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Copyright & Fair Use

If a work is protected by copyright, can I still use it?

Photo © Microsoft Corp. 2002If a work is protected by copyright law, federal law gives the copyright owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, publicly display and publicly perform the work. The copyright owner also owns the exclusive right to create derivative works based on the original work.

Even though the copyright owner has such broad rights in the work, you may be able to use it if it is licensed by UNC for your use or if your use is protected by one of the safe harbors created by copyright law.

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