Copyright, Open Access, and Open Educational Resources

Copyright and author services

The Bell Library offers services to help authors

  • retain and exert copyright in creative and scholarly works;
  • create a complete authoritative online profile of scholarly work; and
  • share open versions of research and scholarship outputs to increase readership and impact.

What are my rights as an author?

As soon as an author or creator commits a creative expression to a tangible medium, they have copyright in the work. Copyright protects the economic and intellectual interests of the creator. Copyright provides the creator sole control over

  • Distribution
  • Reproduction
  • Creation of derivative works
  • Performance
  • Display

This allows the author to use and permit others to use their work for educational, commercial, and other uses. However, if an author transfers their copyright to a publisher via a publication agreement, they may lose the right to use and permit others to use their work. Learn more about author’s copyrights.

How do I retain and exert my copyright?

Bell Library seeks to support authors in the retention and exertion by

  • Consulting on publication agreements
  • Advising use of publication agreement addenda to negotiate retention of copyrights
  • Assisting in researching the copyrights of existing works for reuse.

Publication Agreement Addenda

Creative Commons offers the Scholar's Copyright Addendum Engine to assist authors in creating addenda to be included with publication agreements. These documents amend the publication agreement to allow authors to retain rights to use and share their work.

More information on copyright

The Bell Library offers consultation regarding copyright questions. Although we cannot offer legal advice, we can guide you to resources and help you think through copyright issues concerning your work. Email LibraryCopyright@tamucc.edu for more information.

Using copyrighted materials

Copyrighted works can be used with the permission or license of the creator or copyright holder, in accordance with open Creative Commons licenses, and as a fair use in accordance to the four factors of fair use.

Fair Use

The Fair Use Checklist and Fair Use Evaluator tool can help you judge whether your intended use is a fair use of copyrighted material. Learn more about Fair Use.

Creative Commons

Creative Commons licenses offer creators a way to outline permitted uses of a work. Works with Creative Commons licenses associated with them can be used in accordance with the license. You can search for works released under Creative Commons licenses using this search tool.

For educators

Learn about using copyrighted materials online and in the classroom. You may also wish to use low cost alternatives to traditional copyrighted materials, such as Open Access and Open Educational Resources.