Copyright Procedures for Use of Instructional Material in Online Courses

Copyright and licensing issues vary when enrollment to a course extends beyond Georgetown. Please use the guidelines below; if you have questions, please contact libraryitel@georgetown.edu to schedule a consultation.

1. Define material type:

Locally authored material

e.g. lecture recording, handouts, slides, images; may also include articles and books for which the instructor retains copyright.

The ownership and use of this type of material is covered by University policies on intellectual property, and/ or other policies put into place by the providers of the online learning infrastructure and its support services. Generally, there are no restrictions on the use of this type of material with any audience, but releases must be sought from contributors (e.g. interviewees or students appearing in lecture recordings).
Third party material

i.e. all materials not directly produced or authored by the instructors of the course.

All third party materials should be considered to be under copyright, unless there is evidence to the contrary. Strategies for integrating this kind of material in online courses will depend on the intended audience. Go to the next step:

2. Define the audience:

Registered Georgetown users with NetIDs:

Use Blackboard and Library reserves (general blackboard procedures and reserve policies apply). The following recommended procedures apply to the use of an entire item of each material type, which is not in the Public Domain, or creative commons-licensed:

Printed books	Place on reserve & link to Permanent URL in online catalog.
e-books	Link to permanent URL in online catalog
book chapters	Place on reserves
Scholarly articles	Use permanent URL in course documentation
Newspaper articles	Use permanent URL in course documentation
Youtube videos	Verify that copy is provided legally & link to Youtube
Other web-derived audiovisual	Verify that copy is provided legally & link
DVD/Streaming video provided through the Library	Contact Library Reserves to verify Terms of Use
Still images	If the image is derived from a commercial aggregator (e.g. ArtSTOR), verify the Terms of Use. If the image is derived from another third party, verify rights status & document it (some status claims may be false!). In all other cases, conduct a Fair Use analysis.
Excerpts	Consult best practice documentation Conduct Fair Use analysis

Georgetown AND non-Georgetown users:

Printed books & e-books	use self-authored textbook (if copyright is retained) [text may be embedded in course] use public domain titles instead (pre-1923, government publications) [text may be embedded in course] instead, use titles found in Google Books, Hathi Trust, or other Open Access repositories [use permanent link] in all other cases, permission must be sought from publisher
book chapters	seek permission from publisher
Scholarly articles	use articles in Open Access journals and repositories. use publicly accessible articles [use permanent link, if available] in all other cases, permission must be sought from publisher
Newspaper articles	If freely available: use permanent link to official site (not aggregator site) If accessible only for subscribers: seek permission
Youtube videos	Verify that copy is provided legally & link to Youtube
Other audiovisual	Verify that copy is provided legally & link
Still images	identify and use Public Domain, or creative commons-licensed images Conduct a Fair Use analysis
Excerpts	Consult Best Practices documentation Conduct Fair Use analysis

3. Provide source citation, permissions information (where applicable), and documentation of "due diligence"

Provide a spreadsheet with a list of all items used, with this information for each item.

Copyright Procedures for Use of Instructional Material in Online Courses

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