Note: The Understanding Copyright tab you are vewing will be phased out on August 31, 2022. Instead, use our Copyright and Public Domain Guide at https://libguides.wmich.edu/publicdomain.

US Copyright Office

WMU Copyright Policies 

Copyright and Fair Use Terms

Copying and Sharing 

• Fair use balances authors' rights with educational needs.
• Fair use does not grant unrestricted use of information
• Fair use must satisfy the  four fair use factors and typically can only be applied one time for a particular copyrighted work.
• If fair use does not apply, then permission must be requested.
• Downloading   
  • You may download specific for teaching, learning, and research from WMU Libraries
  •  You may not systematically download or print substantial portions of databases or online books, create derivative products, obscure or modify copyright notices, or share content with non-WMU users without permission from the copyright holder.

Posting Information Online 

• Electronic resources available through the WMU Libraries is typically restricted to current WMU students, faculty, and staff.
• Do not post a full-text copy on the open Web. 
• Appropriate ways to provide access to electronic materials include
  • providing a persistent URL link to it. 
  • making access available through e-reserves
  • making access available through e-learning.

Retaining  Author and Creator Copyrights 

• It is not necessary or desirable to sign away the exclusive rights to your work in exchange for publication.
• It limits your ability to post your own work online, use it in course packs, or include it in Web-based repositories such as ScholarWorks at WMU. 
• Modifications to publisher agreements and alternative licensing options can be found at the SPARC and Creative Commons sites. 
• SHERPA/RoMEO  provides publisher policies on posting previously published articles on the Web and in open-access repositories.

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