet tend to repeat predefined chunks as necessary, making this the first true generator on the Internet. It uses a dictionary of over 200 Latin words, combined with a handful of model sentence structures, to generate Lorem Ipsum which looks reasonable. The generated Lorem Ipsum is therefore always free from repetition, injected humour, or non-characteristic words etc.

The standard Lorem Ipsum passage, used since the 1500s "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum." Section 1.10.32 of "de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum", written by Cicero in 45 BC "Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam, eaque ipsa quae ab illo inventore veritatis et quasi architecto beatae vitae dicta sunt explicabo. Nemo enim ipsam voluptatem quia voluptas sit aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia consequuntur magni dolores eos qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt. Neque porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora incidunt ut labore et dolore magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem. Ut enim ad minima veniam, quis nostrum exercitationem ullam corporis suscipit laboriosam, nisi ut aliquid ex ea commodi consequatur? Quis autem vel eum iure reprehenderit qui in ea voluptate velit esse quam nihil molestiae consequatur, vel illum qui dolorem eum fugiat quo voluptas nulla pariatur?" 1914 translation by H. Rackham "But I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system, and expound the actual teachings of the great explorer of the truth, the master-builder of human happiness. No one rejects, dislikes, or avoids pleasure itself, because it is pleasure, but because those who do not know how to pursue pleasure rationally encounter consequences that are extremely painful. Nor again is there anyone who loves or pursues or desires to obtain pain of itself, because it is pain, but because occasionally circumstances occur in which toil and pain can procure him some great pleasure. To take a trivial example, which of us ever undertakes laborious physical exercise, except to obtain some advantage from it? But who has any right to find fault with a man who chooses to enjoy a pleasure that has no annoying consequences, or one who avoids a pain that produces no resultant pleasure?" Section 1.10.33 of "de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum", written by Cicero in 45 BC "At vero eos et accusamus et iusto odio dignissimos ducimus qui blanditiis praesentium voluptatum deleniti atque corrupti quos dolores et quas molestias excepturi sint occaecati cupiditate non provident, similique sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollitia animi, id est laborum et dolorum fuga. Et harum quidem rerum facilis est et expedita distinctio. Nam libero tempore, cum soluta nobis est eligendi optio cumque nihil impedit quo minus id quod maxime placeat facere possimus, omnis voluptas assumenda est, omnis dolor repellendus. Temporibus autem quibusdam et aut officiis debitis aut rerum necessitatibus saepe eveniet ut et voluptates repudiandae sint et molestiae non recusandae. Itaque earum rerum hic tenetur a sapiente delectus, ut aut reiciendis voluptatibus maiores alias consequatur aut perferendis doloribus asperiores repellat." "On the other hand, we denounce with righteous indignation and dislike men who are so beguiled and demoralized by the charms of pleasure of the moment, so blinded by desire, that they cannot foresee the pain and trouble that are bound to ensue; and equal blame belongs to those who fail in their duty through weakness of will, which is the same as saying through shrinking from toil and pain. These cases are perfectly simple and easy to distinguish. In a free hour, when our power of choice is untrammelled and when nothing prevents our being able to do what we like best, every pleasure is to be welcomed and every pain avoided. But in certain circumstances and owing to the claims of duty or the obligations of business it will frequently occur that pleasures have to be repudiated and annoyances accepted. The wise man therefore always holds in these matters to this principle of selection: he rejects pleasures to secure other greater pleasures, or else he endures pains to avoid worse pains." Copy Checker Tips How to Remove Plagiarism How to Check Essay for Plagiarism Copyright Text Checker: How to Recognize the Plagiarism? On Jun 13, 2017, in Copy Checker Tips , by PM Team Do you want to use copyright text checker? Recognizing plagiarism is not easy because you need to invest much time reading your paper and comparing it with the original source. You need to make sure that you do not copy more than two words consecutively, or just change words or use synonyms. To avoid this, there is some automatical copyright essay checker or any duplicate content checker online  that you can use to recognize the copied content online, be it intentional or unintentional. Copyright Checker Online: Interesting Fact about Plagiarism The University of California has taken noble steps about avoiding plagiarism in academic writing. They encouraged freshmen students to do an online tutorial about academic integrity before they enroll for the second semester. Professors are being asked to explain the academic integrity importance in their first