What can I use?

The University of California encourages respect for the copyrights of content creators, and the thoughtful and permissible use of copyrighted materials by the public in accordance with U.S. copyright law.

Because the boundaries can be difficult to navigate, this site offers guidance for remaining within the bounds of fair use in teaching, as well as steps for obtaining the proper permissions.

Determining a work's copyright status

The chart below is intended as a guide to help you determine the status of a work and whether permission is needed. You can consult the pages on the left for more in-depth explanations.

Does your use of the work qualify as Fair Use?
Four Factors of Fair Use:	Fair use is more likely when:
Purpose of your use	Transformative expression Educational/scholarly Research/reporting/criticism Non-profit
Nature of the copyrighted work to be used	Work is published Work is factual or non-fiction
Amount of the copyrighted work to be used	Small excerpt or clip Not the core of the work being used
Effect your use will have on the market value of the copyrighted work	Only a few copies made Little impact on reasonable markets for  the work

Is the work protected by copyright?
Work might not be protected by © in the US if it is:	Example works:
Facts, ideas, or short phrases	Temperature data Newtonian physics formulae Concept for a story Book titles
Older works in the public domain because of copyright expiration or formalities	Early silent films Mozart sheet music “A Tale of Two Cities”
Federal government works	Official NASA photos CIA Factbook USGS-authored maps

Do you have permission to use the work?
Creative Commons or other public licenses	Ask for permission
Owner provides advanced, blanket permission for the work to be used.	If you need permission and there's no blanket license, you can try to contact the copyright owner.