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UNM Copyright Resource Guide

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Copyright & The University

Copyright law attempts to strike a balance between protecting the rights of authors/creators, and protecting the need for public access to information and ideas.

The work of the University involves accessing, building upon, and sharing information in order to create new knowledge. Copyright affects much of what we do, for example:

  • Showing a film in a face-to-face class
  • Compiling readings for an online class
  • Sharing your journal article with colleagues
  • Performing a piece of music you haven’t written
  • Getting permission to use images for your dissertation
  • Designing a multimedia work based on other works
  • Determining who "owns" a course you have created

This guide is designed as a basic informational resource for the University of New Mexico community. It is not a substitute for legal advice. Instead, it provides a framework for understanding and working with legal issues, including lawfully using and sharing copyrighted works, as well as protecting our own creative works.



This site has been developed through a collaborative effort between UNM Libraries, IT Security, IT Academic Technologies, University Council, Extended Learning, UNM Press, the Center for Teaching and Learning, and others. The collection of resources contained on this site should be helpful in answering many of your copyright related questions. Please feel free to reach out to us directly if you need further assistance.