AUL LibGuides: Copyright: Fair Use

What is Fair Use?

Fair use is a concept embedded in U.S. law that recognizes that certain uses of copyright-protected works do not require permission from the copyright holder. (See Title 17, section 107)

What Determines Fair Use?

“Fair use” is an exemption within the copyright law (17 U.S. Code Section 107) that grants you the right to quote or reproduce very small portions of copyrighted materials for educational, non-profit, and personal use without first obtaining permission from the copyright holder. “Fair use” is not specifically defined; instead, each use is evaluated by weighing four factors:

The following four factors are used to determine if a use is fair:

Character of the use (for AU, typically non-profit educational use)
Nature of material to be used (non-fiction vs. works of literature, drama, criticism)
Amount and substance of work to be used (up to 10% of whole)
Effect of the use on the potential market (economic impact)

Fair Use & Academia

Fair Use in Academia

The Fair Use Doctrine is probably the most important exemption to copyright protections for educational settings, allowing many uses of copyrighted works for the purposes of teaching and research. The complexity of fair use and its importance in academia make it imperative that every member of the AU research community understands how to make judgements concerning fair use.

Tools to help you determine Fair Use

Fair Use in NPS Theses: Borrowing Figures and Tables Fairly
How to cite responsibly, a recommended read from the NPS Graduate Writing Center.
Thinking Through Fair Use Tool
Guides you through the process of determining if a use is fair. (Developed by The University of Minnesota Libraries.)
Fair Use Checklist
Quick checklist to help you run through the four factors test and document your results. (Developed by Columbia University Libraries.)
Fair Use Evaluator
Helps you collect, organize, and document the information you will need to support a fair use claim and provides a time-stamped PDF document for your permanent records. (Developed by the American Library Association, Office for Information Technology Policy.)
Copyright and Fair Use Charts and Tools
Is it still in Copyright?, Digital Image Rights, Library and Archive exceptions, Fair Use and much more. (Developed by Stanford University Libraries, this page really does "have it all".)
U.S. Copyright Office Fair Use Index
The Fair Use Index tracks a variety of judicial decisions to help both lawyers and non-lawyers better understand the types of uses courts have previously determined to be fair—or not fair.

Best Practices in Fair Use for Research and Educational Uses

Here are some excellent best practices documents, with good examples, for Fair Use across various media:

Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Academic and Research Libraries
Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education
Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Online Video
Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for OpenCourseWare
Code of Best Practices in Fair Use of Orphan Works for Libraries and Archives
Guidelines for Quotation and Other Academic Uses of Excerpts from Journal Articles
"Allowable usage" determined by major STM Publishers (including: AIP, ACS, Elsevier, IoP, Wiley, Oxford, SAGE, Springer, Taylor & Francis .. and others.)
Statement on the Fair Use of Images for Teaching, Research and Study
Using Copyrighted Materials in Sakai or Moodle
Latest news and background on the Georgia State fair use lawsuit

Copyright: Fair Use

Fair Use Myth & Facts

Many myths persist about fair use, an essential right that allows the use of copyrighted material without permission from the copyright holder under certain circumstances. Read "Infographic Debunks Common Myths about Fair Use" from Association for Research Libraries (ARL).