Creating Multimedia

This measures listed here provide guidance for the use, without permission, of portions of copyrighted works when creating educational multimedia products. If you follow the guidelines below, it is highly likely that your use will be considered fair use.

Guidelines For Student Use

Students may incorporate copyrighted material into projects created as part of a specific course. They may use this project in the course and may later incorporate it into a portfolio used for job interviews and for application to graduate school.

Guidelines For Faculty Use

Faculty may use copyrighted material when creating an educational presentation to be used in support of instructional activities at an educational institution. They may also use this material for a presentation at a professional conference or workshop and as part of their professional portfolio.

Time Restriction

The fair use of copyrighted material in multimedia projects lasts for two years. If you wish to use the material beyond a two-year period, you must obtain permission to do so.

Permissible Amounts (By Types of Media)

  • Print material:
    • Up to 10% of the total or 1,000 words, whichever is less.
    • An entire poem of less than 250 words may be used, but no more than three poems by a single poet or a total of five poems by different authors from the same anthology. If a poem exceeds 250 words, you can use up to 250 words, but no more than three excerpts from a single poet or five excerpts from a poems within a single anthology.
  • Illustrations or photographs:
    • No more than five images from one artist or photographer
    • No more than 10% or fifteen images, whichever is less, from a collection
  • Motion media:
    • Up to 10% of the total item or three minutes, whichever is less
  • Music, lyrics, and music video:
    • Up to 10% of the total work but no more than 30 seconds of the music or lyrics from an individual musical work
  • Numerical data sets:
    • Up to 10% or 2,500 fields or cell entries, whichever is less, of the total work
  • Copying a multimedia project:
    • There may be no more than two copies made of a project

Please remember that the guidelines above only define the limits of fair use. If you are intending to use a project for commercial or non-educational purposes or are intending to duplicate and distribute the project beyond the scope permitted by these above guidelines, you must first obtain permission to do so from the copyright holder of each copyrighted work included within the project. If you have questions about obtaining permission, contact the Course Reserves and Copyright Services office.