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Copyright

Answer these three questions to help decide whether you need permission to use someone else’s work.
1.	Is the work you want to use protected by copyright? Consider that copyright does not protect, and anyone may freely use, the following: Works that lack originality logical, comprehensive compilations (like the phone book) unoriginal reprints of public domain works Works in the public domain, including US Government documents Facts Ideas, processes, methods, and systems described in copyrighted works The presence or absence of a copyright notice no longer carries the significance it once did because the law no longer requires a notice. Older works published without a notice may be in the public domain, but for works created after March 1, 1989, absence of a notice means virtually nothing. "Freely use" means that it is not a violation of copyright to reuse the work in a new context, but it still must be cited.
If you answered "no" to question #1, you need go no further; if yes, proceed to question #2.
2.	If the work is protected by copyright, do you wish to exercise one of the owner’s exclusive rights? The owner of the copyright - usually the author/creator or the publisher - has the exclusive right to any and all of the following: Make a copy (reproduce) Use a work as the basis for a new work (create a derivative work) Electronically distribute or publish copies (distribute a work) Publicly perform music, prose, poetry, a drama, or play a video or audio tape or a CD-ROM, etc. (publicly perform a work) Publicly display an image on a computer screen or otherwise (publicly display a work)
If what you want to do with the work in question involves any of the above (and it’s hard to imagine it wouldn’t) then proceed to question #3.
3.	Is your use of the work exempt or excused from liability for infringement? The following exemptions exist within copyright law to allow for using a copyrighted work without permission or license: Fair use Library’s special rights (unlikely to apply here) Educational performances and displays A copyright holder may also explicitly grant permissions (particularly, online) for use of his or her work under a Creative Commons License. Learn more about Creative Commons.
If one of these exemptions applies to your situation, you are in the clear; IF NOT, YOU NEED PERMISSION! Learn more about how to secure permissions.

(Adapted from: Harper, Georgia et al University of Texas - Fair Use of Copyrighted Material)