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Art History

Research guide for students of Art History at NSU.

Can I Use That?

When using materials created by someone else, always make sure you are not infringing on their rights. 

In addition to legal rights, there are also ethical considerations about using other people's work.

  • Even if it is not required to give attribution to the original creator, it is considered good practice.
  • Even if you're not legally required to pay for using the work, should you anyway?
  • Are you sampling from culturally sensitive material?

Read more about copyright and ethical considerations on the Citizen DJ Copyright Guide.

For more information on usage rights, visit the Campus Guide to Copyright created by the Copyright Clearance Center. This guide was created to help students, instructors, faculty, and staff of U.S. based colleges and universities by offering background information about U.S. copyright law. 


"Copyright is a type of intellectual property that protects original works of authorship as soon as an author fixes the work in a tangible form of expression. In copyright law, there are a lot of different types of works, including paintings, photographs, illustrations, musical compositions, sound recordings, computer programs, books, poems, blog posts, movies, architectural works, plays, and so much more!" - U.S. Copyright Office

Image Resources