Teaching & Research

Teaching, research,
and fair use.

Oklahoma Musicians is a noncommercial teaching and research website devoted to Oklahoma music history and musicians’ experiences.

Our educational purpose

The site is intended to support teaching, scholarship, research, and historical understanding through musicians’ stories, historical explanation, source citations, and research guidance.

How we select materials

Materials are selected for publication based on permission, an applicable license, public-domain status, or a documented, item-specific fair-use assessment. Public availability or the ability to download a file does not, by itself, establish permission to republish it.

Fair use is considered item by item

Teaching, scholarship, and research are among the purposes identified in Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act. An educational or noncommercial purpose does not automatically make every use fair use.

For each proposed fair use, we consider the purpose and character of the use, the nature of the original work, the amount and significance of the material used, and the effect on the work’s potential market or value.

Context, attribution, and source access

Historical material is presented with educational context and source attribution. We preserve source and rights information, use only what is justified by the intended purpose, and direct readers to original sources where practical.

When publication rights remain unresolved, we provide a source link instead of hosting a copy. Attribution identifies the source; it does not replace permission or an appropriate legal basis for use.

Read the U.S. Copyright Office’s explanation of fair use for further information.