If your department needs photographs, video footage or music for promotional uses, check SFU's Image Library. This eliminates copyright concerns because the copyright in these images already belongs to SFU.
If you do need to license media that was created by someone outside of SFU, there are a few copyright considerations to keep in mind.
A media outlet or other company or organization may have a standard agreement for licensing copyright protected works. You will want to review this document carefully to ensure it includes the right for SFU (not just your department) to use the image/footage/track in any way and for all time. If this is not part of their standard agreement, ask to negotiate it in.
If you are asking an individual (such as an alumnus or student, attendee at an event or other member of the public) for permission to use their image/recording, you will have to provide a license for them to sign; this license should give SFU the right to use that material in any way and for all time. The SFU Copyright Office can provide a template license or help you craft one.
Keep all signed agreements on file in your office.
Note: The information obtained from or through this website is provided as guidelines for using works for educational purposes and is not intended to constitute legal advice. Contact copy@sfu.ca with any questions. The Copyright Officer is not a lawyer or legal expert in copyright law and is able to provide a professional and not a legal opinion. A professional opinion is offered for information purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal advice.
This work, the Simon Fraser University Copyright website, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise noted.