week explaining behavior that constitutes cheating. Moreover, most of the college presidents, 55% of them said that plagiarism in students papers increased in the past ten years. Some of the famous plagiarism cases include the United States Joe Biden vice president. He withdrew his 1988 nomination because of the accusation of committing plagiarism when he was in law school. Senator Rand Paul was also accused of plagiarized materials in some of his languages speeches while he was running for the Republic Presidential nomination in 2016. Online Copyright Checker: How to Recognize the Plagiarism Recognizing the plagiarism is important just like getting a high grade. Here are what you need to keep in mind to avoid plagiarism (including of course copyright text checker tools) and know if you commit plagiarism. Word for word plagiarism if The student get ideas from the original source, and Quotation marks that surrounds the taken words, or Full in-text citation, which includes the name of the author, date as well as the location within the original source like the page number where words are being taken, or Bibliographic reference Paraphrasing plagiarism if it.. Gets ideas, including, similar vocabulary, from the original source, and Not word for word plagiarism, and Without any of these following: In-text citation with the name of the author, date, or It is not plagiarism if it Does not have word for word plagiarism Does not have paraphrasing plagiarism Image credit: brunel.ac.uk Essay Copyright Checker: Short Tips for Manual Check Review: When you have completed your paper, set it aside, and then review it to ensure that you have cited everything. It is also important to take a glance over your work and ensure to check for any typos. Some of the common typos you need to check are lose for loose, affect for effect, your rather than you’re and it’s for its. Take advantage of your teacher’s knowledge: If your teacher offers to read your paper and give a comment, be sure to take advantage of it. Your teacher will give his suggestions and tell whether a citation is needed or not. Image credit: londonmetsu.org.uk Copyright Paper Checker: Steps of How to fix the Plagiarism Re-read : You can fix plagiarism if you re-read your work. Doing this will give you the chance to know if there are phrases, sentences or words that you have copied. It is better if you read the original source again to be aware of copied words and phrases. Get an online service help : If you have a hard time fixing your duplicated content, getting a professional help also a good choice. Electronic tools : There are electronic tools that offer a quick check. Use quotation marks : If there are instances that you commit plagiarism, one of the ways to fix it is to use quotation marks. You need to do the quoting correctly or else you still commit plagiarism if it is being quoted incorrectly. Use copyright text checker : Using copyright paper is a good idea because it will surely help you check for duplicated content. There are free checkers that you can check out on the web and it is easy to use. How to Use Copy Paste Content Checker If you decided to use essay copyright checker, there are only few easy steps that you need to follow for the copyright paper checker. Visit the copyright checker online you want to use Copy and paste your text in the copyright essay checker Know if there is word limit or characters limit of the checker Click the start button on the online plagiarism detector  to get immediate results Note: There are highlighted words in the copy paste content checker that will appear. Those highlighted words are the duplicated or plagiarized content that you need to change. Whenever you need a help, you can use online copyright checker or any electronic tools to check for plagiarized or copied content. There are free tools that you can use and it is a good way to save much of your time. Finally, knowing how to fix plagiarism is essential, especially if you always write. It is needed to know the guidelines to avoid any legal penalties and avoid destroying your reputation. Use copyright text checker and keep in mind these tips for better outcome! Tags: copy paste content checker , copyright checker online , copyright essay checker , copyright paper checker , copyright text checker , essay copyright checker , online copyright checker - Comments are closed. Recent Posts Make Your Business Works with Our Website Copy Checker Article Similarity Checker that Make You Belive in Miracles Plagiarism Tracker: Plagiarized Examples from Princeton Paper Similarity Checker: Does Your Content Look Like Stolen? Originality Checker Free: Best Avoid Plagiarism Tutorials Cookies are used on this website to improve your user experience Can I Use Someone Else's Work? Can Someone Else Use Mine? You can ask for it. If you know who the copyright owner is, you may contact the owner directly. If you are not certain about the ownership or have other related questions, you may wish to request that the Copyright Office conduct a search of its records or you may search yourself. See the next question for more details. We can provide you with the information available in our records. A search of registrations, renewals, and recorded transfers of ownership made before 1978 requires a manual