Ask Us: Scholarly Communications

If the presentations aren’t online, you can use pretty much whatever you want. Images taken from the internet or elsewhere being used locally/in the classroom, for research/teaching/scholarship is allowed under Fair Use. Citing those images really depends on where they came from but it would be best, even off-line, to ask your students to give credit regardless of whether that material is protected or not by U.S. Copyright law. Whatever style guide you are using in the course should be your guide for how the citations should be formatted.

If the presentations are going online/on the internet, and they will be publicly accessible, students will need to ascertain if the images they wish to use are open (i.e., have a Creative Commons license or the owner states that re-use is allowed) or protected. Look for terms of use when they are on websites. If they are protected it is his/her responsibility to obtain permission. If the owner cannot be located, and/or you are not sure if you have permission, cite as best you can where you found the image and who the owner might be. The owner may ask for a take-down, which should be respected, but this is unlikely if the use is otherwise fair.

Here's a good video (less than 6 minutes) that will help your students understand Fair Use: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYB3f7U9NFs.