Copyright Corner: How do I know if the item I want to use is copyright protected?

 You should always assume that everything is copyright protected as for the most part, it is. This includes all content formats such as print, images, video, web pages and audio.  While it is common practice to use the copyright symbol ©, it is not required so the absence of the symbol does not mean that the item you want to reproduce is not covered by copyright.  Copyright covers a work for the duration of the author’s life plus an additional 70 years after the author’s death.  The Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States(Jan. 1, 2009) is a detailed chart of when copyright protected items transfer into the public domain. http://copyright.cornell.edu/resources/docs/copyrightterm.pdf