search of our files. Upon request, our staff will search our records, see Circular 4 Copyright Office fees . There is no fee if you conduct a search in person at the Copyright Office. Copyright registrations made and documents recorded from 1978 to date are available for searching online. For further information, see Circular 22 , How to Investigate the Copyright Status of a Work , and Circular 23 , Copyright Card Catalog and the Online File . Check out the Virtual Card Catalog Proof of Concept as well. The Copyright Office will not honor a request for a copy of someone else's protected work without written authorization from the copyright owner or from his or her designated agent, unless the work is involved in litigation. In the latter case, a litigation statement is required. A certificate of registration for any registered work can be obtained see Circular 4 Copyright Office fees , for this and other records and services. Circular 6 , Access to and Copies of Copyright Records and Deposit , provides additional information. Under the fair use doctrine of the U.S. copyright statute, it is permissible to use limited portions of a work including quotes, for purposes such as commentary, criticism, news reporting, and scholarly reports. There are no legal rules permitting the use of a specific number of words, a certain number of musical notes, or percentage of a work. Whether a particular use qualifies as fair use depends on all the circumstances. See, Fair Use Index , and Circular 21 , Reproductions of Copyrighted Works by Educators and Librarians . Only the owner of copyright in a work has the right to prepare, or to authorize someone else to create, a new version of that work. Accordingly, you cannot claim copyright to another's work, no matter how much you change it, unless you have the owner's consent. See Circular 14 , Copyright Registration for Derivative Works and Compilations . A party may seek to protect his or her copyrights against unauthorized use by filing a civil lawsuit in federal district court. If you believe that your copyright has been infringed, consult an attorney. In cases of willful infringement for profit, the U.S. Attorney may initiate a criminal investigation. If you use a copyrighted work without authorization, the owner may be entitled to bring an infringement action against you. There are circumstances under the fair use doctrine where a quote or a sample may be used without permission. However, in cases of doubt, the Copyright Office recommends that permission be obtained. No, we neither compile nor maintain such a list. A search of our records, however, may reveal whether a particular work is no longer under copyright protection. We will conduct a search of our records by the title of a work, an author's name, or a claimant's name. Upon request, our staff will search our records see Circular 4 Copyright Office Fees , for this and other records and services. You may also search the records in person without paying a fee. With few exceptions, the Library of Congress does not own copyright in the materials in its collections and does not grant or deny permission to use the content mounted on its website. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item from the Library’s collections and for securing any necessary permissions rests with persons desiring to use the item. To the greatest extent possible, the Library attempts to provide any known rights information about its collections. Such information can be found in the “Copyright and Other Restrictions” statements on each American Memory online collection homepage. If the image is not part of the American Memory collections, contact the Library custodial division to which the image is credited. Bibliographic records and finding aids available in each custodial division include information that may assist in assessing the copyright status. Search our catalogs through the Library's Online Catalog . To access information from the Library’s reading rooms, go to Research Centers . Uploading or downloading works protected by copyright without the authority of the copyright owner is an infringement of the copyright owner's exclusive rights of reproduction and/or distribution. Anyone found to have infringed a copyrighted work may be liable for statutory damages up to $30,000 for each work infringed and, if willful infringement is proven by the copyright owner, that amount may be increased up to $150,000 for each work infringed. In addition, an infringer of a work may also be liable for the attorney's fees incurred by the copyright owner to enforce his or her rights. Whether or not a particular work is being made available under the authority of the copyright owner is a question of fact. But since any original work of authorship fixed in a tangible medium (including a computer file) is protected by federal copyright law upon creation, in the absence of clear information to the contrary, most works may be assumed to be protected by federal copyright law. Since the files distributed over peer-to-peer networks are primarily copyrighted works, there is a risk of liability for downloading material from these networks. To avoid these risks, there are currently many "authorized" services on the Internet that allow consumers to purchase copyrighted works