4. You have authorization?

Do you already have authorization from the copyright holder to use the material?

Even if the material you wish to use is protected by copyright, you may already be authorized to use the material. Common situations in which you may be authorized include:

Harper College Library already has a license or subscription, allowing employees to use the material
The copyright holder has given authorization to use the material using a Creative Commons license
The terms of use of the material authorizes the type of use you require without needing to ask express permission

1. Harper College Library License/Subscription

You may already be authorized to use the material through a standing license or subscription with the Harper College Library. The library has a wide collection of resources that are available to Harper College faculty, such as:

Databases, such as EBSCO, JSTOR, Academic Search Complete, and many others. These databases contain thousands of articles and other resources.
Streaming music and video resources that Harper College faculty are authorized to use.
Assistance for faculty to integrate the resources they are interested in using into their courses

2. Creative Commons Licenses

Creative Commons is a non-profit organization whose mission is to make it easier for creators to share their work and/or build upon the works of others.

Creative Commons has created copyright licenses that anybody can apply to their work. These licenses allow others to use their work under the terms of the licenses without having to contact the owner of the copyright to ask permission.

There are several Creative Commons Licenses, each with different conditions of use. The following chart provides more information on what the different licenses allow:

3. Terms of Use

You may be able to use copyrighted content from a website or other source if your use is authorized under the source's terms of use. Many websites allow non-commercial or educational uses of their materials without having to seek permission. Keep in mind, however, that a website's terms of use can only apply to their own content and not to other content that they may have linked to, embedded, or copied from another source.

If yes...

You are free to use the material, following the use terms, rights, or instructions provided by the Harper College library, the Creative Commons license attached to the material, or the terms of use.