What is Fair Use?
The Copyright Act gives the owner of a copyright the exclusive right to reproduce and distribute that work,. An exception to this right is Fair Use, which permits the reproduction of a portion of a copyrighted work without the copyright owner's permission, under certain circumstances. This has become very important for education because it allows instructors, students, scholars and critics to use and reference copyrighted works in their own scholarship, teaching and critiques.
There are no specific parameters that define the terms of Fair Use. Instead, it will vary from situation to situation and is determined by considering four factors, which are not exhaustive and must be examined together:
1. Purpose and character
Is the copyrighted material being used for commercial or nonprofit educational purposes? Is the use of the copyrighted material transformative?
2. Nature of the work
Has the work been previously published? Is the work primarily factual or creative in nature? Is this work created or marketed as a textbook or a workbook?
3. Amount
How much of the work is being used? How important is the portion being used? If you are using the whole work, is it clear that no less than the whole work will be effective?
4. Effect
Is the work in print? Is it available and licensed elsewhere? Is there a market for the work? Can you identify the copyright holder? Did the copyright holder respond to a request for permission? Did you acquire this copy legally? Will you be able to attribute the original author?
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