online, whether music, ebooks, or motion pictures. By purchasing works through authorized services, consumers can avoid the risks of infringement liability and can limit their exposure to other potential risks, e.g., viruses, unexpected material, or spyware. For more information on this issue, see the Register of Copyrights' testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee . If the movie is for entertainment purposes, you need to get a clearance or license for its performance. It is not necessary to obtain permission if you show the movie in the course of “face-to-face teaching activities” in a nonprofit educational institution, in a classroom or similar place devoted to instruction, if the copy of the movie being performed is a lawful copy. 17 U.S.C. § 110(1) . This exemption encompasses instructional activities relating to a wide variety of subjects, but it does not include performances for recreation or entertainment purposes, even if there is cultural value or intellectual appeal. Questions regarding this provision of the copyright law should be made to the legal counsel of the school or school system. Photocopying shops, photography stores and other photo developing stores are often reluctant to make reproductions of old photographs for fear of violating the copyright law and being sued. These fears are not unreasonable, because copy shops have been sued for reproducing copyrighted works and have been required to pay substantial damages for infringing copyrighted works. The policy established by a shop is a business decision and risk assessment that the business is entitled to make, because the business may face liability if they reproduce a work even if they did not know the work was copyrighted. In the case of photographs, it is sometimes difficult to determine who owns the copyright and there may be little or no information about the owner on individual copies. Ownership of a “copy” of a photograph – the tangible embodiment of the “work” – is distinct from the “work” itself – the intangible intellectual property. The owner of the “work” is generally the photographer or, in certain situations, the employer of the photographer. Even if a person hires a photographer to take pictures of a wedding, for example, the photographer will own the copyright in the photographs unless the copyright in the photographs is transferred, in writing and signed by the copyright owner, to another person. The subject of the photograph generally has nothing to do with the ownership of the copyright in the photograph. If the photographer is no longer living, the rights in the photograph are determined by the photographer’s will or passed as personal property by the applicable laws of intestate succession. There may be situations in which the reproduction of a photograph may be a “fair use” under the copyright law. Information about fair use may be found at Fair Use Index. However, even if a person determines a use to be a “fair use” under the factors of section 107 of the Copyright Act, a copy shop or other third party need not accept the person’s assertion that the use is noninfringing. Ultimately, only a federal court can determine whether a particular use is, in fact, a fair use under the law. How to cite ChatGPT Use discount code STYLEBLOG15 for 15% off APA Style print products with free shipping in the United States. We, the APA Style team, are not robots. We can all pass a CAPTCHA test , and we know our roles in a Turing test . And, like so many nonrobot human beings this year, we’ve spent a fair amount of time reading, learning, and thinking about issues related to large language models, artificial intelligence (AI), AI-generated text, and specifically ChatGPT . We’ve also been gathering opinions and feedback about the use and citation of ChatGPT. Thank you to everyone who has contributed and shared ideas, opinions, research, and feedback. In this post, I discuss situations where students and researchers use ChatGPT to create text and to facilitate their research, not to write the full text of their paper or manuscript. We know instructors have differing opinions about how or even whether students should use ChatGPT, and we’ll be continuing to collect feedback about instructor and student questions. As always, defer to instructor guidelines when writing student papers. For more about guidelines and policies about student and author use of ChatGPT, see the last section of this post. Quoting or reproducing the text created by ChatGPT in your paper If you’ve used ChatGPT or other AI tools in your research, describe how you used the tool in your Method section or in a comparable section of your paper. For literature reviews or other types of essays or response or reaction papers, you might describe how you used the tool in your introduction. In your text, provide the prompt you used and then any portion of the relevant text that was generated in response. Unfortunately, the results of a ChatGPT “chat” are not retrievable by other readers, and although nonretrievable data or quotations in APA Style papers are usually cited as personal communications , with ChatGPT-generated text there is no person communicating. Quoting ChatGPT’s text from a chat session is therefore more like sharing an algorithm’s output; thus, credit the author