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Copyright for Educators

Solutions for Course Readings

  • When possible, create links to licensed materials. Ask your library liaison to help with this.
  • For materials not available freely or in Library subscriptions, you can rely on UT System's subscription to the Copyright Clearance Center Annual License.

    • This license enables UTMB affiliates to reproduce and distribute copyrighted content, in both print and digital form, across campus with confidence that sharing is being done in compliance with copyright laws and UTMB guidelines.

    • The important thing to note is that the Copyright Clearance License only covers content that is shared among university affiliates.

    • The license does not provide permission for using images within the articles outside of the context of the article.

    • Note: Coverage does not include content being used in publications or off-campus presentations.

  • RightFind Academic allows you to check to see if a book or journal is covered by the Annual Copyright License.
    *If you are off-campus, you will need to register with your UTMB email address.

Solutions for Multimedia

  • Find copyright-free materials to use or create your own.
  • Library subscribed resources:
          - Several resources have separate searches of images/multimedia AND
          - License allows use for educational purposes:
                      Access Medicine and Clinical Key all you to make PowerPoint slides
                      Other ebook packages allow use: Books@Ovid, STAT!Ref
  • Google Images - searches can be limited to the public domain
          1. Go to Google Images
          2. Fill in the search box with your search terms
              Hint: You may need to also search synonyms; e.g. Volkswagen Beetle, VW Beetle, VW Bug
          3. Click on Advanced Image Search (in the Settings menu after you have results)
          4. In the Usage Rights section, change the pull-down menu to 'free to use or share' 
          5. Once you find an image, look on the page for confirmation (perhaps Creative Commons License information) that the image may be freely used.
          Note: It appears that the use of the back/forward buttons of the browser often lose the 'free to use or share' limit so you may need to reapply the filter before performing another search.
  • Creative Commons - searches several Internet sites for items that are marked for re-use