To use work created by someone else in your own work, the item either needs to be out of copyright, or you need to have the right to use it. Several mechanisms in copyright law may allow you to use materials created by others in your own work if the criteria are met. Analyzing the copyright status, rights, and permissions of an item will help you determine whether you can legally use a particular resource in your own work.

Walking through the following framework will guide you in finding out the copyright status of a work and whether rights or permissions may be available for you to use it. The decision of whether to use a copyrighted work is ultimately your own.  

Step 1: Is it copyrightable?

• See our overview on what is copyrightable and what copyright doesn't cover.
• If a work is copyrightable, go to step 2. 
• If the work is one that does not have protection from copyright law (e.g., facts) or is covered by other intellectual property law (see the next point), you may proceed with your use.
• If the work is covered by another type of intellectual property law (e.g., patent or trademark), the next step is to investigate your rights under other areas of the law, not this workflow.

Step 2: Is it in the public domain?

• Being in the public domain means that the work is free to use without permission (i.e., does not have copyright protections).
• See Cornell’s Copyright Term and the Public Domain table to identify whether the work is in the public domain or still protected by copyright based on the creation and/or publication dates.
• Depending on when the work was created, search for whether it has a copyright notice or renewal indicating its copyright status. If you can’t find a copyright notice, librarians can help you find more information about copyright status.
• If the work is in the public domain, it is available to use. 
• If the work is still under copyright, go to step 3.

Step 3: Does the item have any licenses or contractual obligations indicating how it may be used?

• Look for an open license that is applied to the work, such as Creative Commons licenses.
• Look for terms and conditions applied by the rightsholder, such as the author or an archive.
• If there is a license allowing your use, proceed with your use according to the terms of the license. If not, go to step 4.

Step 4: Is Fair Use applicable to your use of this work?

• A fair use analysis needs to be done for each work you are using – in other words, you are not doing an analysis of your use to apply to all works you are using. 
• If you find that your evaluation fulfills the Fair Use criteria, you may proceed with your use. If not, go to step 5.

Step 5: Request permission from the rightsholder

• See the UC Copyright Obtaining Permissions page for guidance on how to make a permissions request.
• If you obtain permission, you may use it according to the terms between you and the rightsholder. 
• If the rightsholder is unavailable, go to step 6. 
• If permission is denied, go to step 7.

Step 6: Can't find the rightsholder to ask permission? Here are two possible reactions: 

• Reconsider Fair Use – does the analysis change when the creator is unavailable? 
• Explore whether the item is in the category of Orphan Works by checking via these strategies.

Step 7: None of these options are making it possible for you to use the item? 

• Explore alternative works that are similar to use instead and then go through this workflow with the new work that you find. For example, use the Creative Commons Search Portal for results that are all licensed for reuse or in the public domain.
• Consider linking to the work if it is online, which does not violate copyright or require having the rights to a work, instead of inserting it directly in your work.

You may go through these steps for each work that you would like to use.

• E-mail us
• Schedule a one-on-one meeting