Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Illinois

Re: School Related Copyright

When someone creates a "work", the copyright is automatic. No copyright notice is required.

Without seeing the material in question, it is not possible to say for certain that the material is of a nature that a copyright exists, but it is very likely. There is a possibility that some of the material is in the public domain or does not have a sufficiently creative element to in.

If the material is copyrighted, then the only way "to get around it" is to get a license from the copyright owner.

David K. Staub, business attorney

Re: School Related Copyright

There are other ways for you get around the copyright through "fair use." The most likely methods would be if you were posting some specific excerpts from exams or school materials for the purpose of "criticism." Either to give your opinion about the works themselves or to give advise on how to deal with them. The second method that might work is if you were putting up the materials for the purpose of "satire" for example making jokes about how silly the teacher's word problems are. If you are just posting a database of materials, there is a chance you could be infringing.