Copyright Protection - Managing Creator Rights

Welcome to creating study materials. There are a number of programs and web sites that allow for students to create and share study aids, such as flash cards. It is important to be cognizant of copyright ramifications when creating and sharing student created content on public sites. Each of the boxes below focuses on a different aspect in more detail. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the librarian on the homepage.

When creating materials for a flashcard or other study website please make sure of the following: 

• Material should not be the intellectual property of someone else due to copyright, trademark, or patent. 
• Permissions should have been obtained with explicit notice available. 
• Materials should not be illegal 
• Materials should not include viruses

When sharing flashcards or other types of study materials be aware of the following: 

• The author is granting the site a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive license to make the material available 
• The author is required to assert that the work is entirely their own.
• Chances are high that the site will retain the right to modify or change submitted materials 
• Authors might have the option to grant users more rights than are explicitly stated 

When using a shared slide deck or study materials be aware of the following: 

• The author will most likely be granting the user some variation of a permanent, non-revocable, worldwide, royalty free, non-exclusive license to utilize materials
• Licenses are usually for personal use only 
• Before re-distributing, re-uploading, or re-publishing, users will need to get explicit permission from the copyright holder 

Failure to follow the above requirements may result in the following: 

• If any materials have been uploaded without proper permissions of intellectual property rights, usually it is be removed from the site
• Failure to comply may affect the author's ability to share created materials on the site in the future 
• The site has the right to suspend or remove a user or creator account at any time
• The site can also report any fraudulent activity if the author of the materials fails to comply