Obtaining Permissions

Does the Work Fall Under a Copyright Exception?

If the work you would like to use is a part of the public domain or the use falls within the TEACH Act or under general fair use guidelines, you do not need to obtain copyright permission. However, you still need to include any copyright information on the original work and appropriate citations and attributions to the source.

Does the Campus Already Own A License?

In the electronic environment, many developers are actively negotiating use licenses with our libraries. It is possible that your campus library or bookstore has already obtained a site license for the work you would like to use.

Is the Work a Part of the Open Access Initiative?

There is a movement among educational institutions to encourage free online access to scientific and scholarly research literature, especially peer-reviewed journal articles and their preprints. As a result, there is a large array of scholarly articles available to you. For more information, check out the Directory of Open Access Journals site.

How to Obtain Permissions Yourself

If you prefer to obtain permission yourself, excellent online resources are readily available. To obtain permission to use excerpts from books, periodicals, music, photographs, and motion pictures, the links below will be useful. You may also contact the author and/or owner directly; although it's important to realize that the author may not be the copyright owner. Be sure you are talking to someone that controls the copyright.

• For books or periodicals, contact the Copyright Clearance Center.
  
   
• For photographs, try using the Copy Photography Computator, which with help you determine whether or not permission is needed. You may also contact either Corbis or Time, Inc.
  
   
• For music performance, contact the record label, which is usually represented by RIAA, BMI, SESAC, or ASCAP.
  
   
• If you want to record and distribute a musical composition that has already been recorded by someone else, or synchronize music with visual images, you need to obtain a master license from the owner of the recording, usually a record company, and a synchronization license from the owner/publisher of the song. Check with the RIAA, BMI, SESAC, or ASCAP to obtain a master recording license and contact the publisher to obtain a sync license.
  
   
• For motion pictures and videos, contact the Motion Picture Licensing Corporation, which is authorized by most major Hollywood motion picture studios to grant licenses to nonprofit groups, government organizations and businesses.

If you would prefer to contact the author and/or owner (e.g. publisher) directly, sending a standard permission letter generally is accepted.

Give yourself one to three months to track down, negotiate, and process your copyright permissions.

For more information and resources regarding permission, see the University of Texas' copyright permission site.

Back to Top