What is fair use? How about Creative Commons? Can you use that image you found online? Can you make copies of that disc? How about making copies of that online article for a meeting? What if you cite the source for the material?

These are the questions that come up all the time, and we often don’t know where to get answers. Learn what rights copyright holders typically have in the United States, and what exceptions may come into play in our everyday work in libraries.


Academic Library staff will be interested in this webinar because they will know when they need to ask permission to use or copy material.

Public Library staff will be interested in this webinar because they will learn the differences between fair use, public domain and Creative Commons.

School Library staff will be interested in this webinar because they will be able to apply copyright basics to at least three (3) common scenarios in libraries.

Special Library staff will be interested in this webinar because they will understand the basics of U.S. copyright and why they matter.

 About the Presenter: Laura Solomon is the Library Services Manager for the Ohio Public Library Information Network and a W3C-certified front-end web developer. She has been doing web development and design for more than twenty years, in both public libraries and as an independent consultant. She specializes in developing with Drupal.

She is a 2010 Library Journal Mover & Shaker. She’s written three books about social media and content marketing, specifically for libraries, and speaks nationally on both these and technology-related topics. As a former children’s librarian, she enjoys bringing the “fun of technology” to audiences and in giving libraries the tools they need to better serve the virtual customer.