Basic Copyright Issues:
Authors' Rights
Authors have the right to:
- Make and distribute copies of their work
- Prepare derivative works
- Perform the work
- Publicly display work
Because copyright is property, authors may sell, rent, or loan their copyrighted works.
Even though an authors control their work, there is a difference between copyright and other types of personal property. Under certain circumstances which are known as "Fair Use," you are able to use small portions of an author's work without obtaining his/her permission.
Quoting an author in a research paper is considered fair use. Therefore, students do not need to worry about copyright issues while writing their papers. However, the fair use provision of copyright law does not invalidate the need for proper citations.
