Best practices for sharing readings, media, images, and other course materials with students.

This guide, which addresses copyright, fair use, and permissions, is intended to help faculty make thoughtful, consistent decisions when sharing course materials with students. It is intended as practical guidance, not legal advice. When in doubt, please consult Marcia Keyser, Online Learning and Copyright Librarian at Drake University.

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Copyright and Fair Use Overview

Copyright is a legal right that grants creators exclusive control over their original works for a limited time to foster creativity.

A fair use analysis is the legal mechanism that balances these creator protections with the academic freedom to teach and research without prior permission. (https://guides.nyu.edu/fairuse).

Defining copyright around this “dual purpose” clarifies why fair use is important at academic institutions: (https://copyright.psu.edu/copyright-basics/fair-use/)

1. Promotes learning. It safeguards the public interest by allowing educators to legally critique, comment on, and utilize copyrighted materials for teaching.
2. Requires case-by-case assessment. Because educational use is not automatically exempt, a fair use analysis ensures compliance by weighing the why, what, how much, and economic impact of the proposed use.

Recommended Faculty Workflow

Follow these steps to make consistent and thoughtful decisions when choosing course materials:

1. Identify the teaching purpose for each copyrighted item. The use of the course material should be tied directly to teaching, criticism, commentary, scholarship, or research.
2. Review general guidelines related to published works, as well as images, slides, audio, and video.
3. Start with the lowest risk options. 
   1. If the reading is publicly available, provide a direct link to the item. Avoid ‘print to PDF’ for webpages.
   2. If Cowles Library provides licensed access or a stable link, provide a stable and persistent link to the item. This best practice also helps the library measure database usage.
4. Complete a fair use analysis. 
   1. If copying or uploading is necessary, complete a Fair Use Checklist to evaluate the four factors: purpose, nature, amount, and market effect.
      1. Save your Fair Use Checklist to show good faith effort.
      2. When fair use is uncertain, contact Marcia Keyser, Online Learning and Copyright Librarian.
5. Seek permission or find an alternative. 
   1. If Fair Use does not apply, start the process of getting permission (see lower-left section).
6. Upload materials that favor fair use or you have permission to use.
   1. Use only the portion needed, restrict access to enrolled students (i.e., add to your Blackboard course), and check for accessibility.
7. For all course materials, include attribution and copyright information.
8. Review your course materials each term and remove outdated or unnecessary copies.

General Guidelines

When selecting course materials, review these lists for guidance.

Published Works

• Whenever possible, use links to library-licensed material (i.e., permalinks or database links), open access versions, or legally posted materials over uploaded PDFs.
• Use only the amount needed to meet a specific teaching objective.
• Limit access to students enrolled in the course.
• Provide complete citations and copyright notices when sharing materials so students can identify the source and learn by example.
• Avoid scanning or uploading entire books, textbooks, workbooks, lab manuals, test banks, answer keys, course packs, or other consumable materials students are normally expected to purchase.
• Use licensed streaming/media services when available.
• Complete a fair use analysis when copying, scanning, uploading, or distributing copyrighted content.
• Ask for permission or seek an alternative when the use may replace a sale, license, or required purchase.

Images, Slides, Audio, and Video

Images, music, films, television clips, and other creative works often require closer review because they may be highly creative and commercially licensed.

Use the smallest portion that supports the teaching purpose, rely on licensed library media when available, and avoid posting full works for students to watch or download outside the course unless the use is clearly licensed, permitted, or supported by fair use.

Not all images found on the Internet are cleared for use. Check for permission to use and cite the source.

• Pro tip in Blackboard: The image option from the content editor provides access to Unsplash images that have been cleared for use. For accessibility purposes, follow the prompts to provide an alt tag to describe the image or mark it as decorative.

Start with the Lowest-Risk Options

Before uploading a copy of a work, consider whether you can meet the same instructional goal by linking to a stable online source, assigning a library-owned item, using an open educational resource, or selecting public domain or Creative Commons material. Linking is often simpler than copying because the content remains hosted by the source that provides it.

Review the Course Materials webpage at Cowles Library for helpful resources related to low-risk options:

• Use the FAST adoption portal each semester for every course you teach.
• Find OER if looking for a no-cost option for students.
• Create OER for a course to share with others.
• Find and create persistent links when sharing resources available through Cowles Library to ensure students can access it from off campus.

Complete a Fair Use Analysis

Fair use may allow limited use of copyrighted material without permission, but it requires a case-by-case judgment.

The Four Factors

Faculty should document their reasoning using the four factors below.

Fair Use Checklist

To complete a fair use analysis, visit the Fair Use webpage (Columbia University Libraries) and access the Fair Use Checklist.

1. Download and save the checklist.
2. Fill out the checklist, including a citation to the item, a short description of how it will be used, and the date the checklist is filled out.
3. Save a copy of the completed checklist (paper or digital). This shows the instructor made a good-faith fair use determination.

Seek Permission or Choose an Alternative

Seek permission or consider choosing an alternative resource in these scenarios:

• You want to use an entire work or a substantial portion of a work.
• The material is a textbook, workbook, lab manual, course pack, test bank, or other item students would normally purchase.
• The work is licensed primarily for educational or streaming use, and the license does not allow your planned use.
• The use would make it unnecessary for students or the institution to buy or license the material.
• The copyright holder offers a reasonable license for the exact use you need.

How to Seek Permission

When requesting permission to use a work, try contacting the author first. Here is an example of a general permission letter (Baylor University).

Check to see if your College or School has an administrative assistant who can assist with the process. This is particularly helpful if there is a cost associated with obtaining permission.

Provide the following information in your request:

• Describe how the work will be used in your course.
• Provide details about the frequency of the course and approximate number of students.
• Define how long you need permission to use the work (e.g., one year, two years, in perpetuity).

If you cannot get permission from the author, the Copyright Clearance Center is another option. Permission can be granted per semester at a cost.

Upload Materials

When uploading content — that favors fair use or you have permission to use — follow these guidelines:

• Use only the portion needed and restrict access to enrolled students (i.e., add to your Blackboard course).
• If necessary to provide a PDF, do not upload a copy acquired at a different university.
• Check for accessibility.

All Course Materials

When sharing resources with students, the following information helps fulfill legal obligations, models academic integrity, and shows good-faith effort to respect ownership under educational exemptions for all course materials. Examples below.

Full citations

Copyright notices

Permission to use (if applicable)

Review your Course Materials

Each time you teach a course, review the course materials:

• See if your textbook has an updated edition.
• Click hyperlinks to confirm they open what is expected.
• Look for alternative learning materials for those that may be outdated.
• Delete unnecessary copies from when the course was previously taught.

Questions?

If you have questions about copyright, fair use, or permissions, please contact Marcia Keyser, Online Learning and Copyright Librarian at Drake University.

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Microsoft Copilot (2026) was used to brainstorm, organize, and summarize some of the content in this Knowledge Base article.