Obtaining Copyright Permissions
Copyright is a legal protection by the U.S. Government for authors of original works, applicable to both published and unpublished works. Another way of looking at it is that patents protect ideas, but copyrights protect the expression of ideas. Generally speaking, a copyright prevents someone from copying the owner's work. Anything that is fixed in a tangible medium is copyrighted (i.e., anything that is in written form, or that can be performed, videotaped, put on the Internet, photographed, drawn, etc.). Examples of copyrightable works include, but are not limited to works of:
- motion pictures
- television shows
- literature
- music
- drama
- choreography
- sculpture
- computer data bases and software
- pantomime
When you purchase copyrighted material, you are legally authorized to use the material in the form in which it was purchased. Permission does not extend beyond the original format. Therefore, copyrighted videos and other materials may not be displayed in any other format, including online, without the expressed written consent of the copyright holder.
How to Obtain Permission to Use Copyrighted Content Online
The Office of Online Education must be the requestor and holder of copyright permissions for use in your course. Please use the following procedure whenever you desire to use copyrighted materials in your Online Education courses. Note that the process takes time, from weeks to months. Submitting your request well in advance of the need will help lead to a satisfactory outcome, or at least an outcome.
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Work with your Online Education Instructional Designer to identify the need for copyrighted material in your course. You may be able to use just a portion of a video or Online Education can provide viable alternatives and may already have it in their collection of allowed resources.
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Contact the UNLV Library Media and Computer Services, via e-mail, with a request for the desired material, including your course title and that it is a Online Education course, the video titles, call numbers and any other information necessary to locate distributors, and the time period for the requested material. Tom Ipri will forward the request and distributor information to the Office of Online Education. You may skip this step if the contact is already known and e-mail that info directly to your Online Education Instructional Designer.
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The Office of Online Education will submit a copyright permission request to the distributors.
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You will be notified once a response has been received.
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Your Online Education Instructional Designer will work with you to create a link for student access within your course.
