There's no one right answer as to what constitutes a "fair use" of a particular copyrighted work. The answer varies from situation to situation.
A good point to consider is this: Have you made a "good faith" effort to comply with the "fair use" clause of U.S. Copyright Law?
"Four factors" are considered in all fair use evaluations. They are:
These four factors are not meant to be exclusive and must be examined together.
The statute does not indicate how much weight is to be accorded each factor. Historically the courts have placed the most emphasis on "effect", while the "nature" of the copyrighted work is usually considered to be the least important factor.
For help in making a fair use evaluation, please see our "Fair Use Checklist" in the right hand box. Another excellent resource to use is the ALA's Fair Use Evaluator.
CONFU guidelines clarify the application of fair use of copyrighted works in the digital educational environment. CONFU guidelines are particularly useful for educators and students who are working on educationally related projects like video podcasting, multimedia projects utilizing sound and videos, etc.
Based on CONFU guidelines educators and students needn't get copyright permissions if they make a good faith effort to adhere to these suggested limits:
CONFU recommendations allow you to use small portions of multimedia works without obtaining copyright permissions. Following CONFU guidelines you may:
See also CONFU: The Conference on Fair Use and the Guidelines Tab.
The current copyright law gives the owner of a copyright the exclusive right to reproduce and distribute their work. One exception to this exclusive right is called "the fair use exception."
The fair use exception permits the reproduction of a small portion of a copyrighted work without the copyright owner's permission, but only under very limited circumstances.
The purpose is to allow students, scholars, and critics the right to reference a copyrighted work in their own scholarship, teaching, and critiques.
Making a Fair Use evaluation:
There is no one right answer as to what constitutes a "fair use" of a particular copyrighted work, as each situation and work must be evaluated according to fair use guidelines and intentions of the use.
A good point to consider is this: Have you made a "good faith" effort to comply with the "fair use" clause of U.S. Copyright Law?
"Four factors" are considered in all fair use evaluations. They are:
These four factors are not meant to be exclusive and must be examined together.
The statute does not indicate how much weight is to be accorded each factor. Historically the courts have placed the most emphasis on "effect", while the "nature" of the copyrighted work is usually considered to be the least important factor.
For help in making a fair use evaluation, please see the "Fair Use Checklist" below. Another excellent resource to use is the ALA's Fair Use Evaluator.