Copyright: Using Audio,
Music, & Images

The rules governing the showing of copyrighted videotapes are the same as those governing any other copyrighted performance. A properly purchased or rented videotape may be used in a classroom setting in conjunction with face-to-face instruction. Care should be taken to comply with any special terms in the rental or purchase agreements. The library makes every effort to acquire the appropriate version for our campus - if institutional costs or performance rights are available and/or required for purchase of any video for the library collection, we will do so.

Classroom and Curriculum-related use: Fair Use guidelines exempt the individual from having to seek permission or purchase performance rights.

Co- or Extra-curricular Events:   You should seek public performance rights if you are showing a video to the public/community. Videos that you rent from commercial establishments or video-tape at home are for personal viewing only.

Guidelines for copying television programs off-the-air have been developed by an ad hoc committee composed of representatives of the broadcast industry and educators. ("Off-the-air" means television programs transmitted for reception by the general public without charge, including such programs being simultaneously transmitted by a cable system. It does not include programs shown on pay cable or pay TV services; under the guidelines you are not free to videotape these for later showing.)

Based on the television guidelines and recent court decisions, it is acceptable to use videotapes of broadcast programs in the classroom provided the following steps are observed:

• Recordings may be used by individual teachers in the course of "time-shifting" the program in order to be seen in class. They may not be shown from semester to semester without permission, and they should be erased at the end of the semester in which they are used.
• Recordings should be shown in classrooms and other similar places devoted to instruction.
• A limited number of copies may be reproduced from each broadcast recording to meet the legitimate needs of teachers under these guidelines. Each such additional copy shall be subject to all provisions governing the original recording.
• Videos of broadcast recordings need not be used in their entirety, but they may not be altered from their original content. They may not be physically or electronically combined or merged to constitute teaching anthologies or compilations.
• All copies of off-air recordings must include the copyright notice on the broadcast as recorded.

Images in HPU Libraries databases have some restrictions on use. Typically, images can be used for:

• student papers
• student presentations or multimedia projects
• faculty classroom presentations
• course online environments restricted to HPU only

Without additional permission from the vendor, images cannot be used for:

• open websites or projects posted to the open web
• commercial or for-profit products or projects
• faculty publications
• print brochures for public distribution

Each image database has slightly different use requirements. Please read each databases's conditions-for-use statement if you are not sure if your use would be acceptable.

Public Domain Images

Please note that images you find on Google Images, Flickr, and other web-based databases are often NOT free from copyright.  The only way to tell is to search each image through an advanced search.

There are many public domain images available on the web, including: