360 Chapter 15 Digital Citizenship Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Copyrighted material is indicated by the © symbol or the statement “copyright by.” Lack of the symbol or statement does not mean the material is not copyrighted. All original material is automatically copyrighted as soon as it is in a tangible form. An idea cannot be copyrighted. A copyright can be registered with the US Copyright Offi ce, which is part of the Library of Congress. However, original material is still legally protected whether or not the copyright is registered. Most information on the Internet is copyrighted, whether it is text, graphics, illustrations, or digital media. This means it cannot be reused without obtaining permission from the owner. Sometimes, the owner of the material places the material on the Internet for others to reuse. However, if this is not explicitly stated, assume the material is copyrighted and cannot be freely used. Many websites list rules, called the terms of use, which must be followed for downloaded fi les. The agreement may come up automatically, for example, if you are downloading a fi le or software application. If, however, you are copying an image or a portion of text from a website, you will need to look for the terms of use information. Unless the terms of use specifi cally state that you are free to copy and use the material provided on a website, assume the material is copyrighted. You cannot reuse the material without permission. l i g h t p o e t/Shutterstock.com Reusing material without permission, such as photocopying pages out of a textbook, is unethical.