Copyright Information for Students

What Copyright Means to You

Many students think that copyright is something that happens to other people. Someone writes a book or a song and puts a copyright symbol on it. Yet there is more to copyright. Copyright is something that affects you every time you step into the classroom, the library, or the school newspaper office.

Copyright is something that you own, too. Each time you express a new idea in a paper, an art project, or a multimedia presentation, you are copyrighting that work. It happens automatically, without a government stamp or a fee.

This portion of Washburn University's Copyright Site is dedicated to students and how copyright affects your lives. Here you can read:

• HEADLINES: How students have infringed on copyright and paid the price!
• BYLINES: Where students have done great things that are protected by copyright.
• GUIDELINES: What every student needs to know about copyright in research, fair use, computers, and other areas.

We hope this information will prove useful to students who have copyright concerns. For those who still have questions, please feel free to contact the Copyright Committee at copyright@washburn.edu.