Copyright and Student Work
Copyright in the United States was established in the Constitution.You can violate copyright even if you don't sell the copies you have made.
Your own work is protected by copyright even if you don't give copyright notification and register your work with the Library of Congress.
Copyright law in the United States protects the right of an author or creator to profit and benefit from original work, providing an incentive to do that work. Among scholars this benefit comes from receiving credit for one's work and thus building a reputation.
Copyright law in the United States also provides reasonable access to the work, so that others can build on that work and further advance knowledge. This access comes through particular limitations on copyright, including fair use, which allows the quotation of small bits of a work for purposes of criticism and scholarship.
Prairie State College is committed to educating its faculty, staff, and students on issues of copyright and fair use. The Copyright Act of 1976(PDF) and its amendments, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), and the Technology, Education, and Copyright Harmonization (TEACH) Act dictate policy as to how institutions may use the works of others.
Fair use for students means: You may make one copy of a printed work for personal study, you can quote and paraphrase someone else's work in your own writing as long as you give credit to the original author and also as long as your quotations are brief.