The expansion of digital access to scholarly and creative materials is dependent upon careful understanding of and adherence to copyright law, especially provisions of fair use in the academic setting.

The DL works to ensure that all digitized materials comply with best-practice guidelines concerning copyright. All DL materials will have either an internal document (e.g., a signed release form) or an external citation generated from its administrative metadata that specifies the rights and permissions granted.

For further reading and links to reference material on copyright and the digital library, the following resources are recommended:

Berkeley Digital Library: Copyright, Intellectual Property Rights, and Licensing Issues

U.S. Copyright Office: Future of Digital Libraries Statement

American Libraries Association Copyright Guide

Reference material on copyright law and licensing options in the United States can be found at:

US Copyright Office
Creative Commons Licensing
Copyright Clearance Center
Copyright Management Center

The following illustrations detail how rights and permissions information can be retrieved from individual DL objects.

External rights records:

Internal rights records:

The DL also uses a simple internal release form when digitizing materials for podcasts, institutional repository, and other digital collections. The release form signed by the author, creator, or copyright holder of the original physical material gives FAU Libraries the rights to publish the digital version of the physical object or recording on the World Wide Web. The internal form can be downloaded and printed from the forms page.