Copyright: Copyright Myths

myth   [mith] /mɪθ/  –noun

1. a traditional or legendary story, usually concerning some being or hero or event, with or without a determinable basis of fact or a natural explanation, esp. one that is concerned with deities or demigods and explains some practice, rite, or phenomenon of nature.
2. stories or matter of this kind: realm of myth.
3. any invented story, idea, or concept: His account of the event is pure myth.
4. an imaginary or fictitious thing or person.
5. an unproved or false collective belief that is used to justify a social institution

Reference: Dictionary.com, LLC. (2025). Myth. In Dictionary.com dictionary. Retrieved 7/31/2025, from https://www.dictionary.com/browse/myth

You sometimes hear these myths:

• Everything on the web is publicly available, so it's all public domain and I can reuse it.
• All educational use is Fair Use.
• It's okay to make copies if I don't sell them, or as long as I'm not making a profit.
• All I have to do is give attribution and I can use the material I want.
• I'm putting the information up on my password protected web page/blog/online course.  Since it won't be publicly available, it's not a violation of copyright.

Taken alone, NONE of these factors justify fair use.

A few uses of copyrighted material are generally okay, but often it's more complicated than you might imagine.

We can provide some basic guidance on copyright, but tricky stuff gets referred to the lawyers!

WHEN IN DOUBT, ASK FOR PERMISSION FROM THE COPYRIGHT OWNER