Frequently Asked Questions about Microsoft Copyrights

Yes. Include an attribution that credits the source.

No. Microsoft licenses most of the content available on the Clip Art and Media Web page and can provide you with only personal, noncommercial use rights. For all commercial uses, your best resources are stock photo houses such as Getty Images (http://www.gettyimages.com) or Corbis (http://www.corbis.com).

Permissible uses vary from product to product, so you'll need to review the End User License Agreement (EULA) or Microsoft Software License Terms that accompanied the product from which you obtained the clip art. If the clip art is from Office Online, review the EULA at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX010986541033.aspx to determine what you can and cannot do with the clip art from the online gallery.
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No. Clip art is provided primarily for personal, noncommercial uses. The clip art collection is a collaborative effort between Microsoft and its content providers, so not all content from the Clip Art and Media Web page is owned by Microsoft. Microsoft does not license clip art for commercial purposes, and the clip art available with Microsoft products and services cannot be used to create a company business card, advertisement, or logo. A business should use its own original art or art that has been licensed from the copyright holder for this specific purpose.

Yes. The spreadsheet or database must be created using a legitimate, licensed copy of a Microsoft product that is designed to create spreadsheets and databases. It must be used by other people who own a legitimate, licensed copy of that Microsoft product.

To learn what usage rights are granted for commercial purposes, refer to the End User Licensing Agreement and/or Microsoft Software License Terms that accompany each product or Web site. If your use falls within the scope of the rights granted within the EULA and/or license terms, no additional written permission is required from Microsoft. If you have a business and would like more information on licensing arrangements and pricing options for the commercial use of maps, visit http://www.microsoft.com/virtualearth and review the information in the "How to Buy" section.

Requests to reprint Microsoft ads should be directed via e-mail to Mary Beth Barney, Vice President of Business Affairs at the McCann Worldgroup advertising agency in San Francisco.

If you want to use the article for informational purposes only, you can generally use the information without written permission. The material must be available at no charge and cannot be used for publication or sale outside of your company. The Microsoft copyright notice must be preserved, and you must cite the source from which you obtained the article. For more information about whether any additional rights or restrictions apply, refer to the licensing terms, if any, that accompany the article.

No. Microsoft does not hold the copyright for every article that appears on Microsoft Web sites and therefore does not grant online reprint rights. You are welcome to link to the Microsoft site from your Web site so that your customers can access the article by visiting the Microsoft Web site directly.

For information about the use of Xbox content, go to Xbox.com.

Microsoft does not hold the copyright for all of the content on its various Web sites and therefore cannot grant reprint permission for all of the images and articles that appear. To determine the owner of an image, move your pointer over the image. The copyright owner's name should be part of the information that appears. For articles, look at the top of the article for the author or company that provided the article content.

If the Microsoft name or a Microsoft copyright notice appears, review the guidelines provided to you for your use rights. Otherwise, you will need to contact the copyright owner directly for permission.

Yes. You may use any of the images found on the PressPass Web site as long as you adhere to the guidelines provided on the PressPass site.

For information about Microsoft logo use, visit the Microsoft Trademarks Web site.

For information about permissions for MSNBC content, go to the MSNBC Reprint Requests page.

No. If the software file is not on the redistributable list, visit the Product Solution Center to determine whether Microsoft has published a solution that addresses your development needs. If no solution has been posted, redistribution is not permitted.

No. Microsoft does not permit the separate redistribution of audio files, sound bytes, sound files, or AVI files—that is, files with file designations or extensions such as wave files (.wav), MIDI files (.mid), and AVI files (.avi).

No. Unless expressly granted in the End-User License Agreement (EULA) that accompanies the download, Microsoft does not allow the redistribution of software made available for download from the Microsoft Web sites. However, you are welcome to include a link to the download in your product or on your Web site so that your customers can access the download directly from Microsoft. If you are having technical difficulties, visit the Product Solution Center and select for the product in question.

For product support information, including common issues, frequently asked questions, helpful links, tips, and the latest downloads, visit the Product Solution Center.