Copyright is essentially the right to copy something. It gives an author control over who can use or reproduce their creative work. 

Students and faculty are often able to use parts of a resource in their own academic research due to a part of Copyright law known as Fair Use, but there are limits. Library staff can lend you a book, but we cannot photocopy every chapter in the book so you have your own copy. 

We also should not confuse owning a copy of a work with the right to make a copy of that work. Just because you bought the textbook does not mean you can legally make a copy of it for your friend.

Finally, copyright is a different thing from citing sources to avoid plagiarism. Giving credit to someone's poem does not give you the right to reproduce the whole thing in your essay.

Visit the Copyright and Fair Use page on our Citing Sources guide to learn more.