Q. What is FSU Libraries policy on copyright and copyright law?

At FSU Libraries, we understand that copyright can be a large encompassing and difficult topic to understand. We have created​ a primer on copyright and fair use available at http://guides.lib.fsu.edu/copyright.

The United States Copyright Act grants creators protection in their works by bestowing upon them a bundle of exclusive rights with respect to their works: 

• The right to reproduce/copy the work
• The right to prepare derivative works (e.g. translations)
• The right to distribute copies of the work by sale or lease or other transfer of ownership
• The right to publicly perform the work
• The right to publicly display the work
• The right to perform audio works publicly by digital means

We understand that instructors may have personal items they wish to integrate into their instructional plan. Materials that instructors wish to place on reserve for a course may be physically reserved in Strozier or Dirac Libraries or in some cases made available electronically through the course Blackboard site.  FSU Libraries reserves policies follow the fair use provisions outlined in U.S. copyright law.  Copyrighted material, including journal articles, should be placed on course reserve rather than posted to a course Canvas site to avoid copyright infringement.