Fair use is a legal doctrine in U.S. copyright law that allows limited use of copyrighted material without permission from the copyright owner, under certain conditions.
Fair use is intended to support freedom of expression, especially in areas like:
Criticism and commentary
News reporting
Teaching and education
Scholarship and research
Parody and satire
Important: Fair use is not automatic or guaranteed. It is a legal defense that must be judged on a case-by-case basis, often in court.
Courts consider these four factors to decide whether a use qualifies as fair:
Purpose and character of the use
Is it transformative—does it add new expression, meaning, or message?
Nature of the copyrighted work
Using factual or nonfiction works is more likely to be fair use than using creative or fictional works.
Amount and substantiality of the portion used
Using a small, less significant portion favors fair use. Using the "heart" of the work weighs against it.
Effect on the market
Does the use harm the market for the original work or its potential value?
Important: Fair use is not automatic or guaranteed. It's a legal defense that must be judged on a case-by-case basis, often in court.
United States copyright law provides important exceptions to the rights of copyright holders that are specifically aimed at nonprofit educational institutions and libraries. Three provisions of the copyright statute are of particular importance to teachers and researchers:
Teachers and students have certain rights to publicly display and perform copyrighted works in the classroom (Section 110 of U.S. Copyright Law).
Libraries and archives have special exemptions for the reproduction of copyrighted works in some circumstances (Section 108 of US Copyright Law).
The "fair use" allows limited copying of copyrighted works without the permission of the owner for certain purposes, including teaching and research (Section 107 of US Copyright Law).
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Multiple copies for classroom use |
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Multiple print or digital copies of articles, book chapters, or other works may be made for classroom use or discussion provided that: |
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Single copying for teachers |
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A single copy generally may be made of any of the following for teaching purposes: |
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An online tool to help you better understand how to determine the "fairness" of a use under the U.S. Copyright Code.
Interactive Fair Use Checklist
This interactive tool from The Ohio State University, Health Sciences Library is an interactive tool that can be used to document your fair use decisions that can be emailed for your use.
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.