If you are a member of the Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) community and have questions or need more information about copyright, fair use, or other related topics, please feel free to contact DML Resources.
Copyright is world-wide, ubiquitous, and effects all of us. In the digital age, copyright laws help to balance the rights and responsibilities of both users & creators. According to the World Intellectual Property Organization, WIPO (the leading international copyright organization) "copyright (or author’s right) is a legal term used to describe the rights that creators have over their literary and artistic works. Works covered by copyright range from books, music, paintings, sculptures, and films, to computer programs, databases, advertisements, maps, and technical drawings" (WIPO publications).
Please go to the Copyright Act homepage in order to view a summary of the Copyright Act.
One of an author’s exclusive economic rights is to perform a work publicly. That includes playing audio visual works like movies.
They have the right to “Transmit or otherwise communicate a performance of copyrighted work to public by means of any device or process, whether members of the public capable of receiving performance, receive it at same place or separate places and at same or different times." (US Copyright Office, Title 17)
4 Fair Use Factors
Using a Creative Commons license is an alternative way to alert users to what they can or cannot do with the work.
There are six different Creative Commons licenses available to users. It is good to be familiar with what the different licenses mean and what they look like.
Prior to publishing a journal article, anatomical image, book chapter, or other work, it is recommended that the author take steps to fully understand what they may or may not do with their work once it is published. Once an author publishes, they may or may not retain rights to their work.
Creator rights -discusses economic rights, digital rights, moral rights, and Creative Commons
Author rights-goes into greater detail about economic, digital, and moral rights
With current Georgetown NetID credentials, access to the Dahlgren Memorial Library (DML) health & life sciences resources is available as follows:
For Georgetown University Medical Center affiliates: Login from any on or off campus location
For Georgetown University Main, Law, and Qatar affiliates: Login from the computer in the DML Lobby.
Responsible Use of Electronic Resources-The Responsible Use of Electronic Resources governs the use of DML's resources.
