A Guide to Fair Use
In the following pages you will learn about Fair Use, how to evaluate sources for fair use and other resources that can help.
Fair Use
When one thinks of Fair Use thoughts usually turn toward educators and librarians. This is because most of the claims for fair use are cases of educators trying to provide information that will be benificial for their students.
The U.S. Copyright Office (2022) defines Fair Use as:
"Fair use is a legal doctrine that promotes freedom of expression by permitting the unlicensed use of copyright-protected works in certain circumstances. Section 107 of the Copyright Act provides the statutory framework for determining whether something is a fair use and identifies certain types of uses—such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research—as examples of activities that may qualify as fair use."
It is important to know the four factors that go into determining fair use and know how to share critical information under fair use without breaking the law.