Digital Images and Copyright

Here's what to keep in mind when using images downloaded from the internet (including from MDID & ARTstor)...

You should ALWAYS...

  • ALWAYS credit the source of your images. (See Citing Images for help).

  • If possible, find out if the owner/creator of an image states how their image can be used.

  • Whenever possible, ask the copyright holder for permission and keep a record of this correspondence.

Under Fair Use Guidelines, professors may...

  • Display images for face-to-face teaching, research & scholarly activities at a non-profit educational institution.

  • Compile images for display for review over a secure network (such as Blackboard, Moodle or MDID) for students enrolled in the course.

and they may not...

  • Publish these images in digital or analog publications without proper copyright clearance. When permission cannot be found, consult the Four Factors of Fair Use.

Under Fair Use Guidelines, students may...

  • Use images in course assignments such as a term paper, thesis or poster as per their degree fulfillment requirements.

  • Publicly display images incorporated in academic work when associated with courses in which they are enrolled.

  • Retain work in personal portfolios for use in graduate school or employment applications, for example.

and they may not...

  • Publish images in any work in analog or digital form that do not have proper copyright clearance. When in doubt, consult the Four Factors of Fair Use.

Informative Copyright links: