UF’s Smathers Libraries will educate students and faculty about using other people’s photographs, books and journals this week.
The Fair Use Week, which starts today, will teach students about using copyrighted images and include a seminar about using copyrighted materials or materials made by another person. This is the first time the week will try to include students in the discussion, said Christine Fruin, the scholarly communications librarian at Library West.
In past years, seminars have been given to faculty, she said.
Under fair use, an item is protected under federal law and individuals can use the works if they cite the creator, Fruin said.
Fair use allows students to use images in their papers and professors to use passages from textbooks in their lectures, she said. If materials are cited, students and professors can use them without asking permission or paying.
“We want to encourage faculty to make use of fair use because it can enhance and really benefit their teaching,” Fruin said. “We definitely want to encourage students to use it.”
Maria del Mar Navarro, a visiting assistant professor in the UF graphic design program, said she uses fair use to put images in her lectures.
To teach design, Navarro said students need to see the works of others to understand concepts. She said fair use enables her to use these examples.
“It would be impossible to teach without studying other works,” she said.
