Copyright and Fair Use Resources: Fair Use

Fair use is an exception to exclusive rights normally granted to copyright holders and is codified in Section 107 of US Copyright Law. In certain situations copyrighted material might be used without permission from the copyright holder if performing a fair use analysis utilizing the four factors favors the use. 

The four factors of fair use are:

1. the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
2. the nature of the copyrighted work;
3. the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
4. the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

Some common uses which are often considered fair use include:

• Criticism
• Comment
• News Reporting
• Teaching 
• Scholarship
• Research

Before using a resource under fair use, it's helpful to have some background in how to analysis fair use. These guides provide excellent starting points:

• University of Pittsburgh: What is Fair Use?
• University of Minnesota Libraries: Understanding Fair Use
• Boston College Libraries: Fair Use Factors

Image credit: Figure 14.1. “Gauge Your Risk” stoplight model. Adapted from “Teaching Our Faculty: Developing Copyright and Scholarly Communication Outreach Programs,” by J. Duncan, S. K. Clement, and B. Rozum, 2013, in S. Davis-Kahl and M. K. Hensley (Eds.), Common ground at the nexus of information literacy and scholarly communication, p. 280. Copyright 2013 by the Association of College and Research Libraries. Adapted with permission.

These do not automatically make a use fair. The four factors above must be thoroughly evaluated before making a determination. Fair use checklists are fantastic tools to use while examining whether a use might fall under fair use. 

Fair use checklists:

• Cornell University: PDF Fair Use Checklist
• University of Minnesota Libraries: Thinking Through Fair Use
• Columbia University Libraries: PDF Fair Use Checklist

Fair use is an amazing tool but it has some narrow limits. Copying, scanning, or distributing commercially available educational content such as textbooks, workbooks, or other material is generally not considered fair use. 

Find more information here:

 https://copyright.library.virginia.edu/classroom-scanning/

17 U.S. Code § 107. Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use

Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include—
(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;
(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.