Find help based on the kind of media you are using.

Carleton's copyright resource and policy website.

In order to use some or all of a song, photo, book, or any other copyrighted work, you generally need to get permission. However, there are some kinds of uses that do not require permission or payment.

Make sense of Creative Commons licenses.

Circular 1: Comprehensive but readable introduction to copyright from US Copyright Office.

The College Art Association's Code of Best Practices provides visual-arts professionals with a set of principles addressing best practices in the fair use of copyrighted materials. It describes how fair use can be invoked and implemented when using copyrighted materials in scholarship, teaching, museums, archives, and in the creation of art.

Circular 22: Guidance on how to determine an object's copyright status

See the "Requesting Permissions directly from the Copyright Holder" section. Includes examples of forms from other institutions that you can use to request permission.

See the "Example Letter Requesting Copyright Permissions" for a boilerplate letter you can use.