of the algorithm with a reference list entry and the corresponding in-text citation. When prompted with “Is the left brain right brain divide real or a metaphor?” the ChatGPT-generated text indicated that although the two brain hemispheres are somewhat specialized, “the notation that people can be characterized as ‘left-brained’ or ‘right-brained’ is considered to be an oversimplification and a popular myth” (OpenAI, 2023). OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (Mar 14 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat You may also put the full text of long responses from ChatGPT in an appendix of your paper or in online supplemental materials, so readers have access to the exact text that was generated. It is particularly important to document the exact text created because ChatGPT will generate a unique response in each chat session, even if given the same prompt. If you create appendices or supplemental materials, remember that each should be called out at least once in the body of your APA Style paper. When given a follow-up prompt of “What is a more accurate representation?” the ChatGPT-generated text indicated that “different brain regions work together to support various cognitive processes” and “the functional specialization of different regions can change in response to experience and environmental factors” (OpenAI, 2023; see Appendix A for the full transcript). Creating a reference to ChatGPT or other AI models and software The in-text citations and references above are adapted from the reference template for software in Section 10.10 of the Publication Manual (American Psychological Association, 2020, Chapter 10). Although here we focus on ChatGPT, because these guidelines are based on the software template, they can be adapted to note the use of other large language models (e.g., Bard), algorithms, and similar software. The reference and in-text citations for ChatGPT are formatted as follows: Parenthetical citation: (OpenAI, 2023) Narrative citation: OpenAI (2023) Let’s break that reference down and look at the four elements (author, date, title, and source): Author: The author of the model is OpenAI. Date: The date is the year of the version you used. Following the template in Section 10.10, you need to include only the year, not the exact date. The version number provides the specific date information a reader might need. Title: The name of the model is “ChatGPT,” so that serves as the title and is italicized in your reference, as shown in the template. Although OpenAI labels unique iterations (i.e., ChatGPT-3, ChatGPT-4), they are using “ChatGPT” as the general name of the model, with updates identified with version numbers. The version number is included after the title in parentheses. The format for the version number in ChatGPT references includes the date because that is how OpenAI is labeling the versions. Different large language models or software might use different version numbering; use the version number in the format the author or publisher provides, which may be a numbering system (e.g., Version 2.0) or other methods. Bracketed text is used in references for additional descriptions when they are needed to help a reader understand what’s being cited. References for a number of common sources, such as journal articles and books, do not include bracketed descriptions, but things outside of the typical peer-reviewed system often do. In the case of a reference for ChatGPT, provide the descriptor “Large language model” in square brackets. OpenAI describes ChatGPT-4 as a “large multimodal model,” so that description may be provided instead if you are using ChatGPT-4. Later versions and software or models from other companies may need different descriptions, based on how the publishers describe the model. The goal of the bracketed text is to briefly describe the kind of model to your reader. Source: When the publisher name and the author name are the same, do not repeat the publisher name in the source element of the reference, and move directly to the URL. This is the case for ChatGPT. The URL for ChatGPT is https://chat.openai.com/chat . For other models or products for which you may create a reference, use the URL that links as directly as possible to the source (i.e., the page where you can access the model, not the publisher’s homepage). Other questions about citing ChatGPT You may have noticed the confidence with which ChatGPT described the ideas of brain lateralization and how the brain operates, without citing any sources. I asked for a list of sources to support those claims and ChatGPT provided five references—four of which I was able to find online. The fifth does not seem to be a real article; the digital object identifier given for that reference belongs to a different article, and I was not able to find any article with the authors, date, title, and source details that ChatGPT provided. Authors using ChatGPT or similar AI tools for research should consider making this scrutiny of the primary sources a standard process. If the sources are real, accurate, and relevant, it may be better to read those original sources to learn from that research and paraphrase or quote from those articles, as applicable, than to use the model’s interpretation of them. We’ve also received