How to Use Copyrighted Material

Standard Non-Exclusive Agreement for Meeting Presenters

The American Academy of Ophthalmology’s Standard Non-Exclusive Agreement for Meeting Presenters records our mutual agreement and understanding about what you give us permission to do with your presentation. By consenting to the agreement, and following these guidelines, you enable the Academy to share your presentation and/or presentation materials with our members and others. The “non-exclusive” nature of the agreement means that you retain the right to use your own materials elsewhere. Log in to Presenter Central to view the entire agreement.

The Permission Process

If you want to use previously copyrighted material in your presentation — including material you have authored — you first need to secure permission from the copyright owner(s).

• Exception: Use of material that qualifies as fair use.
• Refer to www.copyright.gov for more information on copyright law.

Following is the general process for securing all permissions needed: 

1. Identify all copyrighted material in your presentation. Determine if each use qualifies as fair use or requires permission. Even if you intend to reuse previously published material that you authored, you must get permission from the publisher unless copyright was relinquished to you.
• As you place figures (graphs, charts, etc.) in your presentation, keep track of them — as you would text references — with citation information.
• You must get permission for any and all images found on the Internet, including cartoons, celebrity pictures and film/video footage longer than 15 seconds.
• Images from public-domain websites (like ClipArt.com) don’t require permission.
• Medical artists and photographers routinely retain copyright for their works. You MUST obtain permission or a license from them to use their copyrighted medical images in your presentation.
2. Request permission as soon as you decide to include copyrighted material in your presentation. Publishers may take weeks or even months to respond. You can usually find contact information (and sometimes permission-request information or even forms) on the publisher’s website. Follow up on permission requests every two weeks until the publisher grants or denies use. Most publishers have permission-request forms on their websites. However, there are several types of permissions. Be sure to inform the publisher of the potential uses of the material. These include:
• Reprint – Inclusion of the copyrighted material in your outline, as printed in the handout or syllabus (an educational supplement to the live meeting);
• Educational purposes – Inclusion of the copyrighted material in your visual presentation during the live meeting; and
• Resale – Inclusion of the copyrighted material in your presentation, as captured and reproduced in “On Demand,” a product that will be for sale.
3. Record all permissions granted or denied, especially any requests that are only partially granted. Notify the Academy accordingly and revise your presentation as needed.
• Partial permission: If a publisher grants you permission to use material in your presentation only and not for replication in “On Demand,” you MUST notify the Academy so the copyrighted material can be removed.
• No response: If you have difficulty securing permission for any material by the time of publication or presentation, you MUST notify the Academy. Those images must be removed from the course syllabus and/or “On Demand.”

Other Guidelines

• Do not take images from a website if possible. Web images usually have a low resolution that does not reproduce well.
• Never include patient names or identifiers.
• Avoid using full-face images of patients. Facial pictures can be cropped in order to make the patient unidentifiable.
• If it is essential to the educational content to show the full face, you must obtain written permission from the patient to use his or her image.