At LII, we are sensitive to and respectful of copyright issues on the Internet. We are dedicated to ensuring that we only include lawfully acquired or created content in our database, and that our descriptions provide proper attribution for other people's words.

We welcome and encourage use of LII items on websites, in training materials, and other resources. You are also welcome to forward our newsletters in whole or in part. We ask that you properly attribute the source, noting that the content is copyright Librarians' Internet Index.

• Copyright Basics
• A Brief Intro to Copyright
• Ten Big Myths About Copyright Explained
• "Copyright Guidelines," in The Associated Press Stylebook, 39th Edition

LII staff and volunteers consult these documents when determining copyright of LII items. (Another excellent resource is the Chicago Manual of Style, which has an extensive and useful section on copyright.)

The documents above are short, but clarify the core rule of copyright, which is in a nutshell, "please and thank you are the magic words." It doesn't matter how easy it is to lift material from websites; copyright still applies in the electronic environment, and so does fair use. As the Copyright Basics document from the U.S. Copyright Office makes clear, "It is illegal for anyone to violate any of the rights provided by the copyright law to the owner of copyright."

We make every effort to ensure the sites included in LII comply with current copyright guidance, and we are careful to attribute quotations properly. However, if you see a problem item, please let us know! Everyone makes mistakes (and sites change, as well).