a number of other questions about ChatGPT. Should students be allowed to use it? What guidelines should instructors create for students using AI? Does using AI-generated text constitute plagiarism? Should authors who use ChatGPT credit ChatGPT or OpenAI in their byline? What are the copyright implications ? On these questions, researchers, editors, instructors, and others are actively debating and creating parameters and guidelines. Many of you have sent us feedback, and we encourage you to continue to do so in the comments below. We will also study the policies and procedures being established by instructors, publishers, and academic institutions, with a goal of creating guidelines that reflect the many real-world applications of AI-generated text. For questions about manuscript byline credit, plagiarism, and related ChatGPT and AI topics, the APA Style team is seeking the recommendations of APA Journals editors. APA Style guidelines based on those recommendations will be posted on this blog and on the APA Style site later this year. Update: APA Journals has published policies on the use of generative AI in scholarly materials . We, the APA Style team humans, appreciate your patience as we navigate these unique challenges and new ways of thinking about how authors, researchers, and students learn, write, and work with new technologies. American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000 Related and recent Comments are disabled due to your privacy settings. To re-enable, please adjust your cookie preferences. APA Style Monthly Subscribe to the APA Style Monthly newsletter to get tips, updates, and resources delivered directly to your inbox. Welcome! Thank you for subscribing. APA Style Guidelines Browse APA Style writing guidelines by category Abbreviations Bias-Free Language Capitalization In-Text Citations Italics and Quotation Marks Paper Format Punctuation Research and Publication Spelling and Hyphenation Tables and Figures Full index of topics Copyright group takes down Dutch language AI dataset Medium Text Sign up here. Reporting by Toby Sterling; editing by Jonathan Oatis Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. , opens new tab Court upholds blockbuster $267 million legal fee award in Dell lawsuit Five law firms should receive $267 million in legal fees for obtaining a $1 billion settlement for shareholders of Dell Technologies , the Delaware Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday, rejecting arguments that the payment was a windfall. Trump and Allies Forge Plans to Increase Presidential Power in 2025 The former president and his backers aim to strengthen the power of the White House and limit the independence of federal agencies. Donald J. Trump intends to bring independent regulatory agencies under direct presidential control. Credit... Doug Mills/The New York Times Supported by Share full article By Jonathan Swan Charlie Savage and Maggie Haberman Published July 17, 2023 Updated July 18, 2023 Donald J. Trump and his allies are planning a sweeping expansion of presidential power over the machinery of government if voters return him to the White House in 2025, reshaping the structure of the executive branch to concentrate far greater authority directly in his hands. Their plans to centralize more power in the Oval Office stretch far beyond the former president’s recent remarks that he would order a criminal investigation into his political rival, President Biden, signaling his intent to end the post-Watergate norm of Justice Department independence from White House political control. Mr. Trump and his associates have a broader goal: to alter the balance of power by increasing the president’s authority over every part of the federal government that now operates, by either law or tradition, with any measure of independence from political interference by the White House, according to a review of his campaign policy proposals and interviews with people close to him. Mr. Trump intends to bring independent agencies — like the Federal Communications Commission, which makes and enforces rules for television and internet companies, and the Federal Trade Commission, which enforces various antitrust and other consumer protection rules against businesses — under direct presidential control. He wants to revive the practice of “impounding” funds, refusing to spend money Congress has appropriated for programs a president doesn’t like — a tactic that lawmakers banned under President Richard Nixon. He intends to strip employment protections from tens of thousands of career civil servants, making it easier to replace them if they are deemed obstacles to his agenda. And he plans to scour the intelligence agencies, the State Department and the defense bureaucracies to remove officials he has vilified as “the sick political class that hates our country.” We are having trouble retrieving the article content. Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and  log into  your Times account, or  subscribe  for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber?  Log in . Want all of The Times?  