Websites Useful in Understanding "Fair Use"
- U.S. Copyright Office: Fair UseHere's the page from the official government website on Fair Use. And there advice is generally, if you're not sure, get permission!
- Columbia University: Fair Use ChecklistThis Fair Use Checklist tries to help people think through the issues. It is part of a larger Fair Use in Education and Research section of their Copyright Advisory Office Guide.
- Center for Media & Social Impact: The Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education"This document is a code of best practices that helps educators using media literacy concepts and techniques to interpret the copyright doctrine of fair use....This guide identifies five principles that represent the media literacy education community’s current consensus about acceptable practices for the fair use of copyrighted materials, wherever and however it occurs: in K–12 education, in higher education, in nonprofit organizations that offer programs for children and youth, and in adult education."
- Teaching Copyright: Fair Use FAQA specific page from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)'s curriculum on teaching Copyright to young people.
- Stanford University: Copyright & Fair Use: Fair UseChapter 9 of their larger guide addresses the concepts and issue of Fair Use.
- Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Academic and Research LibrariesThis 2012 publication, prepared by the Association of Research Libraries, the Center for Social Media at American University and the Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property at American University resulted, in part, from an "in-depth survey, using longform interviews, with 65 librarians" at Academic and Research Libraries. Although specifically written for librarians, since it is the Library that usually hosts and provides access to materials for the entire university community, this could be a useful document to review.
- VRA: Intellectual Property Rights Resources: Resources Providing Guidance on Academic Use of Images"The Visual Resources Association is a multi-disciplinary organization dedicated to furthering research and education in the field of image management within the educational, cultural heritage, and commercial environments." To this end they have an Intellectual Property Rights Committee which studies fair use of visual materials. Links here include information on use of images, digital images and photography and a PDF on Fair Use for Teaching, Research & Study.
Fair Use
How do you utilize other people's words or work without breaking the law? The doctrine of fair use tries to provide guidelines. And it all comes down to how (and, in some cases, how much of) the material is being used. Fair use allows copyrighted material to be used for purposes such as reviews, research and teaching IF such use does not affect the potential market for, or value of, the copyrighted work. That is, are you impacting the creator's ability to profit from their work?
Here's an example: You need to create a spreadsheet for class. You work on it at the computer lab but want to work on it at home, too. So you--and this is an unlikely scenario!--manage to copy the software from a University computer and you install it on your home machine. You think that should be allowable, since the University is a non-profit and you're just doing something for class, not selling the spreadsheet you create. Alas, this would be a violation since by copying the software and installing it on another machine, you have affected the potential market for the software. That's not even close to fair use.
Similarly, if there was a great new profile of a movie star, full of shocking new revelations about their life, in the latest Vanity Fair and you decided to reprint all/most (or even the juiciest bits) of it in your (nonprofit) show biz blog, just credited the author wouldn't be enough, since you are keeping the magazine from making a sale.
Still, fair use is confusing. And even the Copyright Office admits that "the distinction between fair use and infringement may be unclear and not easily defined. There is no specific number of words, lines, or notes that may safely be taken without permission. Acknowledging the source of the copyrighted material does not substitute for obtaining permission."
Explore some the sites to the left for more detailed information. And for a cheeky discussion of the frustrating nature of fair use. Take a look at the below video.
A Fair(y) Use Tale
Professor Eric Faden of Bucknell University uses snippets from a wide array of Disney animated works to illustrate copyright and fair use. Since Disney protects its works jealously, this video (which essentially attacks the abusive restrictions of copyright) parodies and attacks the very law it seeks to explain.
