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FAIR USE: An opportunity to create balance

The purpose of adding a fair use exemption to U.S. copyright law was to facilitate the use of copyrighted works without permission of the author for journalism, education, commentary and research.

What Fair Use IS

1. A way to balance the extensive rights granted by law to copyright owners
2. Measured by four criteria of
   • purpose of use (including commercial and/or nonprofit educational uses)
   • nature of the copyrighted material
   • amount of the copying as a percentage of the original work
   • effect of copying on potential value of the original work
3. Acknowledged and defined by the following Congressional statute:
   United States Code, Title 17, Section 107:
   Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include-
   1. the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
   2. the nature of the copyrighted work;
   3. the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
   4. the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.

What Fair Use IS NOT

1. Unlimited license for copying by those in nonprofit or educational fields (i.e. academic use does not automatically translate to fair use, as defined by law.)
2. Determined by any single criterion; all four fair use criteria must be evaluated for each use of a copyrighted work.
3. A standardized concept, nationally or internationally.  In the U.S., courts make fair use rulings on a case-by-case basis.
4. Intended to harm the commercial value/potential of a copyrighted work.

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