Subscribe . Advertisement 176 IMAGES Copyright and Creativity Essay Example What is Copyright, Fair Use, Public Domain Essay Copyright issues Essay Example Copyright, by Pierre Palmer Essay Example Sample Copyright Essay Guide to Writing a Copyright Essay: Structure, Sources, and Due COMMENTS Copyright Examples & How to Write a Copyright Notice A copyright is the exclusive legal right over how original content or materials you've made get copied, shared, reproduced, printed, performed, or published by others. In other words, copyright provides you with exclusive rights to: Reproduce your work; Distribute or sell your work; Display or perform your work publicly What Writers Should Know about Copyright As a copyright owner, you have the right to make, sell, or otherwise distribute copies; adapt the work; and publicly recite or display your work. Second, you should know that copyright protection exists from the moment an original work is "fixed" in a tangible medium. For writers, fixation occurs when your ideas are written down on paper or ... Plagiarism Checker As a final step, you can use a free plagiarism detector or plagiarism remover to check for copyright infringement. Grammarly's online plagiarism checker can help ensure you correctly identified and cited anything in your text that isn't 100 percent unique. It can also help you properly disclose and cite the use of AI in your writing. Plagiarism Checker Plagiarism Checker Benefits. Whether producing original content or verifying that of others, there's a lot to gain from using a plagiarism checker. Accurate, automatic detection of duplicate content facilitates the copy-checking process for teachers, students, content writers, and more. Results showing the exact percentage of plagiarized ... A quick guide to copyright law for research and academic writing 6 mins. Authors of research papers encounter copyright typically in only two situations. The first, and far more common, is signing the copyright form (in effect, giving the copyright to their manuscript to the journal's publisher) as one of the last steps before the paper is published. The second, less common, is responding to the question ... How to Write & Use a Copyright Notice Correctly A copyright notice is a statement used to warn your users or readers that the work that they are consuming is your intellectual property and that you hold rights to it. In other words, its purpose is to publicly state and claim ownership of the original work that you have created and its related rights. A copyright notice is usually fairly ... Copyright and Fair Use Works that are factual and less creative are more susceptible of fair use than imaginative and highly creative works. This is in keeping with the general principle that copyright protects expression rather than ideas or facts. However, the second factor is typically the least important of the fair use factors. Plagiarism Checker Free Plagiarism checker free and accurately detects copyright content from assignments or Documents with 0$ cost and ONE-click essay checker. ... If you don't want to copy and paste your text, you can alternatively upload the page URL or the file for a quick and free plagiarism check. ... Published By Stanford Copyright and Fair Use Center What role does a copyright notice play? Until March 1, 1989, a published work had to contain a valid copyright notice to receive protection under the copyright laws. But this requirement is no longer in force — works first published after March 1, 1989, need not include a copyright notice to gain protection under the law. Copyright and Plagiarism Explained: What You Need to Know Proper Citation: Always provide accurate and complete citations for any information or ideas borrowed from other sources.; Effective Paraphrasing: Practice effective paraphrasing to convey ideas in your own words while retaining the original meaning.; Use Plagiarism Detection Tools: Employ plagiarism detection tools to check your work for potential instances of unintentional plagiarism. Original Writing, Made Easy Quetext is reliable, safe, and extremely effective for verifying original work with ease. Rigorous testing is involved with every update made to the product, and the comprehensive plagiarism score users receive is backed by billions of internet sources. Students, teachers, and content writers alike rely on Quetext for fast and accurate ... How to Create a Copyright Page in 5 Minutes (with Template) About Martin Cavannagh Head of Content at Reedsy, Martin has spent over eight years helping writers turn their ambitions into reality. As a voice in the indie publishing space, he has written for a number of outlets and spoken at conferences, including the 2024 Writers Summit at the London Book Fair. How to Copyright Your Writing for Free: 13 Steps (with Pictures) 2. "Fix" your original work. As part of the creation process, you will need to fix your original work in order for it to be copyrightable. [13] In order to fix something, you must express it "in a tangible form that is perceptible by the human senses either directly or with the aid of a machine." [14] Plagiarism Checker DupliChecker's AI plagiarism checker utilizes artificial intelligence to enhance the precision of detecting plagiarism by analyzing various text elements, such as syntax, writing pattern, tone, and rhythm of words. This inclusion of AI simplifies to check AI plagiarism across different domains. Published By Stanford Copyright and Fair Use Center If the