When a course developer wants to use a document, you need to look for the terms of use or conditions of use within the document first.

We need to make sure that the document clearly (or not) says how we are allowed to use the document.

The language in the terms of use will vary.

Specifically, we are looking for permission to distribute or link to the document. If there is permission to distribute the document, we can put the PDF in the classroom.

If there is no mention of distribution rights, we should link to the document.

Look for a copyright notice. These can usually be found at the beginning or the end of a document.

The copyright notice will have the copyright symbol and it will also state who the copyright owner is.

The terms of use is usually stated after or next to the copyright notice.

If there is no copyright notice or symbol in the document, continue to scan the document for a terms of use section (usually a paragraph).

Once you find a terms of use (sometimes called a conditions of use), you should read at it to see if specifically allows for distribution, use, or linking of the document.

Some statements will be very vague and others might be very descriptive.

If the terms of use does not mention linking or distribution, you will need to check the website next.

Sometimes the language in the terms of use statement can be vague.

In the example below, all we are told is that all rights are reserved and the contact information is given if we want to request permission to reproduce or translate the document.

These terms of use tell us nothing about what we are allowed to do with the document. If you see a vague notice like this, definitely check the website.

Below is another example of a vague terms of use statement that only mentions permission granted in terms of reproduction as along as attribution is given.

The words we explicitly want to see are distribution or linking, which we do not see in this example.

For this document, we would also need to check the website terms of use and/or see if we can find a webpage devoted to the publication.

In the example below, the document gives a clear statement in regards to distribution.

For this document, we could put the PDF in the classroom without worrying about copyright permission.

This is the kind of language we want to see. And with the terms of use statement, I would not need to check the website for additional terms of use.

Below is another clearly stated terms of use in which we would be allowed to distribute this PDF to the classroom as long as the copyright notice is included in all copies (which it would be since we are not changing the document itself).

In this case, we would not need to check the website terms of use.

Some documents may just list a copyright notice and tell you who the copyright holder is but mentions nothing about terms of use.

If there are no terms of use listed in the document, you will need to visit the website to check the overall terms of use for content on the site.