Copyright Clearance Center - for UT employees and students

Who does the license apply to?

It applies to all employees, contractors, and students of University of Texas System schools. This includes people at institutions, studying abroad, or taking official university classes online.

What types of uses are included in the license?

Covered uses among UT employees, contractors, and students include: sharing via Canvas (online course content), coursepacks, classroom handouts, email, research collaborations, and administrative communications.

What types of uses are not included in the license?

Interlibrary loan, commercial document delivery, promotional and advertising uses, and cover-to-cover copying are not covered by our annual license.

What kinds of copyrighted works are included in the license?

The annual license covers the sharing of text-based copyrighted works like journals articles and book chapters. Both print and digital works are included. Illustrations and photos are a covered use if they are part of a journal article or book chapter. They are not covered uses if they are used on their own. 

What kinds of copyrighted works are not included in the license?

Illustrations and photographs that are used on their own are not covered by our annual license. Audio and visual works are also not covered by our annual license.

What should I do if the annual license doesn't apply to my use or copyright works?

If the annual license doesn't apply to your proposed use or copyrighted work, then you still have several options:

• You could do a fair use evaluation to determine if your use is likely to be considered fair use. Fair use is the legal right to use copyrighted works without needing to ask for permission from copyright owners. Fair use depends on the analysis of four different factors and is always context-specific, so must be evaluated for each individual use. You can find out more about fair use on our fair use LibGuide.
• If you work in a library, there may be an exception within Section 108 of the Copyright Act that covers your use. Please see the Copyright for Librarians LibGuide for additional information.
• You can always request permission from the copyright owner.
• It's possible your use is covered by the terms of use or license for one of our subscription databases. You can find permitted uses on the Databases A-Z list (applicable to UT Austin faculty, staff, and students) or on the terms of use on the actual database.

What if I'm working with people outside of the University of Texas system? Can I share copyrighted works with them?

There are some situations where it's okay to share portions of copyrighted works under the terms of the annual license. The use must be related to academic research, the sharing must be without charge, and the sharing can't involve systematic or bulk distribution of copies.

Why did UT System purchase the license?

The primary reason to acquire the license was to reduce the administrative burden associated with assigning and sharing course materials. As an added benefit, participation in the annual license contributes to the "web of rights" that UT System schools benefit from. That web of rights includes fair use, library copyright exceptions, licenses with individual publishers, and the Copyright Clearance Center annual license.

"With the annual copyright license, faculty and staff can focus on the business of teaching, while demonstrating the importance of respecting the intellectual and creative property of others." - Georgia Harper, former Scholarly Communications Advisor with UT Austin Libraries.