As university instructors, it is important to present content to students using various forms of multimedia such as websites, journal articles, videos, audio recordings, and images. However, “nearly everything online is copyrighted” (Hobbs, 2010, p. 2), and navigating copyright is different for online courses than in-person courses.

“[Instructors] may perform or display copyrighted materials in face-to-face teaching activities in a classroom without seeking permission from the copyright holder. This exemption does not apply to online teaching or course management systems. 17 U.S.C. § 110(1)” (UConn Library, n.d.-a). Without licensing, fair use, or permission, uploading copyrighted material to HuskyCT (Blackboard) is considered unauthorized copying and distribution and violates copyright law. Linking to websites and embedding videos does not make a copy and is therefore permissible.

Key Terms

• [Copyright] License: Permission from the copyright owner to use their work under certain conditions. (Kaminsky, 2023).
• Clearance: “A general term used to describe the process by which permission [a license] is granted” (Stim, n.d./2019, para. 3).
• Royalty-Free: A license that allows the licensee to use the material (e.g., image) as many times as they’d like without paying the copyright owner for each individual use. The license itself typically costs money, but once that licensing fee is paid, each use of the material is free (Mehvar, 2024).
• Creative Commons (CC): A nonprofit organization that enables the sharing and use of creativity and knowledge through free legal tools.
• Creative Commons (CC) Licenses: “Open licenses available to any copyright holder or content creator to use for free. The goal is to keep creative works protected under copyright law but to make them available for use by others in a variety of ways determined by the creator. When a CC license is applied to a copyrighted work, the author declares what can and cannot be done with that work by any user, and users know what they can do with a work without needing to ask permission” (Schaefer, 2023). Refer to the UConn Library Guide on Creative Commons Licenses for more information.
• NonCommercial (NC): An element in CC Licenses that limits use of the work to noncommercial purposes only. Whether a purpose is commercial or noncommercial is defined by the use, not the user (Creative Commons, 2025). There has been debate whether the use of works in a course [that charges tuition or program fees] at a public university is commercial or noncommercial (Lowe, n.d.). With lack of consensus, it’s recommended to only use works licensed to permit commercial use (Creative Commons, 2024; “Noncommercial Interpretation,” 2017).
• Public Domain: Works that are not protected by copyrights (e.g., copyright has expired) and may be used without restriction (Hobbs, 2010; UConn Library, n.d.-b). A CC0 license allows creators to place their work in the public domain.
• Open Educational Resources (OER): “Teaching, learning, and research materials that reside in the public domain or have been released under an open license that permits their free use and adaptation by others” (Creative Commons, n.d.). Refer to the UConn Library’s website on Open Education for more information.
• Fair Use: An exemption that allows use of copyrighted material without seeking permission. Determining fair use requires consideration of several factors. Instructors considering using material under fair use should complete a fair use evaluation (UConn Library, n.d.-b) and keep it on file in the course.
• Attribution: Giving appropriate credit to the creator of the work. (Similar to citing sources in a research paper.)

Fortunately, there are many free materials that can be used in online courses legally. This is not an exhaustive list but provides a starting point.

• Creative Commons Search Portal: Search tool for CC licensed works across multiple sources.
• List of Major Creative Commons Licensed Works on Wikipedia: “List of notable works available under a Creative Commons license.”
• OER Resources: List of common OER sources compiled by Creative Commons.

For more information on images specifically, refer to the eCampus Knowledge Base article on Finding and Using Free Images.

Citing Materials (i.e., Attribution)

Using these free materials requires giving credit to the creator. As a result, it is important to model good digital citizenship to students when finding and using learning materials online. Follow these recommended practices for attribution.

Generative AI is another way to legally use free content in a course. AI-generated works currently cannot be copyrighted in the U.S. and are in the public domain unless a human being sufficiently modifies the direct output to create a new creative work (Martin, 2024; Zirpoli, 2023). However, AI-generated outputs may still violate copyright law if the output is “substantially similar” to existing copyrighted works (Zirpoli, 2023).

While many generative AI tools can create content, Microsoft Copilot is the preferred option for UConn employees. Copilot is part of the University’s Microsoft 365 license which meets institutional privacy requirements (UConn Information Technology Services, 2024).

Ethically, it’s recommended to disclose the use of AI-generated content. Refer to the UConn Library for guidance on Citing AI-Generated Material.