Copyright Permission

Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States to the authors of original works of authorship.

Copyright protection arises automatically once an original work of authorship is fixed in a tangible medium of expression, now known or later developed; written, filmed, and recorded.

Copyrighted materials (books, articles, videos, images, music, etc.) may not be used without written permission from the publisher or author. If the copyright owner is known, (usually it is the publisher), they may be contacted directly for permission.

The U.S. Copyright Office provides copyright information in the publication "Copyright Basic" (Circular 1). The website address for the Copyright Information Circulars is: http://www.copyright.gov/circs/.

Copyrighted means that copies of protected material may be used or reproduced only with the consent of the copyright owner.

Using copyrighted material without written permission may constitute an infringement of the owner’s rights, and failure to obtain copyright permission can lead to legal penalties.

The following materials may be protected by copyright: literary, musical, and dramatic works; pictorial and graphic works; computer programs and software; audiovisual works, motion pictures, and videotapes; and sound recordings.

Government publications, audiovisual productions, and other materials prepared by government employees, as part of their official duties cannot be copyrighted. However, if a copyrighted work is included in a government publication, the copyrighted work remains protected, even though the rest of the publication is not.

When copyrighted material is used, written permission must be obtained from the copyright owner. Such permission must specifically include authorization to make any changes to the material. If a royalty must be paid, prescribed procurement procedures must be followed.

The Assistant Chief Counsel, Office of Chief Counsel, can provide assistance in determining whether certain material is protected by copyright.

When IRS contracts with a vendor for the development of training materials, the contract with the vendor should specify that the materials can be used and reproduced by IRS as needed.

The fair use exception under copyright law allows a person to make limited use of copyrighted work without the copyright owner’s permission for the purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship or research, and upon a determination that the particular use is fair (17 U.S.C. § 107).

The fair use of a copyrighted work is not an infringement of copyright. Under this statutory exception, a determination as to whether a particular use is fair must be based on four factors:

The purpose and character of the use, which takes into consideration the commercial or noncommercial use of the copyrighted work;

The nature of the copyrighted work, which considers whether the copyrighted work is creative, factual, informational, or a combination thereof;

The amount and substantiality of the portion of the work to be copied, which takes into consideration whether the portion to be copied is the heart or focus of the work; and

The effect of the copyrighted work’s potential market caused by the copying, including whether an unauthorized use of a copyrighted work reduces the demand for the original such that the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work is impacted.

Examples of fair use could include:

Musical jingle to open a class

Downloading an internet graphic into a presentation

Using a short film clip to illustrate a point or generate a class discussion

Using a cartoon or comic strip to illustrate a point or generate a class discussion

This exception to copyright law may be relied upon when a proposed use of a copyrighted work is appropriately determined to be fair given the specific facts.

It is important to ensure that the fair use analysis produces a clear answer as to whether the exception would apply in a particular situation. If it does not produce a clear answer permission must be obtained to use the copyrighted work.