Debunking Common Misconceptions and Myths

Abstract

Few words strike fear into the hearts of college faculty and administrators like copyright infringement. Misunderstandings and misinformation about copyright run rampant on college campuses today, and these can lead to restricting classroom teaching or even liability for copyright infringement. In this column, I begin with a short overview of copyright and fair use followed by a discussion of some of the more common copyright myths I have encountered over the past few years. The purpose of this column is to explore some of the common copyright myths and misconceptions regularly seen on college campuses. Conversations with librarians and faculty around the country indicate that these seem to be fairly universal misconceptions. All of the examples presented are actual, real-life scenarios that I have seen over the past few years.

KEYWORDS:

• Author rights
• copyright
• fair use
• institutional repository
• plagiarism