Fair Use and Copyright

There are many great resources to help you understand the concepts of Fair Use and how to apply them.

The “fair use” provision of copyright law [United States Copyright Act of 1976, Section 107] promotes freedom of expression by permitting the unlicensed use of copyright-protected works in certain circumstances. There is not a definitive approach to knowing that your use of a copyrighted work is fair, but the factors surrounding your use can help to lead you to a reasonable conclusion.

Your evaluation should weigh the four factors of fair use:

1. Purpose and character:  If your use serves an educational purpose at an academic institution, this favors fair use. 
2. Nature of copyrighted work:  Is the work you are using a resource that contains facts and information or is it a creative work of fiction? Creative works tend not to favor fair use.
3. Amount used:  Using a small portion of a work favors fair use.
4. Market effect:  A use is more likely to be fair if it doesn't not harm the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

Consider each factor, but they do not all have to be clearly favorable to pass the test on fair use.  When the factors together weigh toward fairness, you have a positive foundation toward justifying your use. If the factors combined do not lean toward fair use, you should obtain permission from the copyright holder if possible.