work was created, but not published, before 1978, the copyright lasts for the life of the author plus 70 years. However, even if the author died over 70 years ago, the copyright in an unpublished work lasted until December 31, 2002. And if such a work was published before December 31, 2002, the copyright will last until December 31, 2047. What is Copyright? U.S. copyright law provides copyright owners with the following exclusive rights: Reproduce the work in copies or phonorecords. Prepare derivative works based upon the work. Distribute copies or phonorecords of the work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership or by rental, lease, or lending. What Does Copyright Protect? (FAQ) Publishers of works such as a star registry may register a claim to copyright in the text of the volume [or book] containing the names the registry has assigned to stars, and perhaps the compilation of data; but such a registration would not extend protection to any of the individual star names appearing therein. Free Essay and Paper Checker Scribbr is committed to protecting academic integrity. Our plagiarism checker, AI Detector, Citation Generator, proofreading services, paraphrasing tool, grammar checker, summarizer, and free Knowledge Base content are designed to help students produce quality academic papers. We make every effort to prevent our software from being used for ... Our Best Free Copyright Checker Online Our checker can search your work for grammar errors and copyright issues at the same time. All you have to do is plug your text in and get the result! It's easy and only takes a few moments. Don't stress out about citing - use our free copyright checker and feel secure in your writing. WriteHuman: Undetectable AI and AI Content Humanizer Our advanced AI text humanizer acts as a powerful shield against AI detection tools. By transforming AI-generated content into human-like text, WriteHuman makes sure your writing remains undetectable. Our sophisticated algorithms produce humanized text that simulates human writers, allowing you to create original content that bypasses even the ... Lorem Ipsum Lorem Ipsum comes from sections 1.10.32 and 1.10.33 of "de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum" (The Extremes of Good and Evil) by Cicero, written in 45 BC. This book is a treatise on the theory of ethics, very popular during the Renaissance. The first line of Lorem Ipsum, "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet..", comes from a line in section 1.10.32. Copyright Text Checker: How to Recognize the Plagiarism? Visit the copyright checker online you want to use. Copy and paste your text in the copyright essay checker. Know if there is word limit or characters limit of the checker. Click the start button on the online plagiarism detector to get immediate results. Note: There are highlighted words in the copy paste content checker that will appear. Basic principles of citation Even when sources cannot be retrieved (e.g., because they are personal communications), still credit them in the text (however, avoid using online sources that are no longer recoverable). Learn more Basic principles of citation are covered in the seventh edition APA Style manuals in the Publication Manual Sections 8.1 to 8.36 and the Concise ... Fair Use (FAQ) Under the fair use doctrine of the U.S. copyright statute, it is permissible to use limited portions of a work including quotes, for purposes such as commentary, criticism, news reporting, and scholarly reports. There are no legal rules permitting the use of a specific number of words, a certain number of musical notes, or percentage of a work. From code to conduct: ethical considerations for AI in legal practice Michael Cole of Mercedes-Benz Research and Development North America explores the application of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct to AI, with a focus in the areas of competence ... Exclusive There's a Tool to Catch Students Cheating With ChatGPT. OpenAI Hasn't Released It. Technology that can detect text written by artificial intelligence with 99.9% certainty has been debated ... Intel sued for copyright infringement over AI software Software maker Anaconda Inc has sued Intel in Delaware federal court, accusing the chipmaker of misusing its software for developing artificial-intelligence platforms, according to a lawsuit made ... How to cite ChatGPT We, the APA Style team, are not robots. We can all pass a CAPTCHA test, and we know our roles in a Turing test.And, like so many nonrobot human beings this year, we've spent a fair amount of time reading, learning, and thinking about issues related to large language models, artificial intelligence (AI), AI-generated text, and specifically ChatGPT. Copyright group takes down Dutch language AI dataset Dutch-based copyright enforcement group BREIN has taken down a large language dataset that was being offered for use in training AI models, the organization said on Tuesday. Trump and Allies Forge Plans to Increase Presidential Power in 2025 Donald J. Trump and his allies are planning a sweeping expansion of presidential power over the machinery of government if voters return him to the White House in 2025, reshaping the structure of ... assignment essay homework paper phd report review speech thesis